Sr Thomas a Boland

Private Funny Man Sr Thomas a Boland

This is a true story about how "Private Funny Man" came to have that name and how it suited him perfectly. Private Funny Man is best described as a mixture of Forest Gump and GI Joe on one side and Atticus Finch and Perry Mason on the other. It is the story of how he overcame poverty and a reading disability of dyslexia that had him labeled as being stupid. He failed several grades but was such a disrupted force in class that most teacher passed him on so they wouldn't have to deal with him again. Funny Man enlisted into the United States Marine Corps and it was a decision that changed his life. He finally learned how to read and after returning from Vietnam enrolled in college. He would go on to earn a BA, a MA and then a Juris Doctor of Law degree. He would go on to have a successful career in law. He was a champion for his clients as they, like him, were the underdogs. Humor was often the only tool he had to help keep his clients from spending a lifetime in jail. Still being drawn to service to his Country, he received a Commission as an Infantry officer in the United States Army Reserves at age 36. He was called to duty in Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Honduras, Egypt, Haiti and Bosnia. He became one of the oldest, if not the oldest, officer to complete the Army Airborne School at nearly 57 years of age. The remarkable thing is how many funny, crazy, interesting and often dangerous situations he always found himself involved. Surprisingly there is another side to Private Funny Man. He was named the South Carolina "Palmetto State Poet of the Year". He entertained many ladies with his poems and his knowledge of poets, painters, sculptors and singers. With his attitude of "No fear" that was equally balanced with "No sense", he has an endless number of hilarious encounters that he put to great use in the art of storytelling. But the best part of the story of all the funny, crazy and unusual ways he got into, and then out of, all types of trouble. Humor was his weapon of choice. His stories always ended with the listeners saying, "You have got to write a book". This is that book.