Contact
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Website: http://www.blackfive.net
Biography
Who is Blackfive?
I was born in Manhattan in the ‘60s. My parents named me “William Alexander Burden.” My dad was in seminary to become an Episcopal Priest and my mother worked and was a musician and actress. They were both against the war in Vietnam and not very inclined towards careers in the military.
About six months later, my parents decided to change my name to “Matthew Currier” instead of William Robertson. My family uses family last names as middle names and is descended of the Scottish clans of Robertson, Shaw, and Sinclair - and Currier is another family name.
Anyway, after a few years, we moved to Chicago where my father had an inner-city church in the Ravenswood neighborhood. In the early 70’s, Ravenswood was in pretty bad shape. Gangs, drugs, poverty, etc. The upside of Ravenswood was that it was one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. My best friends were Marc Rubin and Billy Thundercloud. We three friends were a Jew, a Christian and an American Indian.
Throughout my early life, I was heavily influenced by my immediate and extended family – uncles and aunts and godparents and grandparents were a part of my upbringing (morals and values and, of course, fun). My parents were adventurous types. My father took me on canoe trips on the Wisconsin river, motorcycle trips across the country, etc.
In 1969, my parents bought a small farm to spend our vacations in southwest Wisconsin (Iowa County) where we raised horses (Appaloosas, mostly).
While I was (and am) a city boy, I had a lot of opportunities to camp, hike, and spend time in the wilderness. One uncle had a cabin by Glacier National Park in Montana – so far from civilization that we were five miles from the nearest logging camp.
My grandparents were old-fashioned types - the work hard, family first kind of people. I think my grandfathers had the biggest impact on me as a man. They were both simple men who loved their families, believed in doing right, and loved their country for what it was.
As I grew older the pull of military service was substantial. At seventeen, I convinced my father to sign the papers to allow me to enlist. I think I chose to be a U20 Aircraft Mechanic (67G) in order to make the decision easier on him. I was a U20 mechanic for a few weeks before I re-classed as a paratrooper and went to Fort Benning.
In the mid-80s, I spent some time at Fort Bragg and Central America before making Sergeant (E-5) and going to College under the Green to Gold program.
I was commissioned as an Armor (Cavalry) Officer in 1989. Here’s a picture of me and pal Chris at our annual Ball about a week before I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant:
Tanks, tanks, tanks. I love tanks. Wish I still had tanks. Going from being an Infantry type to Armor was based upon my career day experience at Ft. Lewis, WA. After an orientation, I told the Armor Officers that I wanted to talk to them about a career in Armor. After I slid into the hatch of the M1A1, a Lieutenant handed me an ice cold Coke from a cooler and a fan of Playboy magazines and said, "Welcome to Armor!"
The Coke and Playboys were a nice recruiting move, but, no matter the advantages of riding in 60 tons of homogeneous steel, I was really hooked after firing the M1's weapon systems. Unfortunately, my career as a tanker was short-lived.
Over the course of a sixteen year career active and reserve, I have served in Infantry, Cavalry, Special Forces, Intelligence and Logitics units. My two favorite units to serve in were either Airborne or Cav (or both).
I was able to do many fun things, too. Germany was a blast. I became the unit expert on finding weinfests.
Then, an incredible thing happened to me. I met my wife in 1995 while making a drink at a friend's party, we had our first date on New Year's Eve, and I asked her to marry me five months later. Here's a recent photo of us:
I'm not a Soldier anymore. I'm a suburban family man now (can happen to the best or worst of us). We've got two amazing kids - a precocious five year old boy and a fearless two year old girl.
In my professional life, I am an IT Executive in Chicago. I graduated from the University of Chicago with a MS in Computer Science. I also serve on a few boards of research organizations as well trying to bridge academic research and entrepeneurs.
I started Blackfive.net because of the sacrifice of my friend, Major Mathew Schram, that went un-noticed by the MSM.
The tenets of Blackfive.net are:
Caring for the Wounded
Remembering the Fallen
Honoring the Sacrifices
I hope that you'll join us in supporting our warriors and become a Small Sphere of Influence!
