After completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Larry trained at Sheppard Air Force Base as a Communications Center Specialist/Teletype operator. He later served at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and completed his enlistment at Karamürsel Air Station in Turkey. In 1975, he joined the Mississippi Air National Guard, serving as an Air Cargo Specialist until 1978.

His military experience inspired a lifelong commitment to fellow veterans. He worked at the Veterans Hospital in several areas, including the Vet Center, where he assisted unhoused veterans, and later retired from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after serving as an investigator in Washington, D.C., and Jackson, Mississippi.

He and Carolyn, his wife of more than 50 years, share that same steadiness in their marriage. A proud AASP member, Larry values the organization’s camaraderie and its annual support of Mississippi’s five veterans nursing homes.