Bob Wilhelm was born in 1950. His father was a school teacher and administrator in several small towns in Kansas where Bob, his two older brothers, and two younger sisters grew up, living the "Mayberry" experience. Bob has had a life-long interest in the "wild west" and grew up watching Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, and Gene Autry on Saturday mornings. Following a stint in the U.S. Air Force, where he attained the rank of sergeant, he attended Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, where his primary field of study was biology (another keen interest). After graduating with a Master's Degree in biology, he sought work as a museum director. As fate would have it, Natural History Museum jobs were practically non-existent. People get into those jobs because they have a passion for the job, not for the money, so jobs only open up when someone retires or dies!. However, a position at Fort Hays Historic Site became available, and he decided to take it while continuing to seek employment in natural history. Twenty-nine years later, Bob retired from the Fort Hays history museum. He had always wanted to write fiction, and so, immediately upon his retirement, he began writing his series "Tales of the Sergeant Major." This is his first historical novel set in the military world of Fort Hays in the late 1800s. He plans to write a tetralogy following the exploits of Sergeant Major Barrett, and the five troublesome privates of the 18th Infantry, but, as he is fond of saying, "You never know where the characters will take you." Bob lives in Hays, Kansas, with his wife, Joan.