Chuck Wilson, the double-decker bus driver, and Rufus Marye, the tour guide, are giving guided tours of Chattanooga.
Staff File PhotoGET INVOLVEDThe Tennessee Veterans’ Business Association is a new organization aimed at helping veteran-owned businesses network. To get involved, visit www.jointvba.org or call 423-243-3302.
Rufus Marye started Chattanooga Double Decker bus tours in June, and a few weeks later learned the Army was sending him away for a year.
Come April he’ll be training infantry in Jordan, so Marye has about half a year to get his new business off the ground and find someone to run it for the year he’s gone.
“It’s a big risk,” he said. “It’s not their business. They’re not going to care about it as much as I do. What if they screw it up?”
He isn’t the only veteran finding himself caught between establishing a civilian life and fulfilling his military commitment.