David Brinkman was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina but has spent most of his life in Columbia. He graduated from Irmo High School, Midlands Technical College (A.S. in Electronics Technology), and the University of South Carolina (B.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering.) For 30 years, he has worked as a software engineer for NCR, AT&T, and Intel Corporations. David is an officer and the past (2-times) Chair of the Greater Piedmont Chapter of the Explorers Club. David never had an interest in history until 1997 when, after losing his father, he began a labor of love to represent and honor his father's military service in his dad's WWII reunion group. It was through this that David caught the history bug. In 2005, the discovery of an old bridge abutment in his new backyard on the Broad River started a series of local history projects from Columbia to Charleston. The work would eventually move across the Atlantic Ocean.
