After serving in Vietnam, Sur returns home and finds his way to Ventura, California where he settles down and starts the first two of what will become numerous business enterprises. In the first, he begins working with his surfer friend and two of his Vietnam acquaintances in remodeling run-down beach houses. The four of them love to surf together and will become lifelong buddies. He then starts a beachwear company assisted by a designer who is the wife of another of his Army acquaintances. His third business is an oil drilling company which is extremely successful. Managing it requires that he spend most of his time in Oklahoma City. During this period, he hires David who will become Sur's financial guru, Li who after graduating from Stanford will manage several out Sur's Asian investments out of Hong Kong, Paco who will manage Sur's hotel and casino complex in Costa Rica and Luke who will head up Sur's ranching empire. While Sur may seem to be the ideal American success story, he is plagued by recurring issues concerning war and protects his privacy with a vengeance. Eventually he sets up a trust supported by his enormous wealth and, while surfing in Australia in dangerous surf, wipes out and his body is never recovered.
