"Gasser" was often referred to in Shep's Army stories. He was the Army equivelent of a "Flick" or "Schwartz" in Shep's stories. On the July 3, 1965 show "The Dago Bomb" Shep even takes credit for having Gasser parachuted into Germany. Herbert Gasser was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 27, 1923. Prior to graduating from high school, Gasser went to work at Western Electric Co., where he installed central-office telephone-switching systems from 1941-43. He enlisted in the Army at Los Angeles on January 22, 1943, with his civilian occupation listed under the category of "skilled linemen and servicemen, telephone, telegraph and power." He served in the Army until 1946, when he resumed working at Western Electric. In the early-1950s, he went to work at General Telephone headquarters in Santa Monica, where he ultimately rose to management. He was also very active in the adult leadership of Scouting in California.