“My favorite oxbow Lake with Joe Wayne Weatherford”

     When I got off work on Friday Joe Wayne was waiting on the parking lot.  He wanted me to go to Forked Lake fishing with him Saturday morning.  He explained that Marianna had bought Polly Williams Forked Lake membership for his birthday.

     When we were approaching the gate we spotted a turkey hen and brood, in the road ahead, and stopped to watch them for a while.  She finally realized we were there and they disappeared in a flash.

     I warned Joe of the big stump under water right near the middle of the ramp and he carefully backed the boat into the water.  It was a calm cool morning and the lake was never more beautiful.  The weird spiders that climb trees and jump, spinning a long string, to carry them for miles, were everywhere.  With the dew clinging to their webs it was a pretty sight.  With the mist rising from the water caused by a little cooler weather it was erie looking and very beautiful.

     Well the fish must have been enjoying the view because they were not cooperating.  We fished the area between the two lakes for a long time and not a bite.  Very unusual.  Up to now Joe had boated a grinner and I had caught a grinner and a drum.

We got near the end of straight bank and were nearing one of my favorite areas and I suggested Joe slow down.  Joe always held the boat much further out than I and it was a long cast to the bank.  He threw a long cast to a log and Bam he had a good one on.  I immediately grabbed the landing net and was ready for him to bring it to boat.  It was a fine 4 pounder.  He threw back again and bang as soon as the plug hit the water he had a twin to the first.  I managed to catch a small bass a bit further on.

     Joe was some kind of friend and was proud of his friends.  He thought I was this especially good bass fisherman and spent the little time we had left to fish questioning how he could have out fished me.  If you ever have a friend like him hang on to him/her they are invaluable.  He was one who would not tolerate a friend saying anything ill about another friend of his.

      I will never forget when we got to Clinton.  Joe wanted to take the boat to his mom and dads first as he kept it in their garage.  He backed to the back door and stopped.  He went inside and his dad was gone but his mom came out to see the big fish.  I will never forget Mrs. Weatherford sided up to me and grinning said, “Bobby tell me the truth.  “Did Joe P in his pants, when he caught the big one.”   They were all special friends that I will cherish the memory of for as long as I live. 

She was the first person to hold me after delivery by the doctor and we always had a special attachment.

Joe used to ask me if I was going to Forked Saturday.  When I got to the lake I always looked to the corner of the lot where he parked to see if his truck was there.  If he did not show I would ask why.  He would say that there was a twenty percent chance of rain.  I always answered Joe you were not listening.  They said that there was a eighty percent chance of no rain.  Even after he passed I continued to glance at that spot where he parked just a reminder of good times past.

"Elvis Revisited by a fan"

    

August 7 will be the 36^th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley and there will be many fans make the trip to his Memphis Graceland to pay their respect.  Many of them were not even born when he died but his music lives on.

     Like most young men of the time I resented the attention he received from the young ladies while loving his music.  Anyway that was true until I was drafted through Memphis induction center and sent to Ft. Hood for basic training.  I was assigned to the same company that Elvis was sent to in the 2^nd Armored Div.

      I was 3 years behind him but the memory and adoration of him by the men and NCO`s who trained him were still fresh and they let us know.  Normally a celebrity would be resented by them but not him.

He could have gone to the Navy, Marines, Air Force or even the Army and spent his time in Special Services as an entertainer but it was his request to be treated like any other GI in a regular unit.  All the branches wanted him for his popularity.

     At the time pizza parlors were popping up all over the country and each town outside a military base had restaurants willing to deliver 24/7 at no extra charge.  If he ordered pizza he ordered it for the whole company and not just him and his friends.

     It was pretty common in Army units to have inspection on Saturday morning and if the whole barracks passed inspection they got the rest of the week end off.  Each soldier had to have on one pair of boots and have the second pair on the floor by his bunk and both better have a high shine.  Elvis bought an extra pair of boots, already shined and just for inspection, for each man in the company.

     It seems when he went on pass or leave they had to send MPs with him for protection.  They told of one example of him taking care of business.  They went into town on pass and when they got out of the taxi he was gone.  He was spotted running to help a GI who was being beaten by three or four civilians.  By the time they got to him the fight was over.  That Judo master, former truck driver, had single handed whipped them all.

      He had a juke put in the dining hall and the company kept up the music.  No cost to play.  It was still in the mess Ft. Hood when I was there.

     Another thing that impressed me was when he was assigned to mow the company’s portion of the parade ground.  Now these were old reel push mowers without power.  He got a friend to go to town and have a new power mower delivered to each of the four companies.  I am surprised the Army allowed this one.

     Needless to say I was a fan after that experience.  It takes a good man to impress all those old lifers.

     I hear that when he got back to Memphis he had to rent a bowling alley after midnight so he could have some peace to bowl which he loved. He had the same problem for dining.  He was anything but private but he had to go to extreme to get some quiet fun.  I believe the adoration of his fans was what killed him by forcing him to go to narcotics to escape his fans.  They would swarm everywhere he went and if not restrained they literally tore his clothes off of him.

     A Right Hand Salute from a reluctant fan Elvis.  You were a man’s man and a soldier`s soldier.