"I had three brothers and three sisters older than me, so I didn't have a chance to say much growing up if I wanted to. One thing I remember was Uncle Denis and Aunt Lola having a fire in the fireplace in the late spring to heat the iron to press clothes, and sparks from the fire caught the house on fire. We were hoeing in the back of my parent's house, and saw it had caught on fire. We ran down to help, but they had no ladder to climb on top of the house, so I climbed up the post and got on top, with Rachel pushing on my feet, and I poured water on the fire and put it out."
Work in CCC Camp
Dad was in CCC camp his junior year of high school in Covington County near Collins, and then near Laurel in 1941.
"The summer before I finished high school, I joined the CCC camp. I got homesick at first, for I had never stayed away more than one night. We would build clapboard housing that we then stayed in, and would tear down and rebuild elsewhere when the work site was moved. We planted trees and kudzu to prevent soil erosion. I was in charge of keeping up with the supply of tools."
Covington County-Project: SCS (Soil Conservation Service-10 Company: 4442 Date:1941)
Near Laurel (Project: SCS-28 Company: 4442 Date: 06/16/41) .
Dad played actively in sports while in school, especially basketball and football. He graduated from Puckett - April 1942, and was president of his class (about 12). Mom, at White Oak, who he would meet later, was valevictorian.
