Kilgore magazine issue 16 by Kilgore Magazine

A True Patriot

I am a Marine And I am a person

Welcome home Soldiers

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE Jay McCasland, Corporal, USMC (Vietnam) Carl Ammar, Staff Sgt., USAF Mike Wiggins, Sergeant First Class, USA Michael Reel, Sergeant, USMC Zack Dovel-US Army (SF-Deployed in Africa) J. C. Dent, USMC, USA, Ret’d (World War II) Vernon O. Dent, USAF (World War II) Norman Dent, SR, USCG (World War II) Ralph W. Dent, USAF (Korean Conflict) Oscar S Dent, USN (Korean Conflict) Carrol L Raymond, USA (Vietnam) Charles Wyatt, USA (Vietnam) Bob Miller, USMC (Vietnam) Vernon W. Dent, USMC, USA (Vietnam) Norman E. Dent, JR, USA (Vietnam) Billy R. Dent, USA, (KIA) (Vietnam) Ralph O Dent, USAF, Ret’d (Granada, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afganistan) Harry G. Rose, USAF (end of WWII, Korean Conflict, early Viet Nam) Richard E. Dent, USN Robert E. Dent, USAF Michael O. Dent, USA Steven A. Dent, USA Gary Paul Dent, USA Jamey Dent, USN Jason Dent, USAF (Desert Storm, Iraq, Afganistan) Christopher Dent, USA, USBP (Border Patrol/Homeland Security) Jeremy Dent, USAF (Desert Storm, Iraq, Afganistan) Stephen Wyatt, USA (KIA) (Desert Storm, Iraq, Afganistan) George M. Raymond, USA, (WWII) Charley C. Raymond, USA, (WWII) Lloyd Greer, USMC, (WWII) Paul Mears, USN, (after Korean/before Vietnam) James T. Fagan, USN, (after Korean/before Vietnam) Roy Livsey, USAF, (after Korean/before Vietnam) Jimmy Greer, USN, Viet Nam, (KIA) Andrew Greer, USAF, (after VN/peace-keeping) Jeffery Watson, SN Gregg Watson, E-4 Third Class Petty officer Kenneth G. Brown Eric Kwonrad Matt Crocker, E-3, US Navy Phillip P. Smith, Specialist E5

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

C NTENTS

October/November 2014

oe White, retires from the East Texas Oil Museum after serving as director for 37 years.

Editor: Mary Ramos

Mary Ramos

Creative Director: Amanda Reel

FEATURED ARTICLES

Contributing Writers:

Chris Craddock Kyle Parrish J. Daniell Isaac

By Chris Craddock

Danville Cemetery : Stories of Old

Mailing Address:

11 16

A True Patriot

I Am A Marine and I Am A Person

Welcome Home

P.O. Bos 150065 Longview, Texas 75615 Office : 903-918-4993 MaryRamos@msn.com Graphics@etta.com

Joe White : 37 Years At The Museum

By: J. Daniell Isaac

By: Harold Fuller Jr.

By: Kyle Parrish

An Interview with Anne DeLaet

Amanda Reel ÂŠCopyright 2014 by Kilgore Magazine. All pieces reproduced in this issue are under prior copyright by the creators or by the contractural arrangements with their clients. Nothing shown may be reproduced in any form without obtaining the permission of the creators and any other person or company who may have copyright ownership. Kilgore MagazineÂŽ reserves the right to edit any or all submissions as they deem necessary.

Advertise in Kilgore Magazine To purchase advertising space or submit editorial stories, Call: 903-918-4997 or Email: MaryRamos@msn.com

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OCTOBER

2 First Thursday Downtown til 9:00pm Take advantage of Downtown Kilgore’s Extended Hours. www.CityofKilgore.com/mainstreet 2 Art Walk Longview 5:00pm • 8:00pm Downtown Longview www.ArtWalkLongview.com 7 Kilgore Night Out 6:00pm Various locations around the City of Kilgore www.KilgoreChamber.com 11 History of Gospel Music 9:30am Fellowship Baptist Church www.GreggHistorical.com 13 Columbus Day Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas 16 Community Concert : Windsync 7:00pm Dodsum Audtitorium www.KilgoreConcerts.com 16 Morning Brew 8:30am Allegiance Specialty Hospital www.KilgoreChamber.com 17-18 Theaterror 7:00pm • 12:00am Haunted House in the Crim Theatre - $10/person – proceeds to benefit the Kilgore College Choral 18 Oktoberfest Activities all day celebrating fall fun! Downtown Kilgore www.KilgoreChamber.com 86 Cinema Under The Stars Starts at Dusk Downtown Kilgore www.KilgoreChamber.com 24-25 Theaterror 7:00pm • 12:00am Haunted House in the Crim Theatre - $10/person – proceeds to benefit the Kilgore College Choral 25 Danville Cemetery Tour 4:00pm • 6:00pm Danville Cemetery www.GreggHistorical.org 31 Theaterror 7:00pm • 1:00am Haunted House in the Crim Theatre - $10/person – proceeds to benefit the Kilgore College Choral 31 Halloween Downtown Trick or Treat 4:00pm Merchants hand out candy. Music, games and costume contest are extra fun!

NOVEMBER

1 An Evening Under The Stars 6:00pm At the Armory 1807 Stone Road www.KilgoreChamber.com 2 Daylight Savings Time Ends Turn your clocks back an hour! 4 12@12 Luncheon at Kilgore Chamber of Commerece 198 N. Commerce St. www.CityofKilgore.com/mainstreet 6 East Texas Oilmen’s Chili-Cook Off 11:30am • 2:00pm Downtown Kilgore Hosted by East Texas Treatment Center 6 First Thursday Downtown til 9:00pm Take advantage of Downtown Kilgore’s Extended Hours. www.CityofKilgore.com 9-13 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival www.EastTexasPipeOrganFestival.com 11 Veteran’s Day Celebrating those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces 11 Community Concert : Fernando Vereta 7:00pm Dodsum Audtitorium www.KilgoreConcerts.com 20 Morning Brew 8:30am Location TBA www.KilgoreChamber.com 20 Lighting of the Derricks 6:30pm Downtown Kilgore www.KilgoreChamber.com 21-22 Snow Hill Downtown Kilgore www.KilgoreChamber.com 27 Thanksgiving A day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year 29 Mingle and Jingle Downtown Kilgore, Holiday Open House in Downtown Kilgore with plenty of holiday cheer

DECEMBER 2 4 4 7 11 13 18 24 25 31

Annual Kilgore Christmas Parade 6:30pm Downtown Kilgore www.CityofKilgore.com Business After Hours 5:00pm Location TBA www.KilgoreChamber.com First Thursday Downtown til 9:00pm Take advantage of Downtown Kilgore’s Extended Hours. www.CityofKilgore.com/mainstreet Rangerettes Christmas Showcase 7:00pm Dodson Auditorium www.Rangerettes.com Drive Through Nativity 6:00pm • 9:00pm Forest Home Baptist Church KHPf Christmas Tour of Homes Various Locations www.KilgoreChamber.com Morning Brew 8:30am Location TBA www.KilgoreChamber.com Christmas Eve Christmas Day New Year’s Eve

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Joe White “Retiring from East Texas Oil Museum after 37 years as director” By: Chris Craddock

ne of Kilgore College’s treasures, The East Texas Oil Museum, will bid farewell this month to a man who has been with the museum since its inception 37 years ago and who has devoted half of his life to the preservation and public education of the East Texas oil field. Joe White, the only director the museum has ever had, was recently named Director Emeritus by the KC Board of Trustees. White plans to retire, but he won’t be a stranger to the museum. He said he’ll return to the museum next week to work halftime to write a history of the museum and to continue work on fundraising.

“

White, a native of Henderson, graduated from KC in 1963, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University, and studied postgraduate at Texas A&M University in Urban and Regional Studies. He began teaching history as a graduate student at SFASU, then taught government at Blinn College in Brenham. In 1971, he moved to KC to teach history, government and economics.

White served as historical researcher for Museum Arts, Inc., in designing and building the East Texas Oil Museum from 1977-80 and was appointed in 1980 by KC President Dr. Stewart McLaurin as the museum’s director. “Hearing that the administration had not hired a director, Lynn Welch, the museum’s job site secretary, encouraged me to apply,” White said. “I interviewed with Dr. McLaurin three times for a total of five hours, and finally he asked me if I wanted the job or not.” White said he agreed to take the job but only if he could have Welch as his secretary. “At that time, her (Lynn Welch’s) husband, R.C., was employed at KC and the nepotism policy precluded hiring her,” White said. “I said a person would be a fool to take this job without Lynn, as she had catalogued and tagged the thousands of artifacts donated to the project. Stuart (McLaurin) understood and agreed that Lynn would be the museum’s first secretary.” Originally funded by Placid Oil Company (owned by the “H.L.” 6

Joe White Former Museum Director

It truly is this kind of sharing by the people of East Texas that has made the museum so special. Every artifact has a story.

“

Merlyn Holmes, of Kilgore, will take over as director of the museum effective Sept. 15, per board approval.

Hunt family), White said the museum honors the Hunt family along with the many pioneers that discovered and developed the field.

Today, the museum is funded through donations, grants and admission fees. White is presently undertaking his fourth annual fundraising campaign to underwrite maintenance and operation expenses. The museum is filled with artifacts and oil field memorabilia that gives visitors a glimpse into the glory days of the giant East Texas Oil Field. White, along with Hyman Laufer and Lynn Welch, played a huge role in the finding and gathering of most artifacts in the museum. “I did the historical research and worked with Mr. Laufer in finding people that had things and persuaded them to donate them. I had an old truck and Mr. Laufer had the contacts. Some people wanted to sell their items, but we just didn’t have the budget for it,” White said. “Basically, Placid Oil put up the money to build the museum and the people of East Texas filled the museum.”

White said he would empty out old buildings and barns, hauling items in his truck to display in the museum. “Every day for the last 37 years has been different. We have had visitors ask if we had this or that,” White said. “One day, three couples touring noted that we did not have Tea Leaf China. They were members of an international collector group and promised to bring us a set of Tea Leaf. Three weeks later, two couples arrived with a beautiful collection of Tea Leaf, now displayed in the museum’s Arp General Store in Boomtown.” White said occasionally people will invite him to their homes to view artifacts they wish to donate. “It truly is this kind of sharing by the people of East Texas that has made the museum so special. Every artifact has a story,” White said. The first item donated in 1977 was a shaving mug and brush, given by former Kilgore News Herald publisher Charles Devall. Since opening its doors in 1980, the museum has seen more than 1.5 million people walk through its doors. “It has been an exciting 34 years, answering calls from film production companies like Clint Eastwood, or public broadcasting companies such as KERA of Dallas, WGBH of Boston and New York, and BBC of London and Aberdeen, Scotland,“ White said. “The best advertising, however, is word of mouth, and our visitors have often taken extra brochures with them to share with neighbors and friends.” Several major publications have also featured the museum over the years including the East Texas Tourism Association, AAA, Mobil Travel Guide, Texas Highways and Texas Monthly.

White is a renowned public speaker on American history, government, the Big Inch Pipeline, World War II and the East Texas Oil Field. He provides programs for numerous civic clubs, petroleum clubs and pipeline clubs including the Petroleum Clubs of Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston and the Desk and Derrick Clubs in Dallas, Fort Worth and Tyler. He has been a devout proponent in developing Kilgore tourism, chairing the Tourism Committee of the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce, serving as a member of the Kilgore City Commission from 1985-91 and has served as Chair of Executive Committee of East Texas Council of Governments. White was also a Charter President of Kilgore Kiwanis Club, and led in the creation of the Key Club at Kilgore High School, the Circle K Club at KC, and chartered a new Kiwanis Club in Gladewater. “My favorite of all the memories was working with Lynn Currin, sponsor of the Key Club, and getting the boys to obtain releases from their parents so that they could be a blood donor. The first blood drive produced 176 donors and a number were our young men.” One donor that White is especially proud of is Kilgore Mayor Ronnie Spradlin who has donated several gallons, he said. White also helped create Gregg County Senior Citizens, Inc., and served as its first president. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Clubs of Gregg County, the organization’s facility was located in Gladewater in the old Gregg County Library Building. “Being allowed to teach at Kilgore College and chosen to be the first director of the oil museum has been a professional career that many would dream about. I was able to live the dream,” White said. “The museum has been my baby for 37 years, and you always want what is best for your baby.”

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Danville Cemetery : Stories of Old By: J. Daniell Isaac

he ghosts of a historic Kilgore cemetery come to life, in a manner of speaking, a week before Halloween.

Gregg County Historical Museum’s annual Cemetery Tour turns to Danville Cemetery on Oct. 25. Volunteers including Kilgore Mayor Ronnie Spradlin will dress in period clothing and portraying several of the people buried at the cemetery that’s among the last remnants of the Danville community. “It’s like a historical time machine, and it’s great for the family as well,” says Niki Groce, a member of the museum’s Cemetery Tour Committee. “You can bring kids. It’s not like a spooky ‘Let’s go to the cemetery.’ You get to go to the cemetery, meet these people, go back in time and hear their story and what their lives were all about.”

Last year, the committee showcased Greenwood Cemetery in Longview. Among the people portrayed were survivors of the 1900 hurricane in Galveston, and a member of Bill Dalton’s gang shot and killed while robbing a Longview bank in the early 20th Century - all buried at Greenwood. This year at Danville, volunteers will portray characters like famed judge and horse exhibitor B.A. Skipper, confederate soldiers from the Civil War era, and Karen Silkwood, a Longview native turned chemical technician and labor union activist. Silkwood became the title character of a 1983 Academy Award-nominated movie starring Meryl Streep. “We want to bring notoriety to the people who were influential and important in the Kilgore and Gregg County area,” says Raina Howerton, director of Gregg County Historical Museum. “By educating people about the past and who is buried there and how they affected lives around them, because each one has a different story to tell and affected us in different ways.” The list of honorees also includes Annie V. Rossun Holt, Rev. John May Beckton, Steven Slade Barnett, June Knighton and R.J. Ogle. “Their contributions, or their infamy, in some cases, is what makes them interesting and make people want to talk about them,” Howerton says. Tickets are $5 for adults and $1 for children and may be purchased at the cemetery. The Danville Cemetery is located on FM 2087, between FM 349 and the U.S. 259 Bypass.

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ONE.

ONLY ONE LONGVIEW HOSPITAL* BRINGS YOU 3D MAMMOGRAPHY. The Center for Breast Care of Longview Regional Medical Center offers an astounding weapon in the fight against breast cancer. Our 3D Mammography allows physicians to examine breast tissue in greater detail—resulting in improved accuracy and a better chance at early detection. Contact the Center for Breast Care of Longview Regional Medical Center at 903-232-8596 to make your appointment today.

*As of August 2014 Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis. A physician order is not required, but the patient must provide a physician’s name when an appointment is made. If the patient does not have a physician/provider, a list will be provided for the patient’s selection. All mammogram reports will be sent to the physician/provider and follow-ups are the responsibility of the patient.

A True

Patriot By: J. Daniell Isaac

arold Fuller, Jr., considers himself a true patriot. Growing up in his father’s house, that was the only way to live. “He was a typical sailor,” the Gregg County veteran remembers of his dad. “He didn’t mince any words.” He followed his dad’s footsteps into the military, and it’s given him a 360-degree look at military service, how we should show appreciation for those who serve, and for the trauma that veterans bring back from combat. Harold Fuller, Sr., was born in 1920. His son says Fuller, Sr., served in the Navy on the U.S.S. Utah at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. “He survived that, barely,” Fuller, Jr., says. That morning, Japanese war planes struck the U.S.S. Utah on the portside with what is believed to have been three aerial torpedoes, and was sunk, according to the U.S. Navy. More than 60 officers and men were killed, including his father’s buddy. “Him and his buddy we’re swimming and trying to get away from the ship that was going down,” Fuller, Jr., remembers of his father’s story about the attack. “They were climbing on the beach together, and the Jap plane came over and scraped them, killed his buddy right beside him, and they found him in the ditch the next morning in his underwear on the beach.” Fuller, Sr., told his son the story one time and never repeated it to him again. “And he wouldn’t talk about it to me except when I got old enough to know what he was talking about,” he tells Kilgore Magazine. “He told me one time what happened, and after that, he wouldn’t talk.” When Fuller, Jr., was 11 years old, his father had a nervous breakdown. He believes it was a result of what he witnessed and endured at Pearl Harbor. He knows his father suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, but it had a different name then. “They didn’t know it was PTSD back then. They knew it as shell shocked, what they called it back then,” Fuller, Jr., says, “and he definitely had that.” His father died in 1988. He’s buried at a cemetery in Hallsville, where he lived.

PTSD has not only become the name for what was once shellshock, but the acronym has made headlines. The emotional scars of war and combat are being felt across America. A 2007 Marine Corps study found that military personnel diagnosed with PTSD were six times more likely to engage in antisocial or aggressive behaviors than those not diagnosed with PTSD. The disorder has felt close to home. On Sept. 12, a Gregg County veteran suffering PTSD committed suicide by throwing himself into oncoming traffic on a state highway in Lakeport, about eight miles east of Kilgore, according to local police. More and more psychologists, behavior management programs and non-profit groups are working to stop PTSD’s deadly consequences on veterans and others. The Wounded Warrior Project, founded in 2003, raises awareness and enlists the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. According to its Facebook social media page, “Staying informed and learning ways to manage and cope with what you’re experiencing are key in the readjustment process. Keep in mind that these post-traumatic reactions can present themselves at varying times and to varying degrees from individual to individual. If your reactions interfere with your life, do not improve, or worsen over time, please take the steps to get the help you need and deserve.” If you or someone you know is or may be suffering from PTSD, the Wounded Warrior Project suggests you call 911, go to your nearest emergency room, or call 1-800-273-8255. Fuller, Jr., was the oldest of six kids. He was and still is a lot like a description of his father. If you don’t want his opinion, you had better avoid him. “He was a typical sailor. He didn’t mince any words,” he remembers of Fuller, Sr. He believes that side of him, a mirror of his late dad, came forward after serving in the Air Force. In his parents’ house, he learned and practiced what he called true patriotism, “thinking that is what I was supposed to do, because I lived in this country.”

At 18, he joined the Air Force. “The military made a man out of me. I was not very boisterous or very plainspoken before, and I am now, if they don’t want my opinion, then they better not ask me because I will tell them, I pull no punches,” he says. “That’s the way I am, and I don’t think I plan to change that.” He went through training at Lackland Air Force Base, and then went to Amarillo for technical school before an assignment at a special weapons facility in New Mexico. There, he was an administrative specialist, and at Albuquerque, he was assigned to an Air Force major under the direction of a bird colonel. “My job when I got there was to keep the conference room clear and clean, plus make sure all the video equipment was ready and operational to go, because the colonel was always giving classified briefings in these conference rooms,” Fuller remembers. He says it was a job that kept him so busy, he wasn’t able to earn more than three promotion levels instead of the usual five levels before he was sent to Vietnam in the 1960s. “I was busy during that time trying to keep him happy that I didn’t get another level thing to get a five level. And when I got to Vietnam, they asked me, ‘Why didn’t I have a five level?’ I said, ‘Because I’ve been keeping a bird colonel happy.’ And I didn’t have to say anything else after that.” After Vietnam, he was flown to Spokane, Wash., where he was discharged and flown home. His arrival at what was then called the Gregg County Airport was anything but a celebration, he says. “When I come off the plane, when I got there, there wasn’t anybody to meet me, or anything okay? And the ones that were there were very degrading towards us, okay? And we have to swallow our mouths and just take care of business,” he remembers. “We had done what we were supposed to do, as well as I know.”

Anne De Laet of Smith County founded Welcome Home Soldiers in 2007. It brings together more than 600 volunteers who come together at airports, train stations, restaurants -wherever men and women of the military return home to East Texas, particularly the Tyler-Longview areas, including Kilgore. Her vehicle is nicknamed the flag bus, because she carries dozens upon dozens of flags, passing them out to volunteers who meet her at welcome home events. Among them was June 18 in Liberty City, when De Laet and others joined family and friends of U.S. Army Specialist Christopher O’Neal when he arrived home after two years serving in South Korea. “I was not expecting that. We pulled up, and I asked my mom, ‘Is this for Fourth of July weekend?’ She said, ‘No,’ and then I saw everybody standing out in the parking lot,” O’Neal said June 18. “It was definitely a surprise.” “They don’t have to be coming home for any special reason,” De Laet says “We just want to be able to welcome them when they come home to let them know how much we appreciate them.” After his discharge, Fuller, Jr. entered law enforcement. He started with Longview Police Department, serving as a walking patrolman on downtown streets during graveyard shifts for 10 months until attrition and seniority earned him a patrol car. After three more years on Longview’s force and fresh off a marital divorce, Fuller opted for a change of scenery. He went to Hot Springs for six years. His first five years in Arkansas were with the Hot Springs Police Department. He even earned honors one month for catching three armed robbers, he says. He then worked one year as a criminal investigator for an Arkansas sheriff ’s office. It was a job he said he loved. “You get to dig into the fact. You walk up to someone in plainclothes, ‘You’re under arrest.’ To me, that’s exciting, because they don’t know you’re coming.”After the sheriff lost his re-election bid, Fuller decided to return to Longview.

That wasn’t something for which the protesters seemed to care. He says that led some veterans to start organizing volunteer groups to welcome home soldiers who served their country, so they would know immediately on their arrival that their service is appreciated.

He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1183 in West Longview, but he later “got disillusioned,” he says. The lodge solicited volunteers for help, and Fuller signed up, but a commander - now deceased - told him that they didn’t want someone like Fuller “who blew hot and cold.”

“I know they didn’t happen, and I am a witness that they didn’t happen,” Fuller says of welcome home events for soldiers in the 1960s and early 1970s. “But, I also know that when we came back and got treated the way that we were treated, and most of the vets and I have talked and said that this is not going to happen anymore. When they come back now, we are going to make sure they are welcomed home.”

Fuller says it was a slap in the face. “Most of the guys out there were a lot younger than me. It kind of made me just upset that he said that. I don’t like to be treated as a step child, when I’ve done all I can do and want to do to help out,” he says. “I’m a people person. That’s why I like to help people.”

2014 | www.KILGOREMAGAZINE.com | www.facebook.com/KilgoreMagazine

MONSTER TRUCK FALL NATIONALS

A Christmas Madrigal Feaste “Come one, come all, To enter the Grand Banquet Hall!” What is a Madrigal Dinner? A Madrigal Dinner is a full-course dinner and entertainment in grand Elizabethan style, complete with a wassail toast, singing waiters, and the perennial boar’s head brought out on a truncheon to the singing of the traditional “Boar’s Head Carol.” The king and queen of the manor, as well as their royal court, oversee the ceremonies, graciously bidding all to feast and be merry. It is an event that sees trumpet fanfares announcing every course, a jester serving as Master of Ceremonies, and entertainment chronicling the escapades of Fair John and Gwendolyn, the outlaw in love with the wicked king’s daughter. It is music, and dance, and a bracing taste of flaming pudding. And, after the feasting and the merriment, the hall resounds with songs of the great King who came at this joyful tide. The Kilgore College Chorale has a long history of presenting Madrigal Dinners, going back to 1983 with then Director of Choral Activities Dale Miller. This year’s revival of the Madrigal Dinners will be held in four performances in two venues, in both Longview and Kilgore. “Those who haven’t yet experienced a Madrigal Dinner will be delighted to participate in a period entertainment where knights are noble and ladies are fair, where chivalry lives and honor is held in esteem,” KC’s current Director of Choral Activities Dr. Jim Taylor says. “Come leave the 21st century behind and sup with us!” A Christmas Madrigal Feaste is an excellent setting for a company party, a family celebration, or a get-together with friends. A limited number of tickets are available for each performance, and patrons are advised to order tickets early. The KC Chorale wishes to express its hearty thanks to both hosts of the event, Trinity Episcopal Church in Longview, and St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Kilgore.

A Christmas Madrigal Feaste

Adults: $35/Children under 12: $25/Table of 8 $225 (Tax, tip & gratuity included) Tue. & Wed., Dec. 2 & 3, 6:30 PM Trinity Episcopal Church Outreach Center 600 N 8th St., Longview TX 75601 Fri. & Sat., Dec. 5 & 6, 6:30 PM St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Family Center, 401 E. Main St., Kilgore TX 75662 For tickets, call (903) 983-8146 or contact Renee Golden at rgolden@kilgore.edu. 19

I am a Marine and i am a Person By: Kyle Parrish

20 20

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In honor of Veteran's Day 2014 we reached out to local Veterans for their story written in their words. This is one of those stories. We hope it touches your heart as much as it has ours. -Kilgore Magazine served in the U.S. Marines starting November 11th, 2001. I was in the DEP program until I graduated from high school. After graduating boot camp in San Diego I went to Pensacola, Florida and then to Jacksonville, Florida for my advanced/tech training. My first duty station was New River Air Station. I was with MALS-26 as an aviation mechanic. I left for Iraq in February of 2004.

I am a Marine and I dreamed of serving my country first without thinking about the cost. The cost meant nothing to me because I love my country and what she once stood for. Secondly, I had the hopes that my country would stand behind me as I lived my life again as Kyle Parrish the person. I remember oh so clearly the bombs going off and watching my comrade’s fall and oh what I would have given for it to be me and not them. I have a wonderful wife Alisha and kiddos and a daughter on the way and I am so excited for what the future holds, but I want so badly to erase the past. I am not saying erase the past of my being a Marine, I would never say that, but the past that haunts me daily, the pain both mentally and physically. I could deal with this pain on my own, but now this pain is passed on to my wife that I love dearly and my children. That hurts even more. Where are you America when I need you? I gave my life for all you stand/stood for and all I want ask in return is for you to stand by your promise to me. I need help for the damage my body sustained and I know that only God can help me with the mental/ spiritual damage that the war burned into my mind. Am I asking for too much? America, I am a Marine, but I have a name and it is Sgt. Kyle Parrish. I remember the horrific mortar attacks that would come daily while I was serving in a foreign land while hoping that I would somehow make a difference in the hearts of the people who I wanted to experience freedom. The question remains is did they really want to be free or was I fighting for nothing? I woke up to mortar rounds exploding around me and I have that image of my friend’s lives being taken from the explosions. God please wake me up and please tell me this was all a really bad dream. God please erase the images that have been burned into my mind so that I can just be good ole Kyle once again. We were in country during and through the main push on Fallujah. We had numerous rocket and mortar attacks during our 7 month stay. We had numerous attempts to breach the wire on the base.

If the mortar rounds and explosions were not bad enough here came the sands storms that came through from Syria. These were hell on earth. The sand left nothing untouched and left the color of red everywhere just like the blood of my comrades. The sand storms were so intense that you had to fight to breath and you could see nothing until they passed and left their mark on everything in their path. I was sent (Iraq) in February of 2004 and we set up the Al Anbar Provience Air base. We fortified the base and all buildings left on the base. As if the war were not bad enough, we were around and exposed to asbestos and other forms of insulation from the bombed buildings while cleaning up and preparing for the aircraft to start arriving. There were also open burn pits along with oil well fires outside the main base. The water we had to use was unsafe to drink, yet we still had to use it for bathing and washing clothes. If the war did not take me and my comrades the elements that I was exposed to had the potential to do what the mortars did not. I got home with the hopes that all would be well again and that I would get the help that I needed to overcome these physical and mental pains from war, but I was wrong. I have had to battle with the Houston VA hospital and the Shreveport VA hospital and even the Longview VA clinic. I still stand where I was when I returned, burdened and hurting. The very people that I thought were there to help me have created a war and it is not only with me, it has been with every soldier across America. We come home with scars and they re-open the wounds by not being willing to help because they have this title called (DR) and they know everything except what we have experienced and what it takes to help us. All I want is to be Kyle Parrish the husband, the father and the mechanic again and the friend, but this system called the VA only caused me to hurt again and remind me of the war that I once lived in. You see you can’t cover up what I have seen with a pill because it is burned into my mind, and that pill you give me to forget numbs me. When you can’t feel pain it hurts even worse because it causes more damage. You can help me overcome it by love and compassion and that is something that VA doctors can’t prescribe because they have hardened their hearts. You see, my name is not Sgt. Kyle Parrish to them, to the VA system I am just my last name with my last four digits of my social security number. This not only affects me and my fellow soldiers, it affects my/our families and our America. For those in the VA system who fight for us I thank you!

“ Hello I am Sgt. Kyle Parrish, I am a Marine, I am a person and I love my America.” 21

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2014||www.KILGOREMAGAZINE.com www.KILGOREMAGAZINE.com || www.facebook.com/KilgoreMagazine www.facebook.com/KilgoreMagazine 2014

hen the Welcome Home Soldiers began they only had 3 volunteers. Now there are more than 600 that get the alert. They operate in approximately a 30 mile radius around Longview and 30 mile radius around Tyler airports, but if a military man or woman is driving from DFW, Shreveport, or almost anywhere they will go wherever the family request. They have welcomed military heroes at homes, churches, schools, court houses and restaurants. Kilgore Magazine wanted to know a little more about Welcome Home Soldiers. Anne DeLaet was proud to share.

An Interview with Anne DeLaet

KM: What is the hardest part of your job? Anne DeLaet: It is knowing when the military heroes are

coming in. Only the families are told when their loved ones are coming home. We must wait until a family member contacts us by phone or email to let us know who, when and where the Welcome is to take place.

KM: What would you like to stress to the public?

Anne DeLaet: I guess the bottom line is that the Welcome KM: How did the Welcome Home Soldiers getting Home Soldier volunteers and I just want everyone who serves in started in East Texas? our US military to know how much we appreciate their service and how we honor and respect them and their families who also

Anne DeLaet: WHS was inspired by a friend of mine in sacrifice so much. Midland, TX, who was involved with a group to welcome the military when they came home to that area. My friend and the Midland coordinator encouraged me to begin a similar group here, and Danny Mogle of the Tyler paper became interested in the idea and printed a front page story about my desire to begin such an organization. Once the article came out, the TV stations began to call me to interview me about welcoming the military, and you would not believe the number of volunteers who started calling me wanting to be involved.

KM: Have you had many volunteers show interest in helping you? Anne DeLaet: I was gratified to learn that so many people

shared my interest in showing honor and respect to our military men and women, and, although I had not really realized what this idea would mean to the Vietnam Veterans, I soon learned that many of them wanted to help, partly because of the terrible treatment so many of them had experienced when they came home from Vietnam, and partly because of their love of this great country and support and appreciation for those who are willing to put their lives on the line to insure our safety and security here at home.

We can never do enough to repay the military heroes (and they are all heroes in our eyes) and their families for their sacrifices, but perhaps a rousing Welcome Home Celebration is at least a down payment on our debt to them. I am sure that it means a lot to have family and friends welcome them, but we hope that having complete strangers (including veterans from all branches and conflicts and other patriotic American) show up to welcome and honor them shows them how valuable and appreciated they are by the everyday citizens of the United States of America. Thanks for the opportunity to share Welcome Home Soldiers. Feel free to contact us. May no soldier go unloved. May no soldier walk alone. May no soldier be forgotten until there is Peace on earth. For more information contact: Anne DeLaet Wlcomhm@aol.com 903-279-7301 â&#x20AC;˘ 903-707-2201

KM: Are most of your volunteers from the Military? Anne DeLaet: It was amazing to learn from so many of our volunteers that they had a military family history which inspired them to want to help welcome all military men and women as they return to our area. And then there were some who had no military family history, but who are just very patriotic individuals who feel a debt of gratitude and honor for those who serve in the US military. The WHS volunteers also stand with the Patriot Guard Riders at many of their funeral missions, and many of the members of the Patriot Guard Riders often join us at the Welcome Home Celebrations.

LANDMARKS OF LONGVIEW

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Kitt’s Kornbread Sandwich & Pie Bar Formerly Jefferson’s House of Pies

M-F 11:30am-3:30pm • Sat 11:30am-5:30pm • Sun 12pm-3:00pm

125 N. Polk Street • Jefferson, Tx 903-665-0505 VisitJeffersontexas.org www.kittskornbread.com 2014 | www.KILGOREMAGAZINE.com | www.facebook.com/KilgoreMagazine

2014 | www.KILGOREMAGAZINE.com | www.facebook.com/KilgoreMagazine

KILGORE S.A.F.F.E DAY

CONFIDENCE. REST EASY. WE HAVE SPECIALIZED INFANT CARE RIGHT HERE.

When you have your baby at Longview Regional Medical Center, you can be confident that we’ll provide you and your newborn with personalized care. You’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing that if your little one needs specialized care to get a healthy start, we have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit right here, with a dedicated staff of neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners to provide care for your little one. To find out more, visit LongviewRegional.com.