Of Good Courage

BY BRANDY CALVERT, Ed.D.

Bessie McDaniel has lived no ordinary life. In fact, it’s been rather spectacular. Peering out from behind the fur-lined hood of a heavy coat pulled tightly around her petite face, you instantly get the sense that this is a woman with a story to tell.

On a rainy February morning in Jackson County, Kentucky, McDaniel stood in line waiting to get her box of food at CAP’s commodity distribution.

“Th ese young people take me back,” McDaniel reminisced at the sight of the ROTC Cadets in uniform, “I was a medic in the Army from 1955 until 1958.”

At less than fi ve feet tall, McDaniel’s sweet yet assertive personality makes her seem larger than life. It seems that she was underestimated from birth. One of 11 children, she said, “Th ey never expected me to make it out of the crib because I had everything in the world wrong with me.” McDaniel taught herself to read at age fi ve by reading the Bible. By eighth grade, her mother said that it was time for her to start “earning her keep” and kicked her out.

“I begged my mother. I said, ‘I want to continue to go to school.’ But she kicked me out. I was homeless,” McDaniel said.

With the odds stacked against her, the Estill County, Kentucky native pressed on. “I stayed with anyone and worked any job I could fi nd, with the aim to stay in school.” She is a picture of the gritty determination of the people of Appalachia. “If you want something, you have to reach for it. It doesn’t just come to you,” McDaniel said.

She stayed in school and went on to get medical training in Texas. “My fi rst assignment was at West Point,” she said. “I volunteered for overseas duty and they sent me to the General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. I was a peacetime veteran who cared for military personnel and their families.”

McDaniel never expected to fi nd herself in need, after a life of service. “I used to do this,” she said of the food distribution. Now in her 80s and caring for family members with medical needs,

Bessie McDaniel was a medic in the United States Army from 1955 until 1958. She was a peacetime veteran who cared for military personnel and their families. During her military service, she helped distribute food to people in need.

McDaniel appreciates the help that CAP provides. “I never thought I would be on the receiving end. I don’t know what we would do if it weren’t for CAP. I’m grateful.”

She embraces her Appalachian community and is thankful that CAP does, too. She never expected to find herself living in Jackson County after such a colorful life that took her to big cities and even to other countries. “But here I am,” she smiled, “loving every minute of it. I think this distribution makes the difference between a lot of people starving to death or surviving,” she said. “It’s a blessing to see help right here at home.”

I never thought I would be on the receiving end. I don’t know what we would do if it weren’t for CAP. I’m grateful. ---Bessie McDaniel