Shelby County Today

Pictured are (from left) Gene Hutto, Jan Ramsey, Kenneth Ramsey, Mary Fausett, Richard Lundie, Joy Hutto, Linda Lundie, Joyce Johnson, Dr. Jane Todd, Carolyn Umbrell, Larry Hume, Ike Reeves, Neil Woodfin, and Mike Wulf.

March 29, 2024 - VFW Post 8904 and Auxiliary members gathered at the Shelby County Veterans Memorial at the Shelby County Historic Courthouse in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Friday, March 29, 2024.

Larry Hume, Post Quartermaster, led the program and Kenneth Ramsey, Post Sr. Vice, offered the opening prayer.

Hume stated March 29 is the 51st anniversary since the last combat troops left Vietnam in 1973, now known as National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day.

 
Larry Hume, Post Quartermaster, led the program on Friday.

“Today we have the opportunity not only to pause and reflect, but to remember and honor the memory of more than 58,000 men and women who gave so much, paying the ultimate price,” said Hume.

The occasion is also an opportunity to honor and remember more than 3.4 million military personnel who served in the Republic of Vietnam or elsewhere in Southeast Asia in support of military operations.

Hume remarked that Vietnam veterans are everyday people who were made extraordinary by events beyond their control. They did their duty because they had a deep and abiding love for their country.

Several Vietnam veterans gathered for a photo, include Joyce Johnson (councilwoman) whose brother was also in Vietnam. Pictured are (from left) Kenneth Ramsey, US Army; Joyce Johnson in honor of her brother Mac C. Buckley, US Army, KIA Vietnam; Neil Woodfin, Ike Reeves, US Navy, Larry Hume, US Air Force, and Mike Wulf, US Army.

“Our Vietnam veterans performed the highest form of public service. When it all came down to it, they stood strong and when it was needed, they answered the challenge. And the best way we can honor them today is to ensure that every new generation of veterans is appreciated and receives the dignity, the respect, and welcome home that they have earned,” said Hume. “Making sure that every veteran receives the benefits and entitlements they deserve is one way of maintaining a link to the thousands of men and women who help secure so many blessings for us.”

There were also problems unique to Vietnam, explained Hume. One chemical, one psychological.

“The use of Agent Orange resulted in a 15-year fight for presumptive compensation. Post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD, produced a need for veteran centers, which finally became a reality in 1979. And before we leave here today, let's pause to honor those who have selfishly sacrificed to protect and defend our freedom by recommitting ourselves to our families, our communities, and to our country.”

Joyce Johnson attended the program and brought with her photos of her brother, Mac Curtis Buckley.

During the program, Hume invited all Vietnam veterans present to raise their hand and as they did he stated, “Welcome home brothers.”

In honor of all those who served in the Vietnam War, those who have passed and those still living, US Navy Vietnam veteran Ike Reeves will placed the memorial wreath.

“Shelby County, Texas as in previous wars and since answered the calls of duty and paid the price. We lost seven soldiers and one sailor and another marine. Marine while preparing to report with his unit to Vietnam,” said Hume.

The names that were read are as follows:

• Adams, Ted W. - Private First Class - Born in Beaumont, Texas, July 31, 1944. Inducted into the US Army November 14, 1965. Killed in action November 15, 1966, age 22. Buried in the Tennessee Cemetery, Timpson, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 12 E, Line 76.
• Andrews, William L. "Shorty" - Specialist Fourth Class - Born in Shelby County, Texas, October 25, 1945. Inducted into the US Army in 1965. Killed in action February 16, 1967, age 21. Buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 15 E, Line 38.
• Barnett, Jimmy D. - Private First Class - Born in Joaquin, Texas, February 28, 1943. Inducted into the US Army May 1967. Killed in action March 26, 1968, age 25. Buried in the Jackson Cemetery, Joaquin, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 46 E, Line 28.
• Buckley, Mac C. - Private First Class - Born in Center, Texas, July 11, 1945. Inducted into the US Army 1967. Killed in action July 5, 1968. Buried in the Westview Cemetery, Center, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 53 W, Line 16.
• Byford, Larry S. "Possum" - Private First Class - Born in Center, Texas, May 1, 1945. Inducted into the US Army October 1965. Killed in action June 23, 1967. Buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 22 E, Line 52.
• Chatelain, Ray A. - Seaman First Class - Born in Louisiana May 6, 1946. Joined the US Navy October 1965. Killed in an explosion aboard the USS Forrestal. Buried in the Longstreet Cemetery, Longstreet, Louisiana. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 24 E, Line 50.
• Eaden, William H. - Sergeant - Born in Timpson, Texas, August 12, 1939. Joined the US Army December 13, 1961. Career soldier killed in action November 12, 1965. Buried in the Mount Gillion Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 3 E, Line 42.
• Hughes, Jerry L. - Sergeant - Born in Center, Texas, July 17, 1946. Inducted into the US Army May 1966. Killed in action July 12, 1967. Buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 23 E, Line 59.
• Johnson, Taylor D. "Sonny" - Major - Born in Joaquin, Texas, December 15, 1929. Joined the US Army 1953. Career soldier. Killed in action January 28, 1966. Buried in the Joaquin Cemetery, Joaquin, Texas. Awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 4 E, Line 103.
• Lightfoot, John B. - Corporal - Born in Shelby County, Texas, July 27, 1952. Joined the US Marine Corps June 14, 1971. Killed in a training accident in Louisiana while preparing to deploy to Vietnam. Buried in the McClelland Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas.
• Lynch, Samuel R. - Specialist Fourth Class - Born in Nacogdoches, Texas, May 26, 1949. Inducted into the US Army 1969. Killed in action December 12, 1970. Buried in the White Rock Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 6 W, Line 130.
• Patrick, Calvin R. - Private First Class - Born in Houston, Texas, November 23, 1950. Inducted into the US Army November 30, 1968. Killed in action May 25, 1969. Buried in the Wimberly Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Vietnam Memorial Panel 24 W, Line 106.

March 25, 2024 - As the month of March proceeds with a lot of news reports on International Women History Month, let us remember the group of women who made history for working on the C. H. Daniels School Reunion in Center, Texas. In spite of the school being closed for many years, the original group of women brought years of enjoyment for Daniels graduates and friends throughout the years. Many are gone now but will be saluted for their hard work in keeping the legacy of the school alive. Scholarships were presented to seniors from profits, classmates were brought together from different cities and some states, and an opportunity for relatives to visit each other existed.

In 2010, after several years of absence of the reunion, another group of women formed the committee that worked for ten more years to continue the reunion. They were very successful and students from surrounding areas did receive scholarships upon graduation from high school. The pandemic in 2021 was the cause of discontinuing the reunion. The last one was in 2019 and plans were being made for the next one in 2021. The reunions have not resumed but the women who made history should be remembered as people who cared and worked hard to keep the legacy alive for the closed C. H. Daniels School.  

There are many more stories to be told about many women in Center and Shelby County who have made history with their businesses, their concern for health issues, their achievements, and their hard work in the community. Happy International Women History Month.

March 22, 2024 - “When I talk to schoolchildren, I tell them to close their eyes and remember what it was like when they left to go to school that morning. What is your house like? Was your room clean? Did anyone kiss you goodbye? Now, open your eyes. What would it be like if you never saw any of that again? Not your house. Not most of your family. They usually get very quiet.” This is how Hans Polk began his account of what happened to him as a six year old Jewish boy in Amsterdam in 1943 for the Timpson Area Genealogical and Heritage Society last Wednesday.

The Netherlands had fallen to the Germans and anti-Jewish pogroms had been instituted. “The Nazis had begun arresting Jews and sending them to concentration camps. Our neighbors, who were not Jewish, had agreed to take me, my parents' only child, if the Nazis came for them. Late in the day on June 20, 1943 my father handed me over to our neighbors and he and my mother were taken away shortly thereafter. They arrived at the Sobibor concentration camp on July 2 where then were later executed,” Polk recalled.

“Our neighbor took me to an orphanage which was run by Jews dressed as Catholic priests and nuns who were trying to hide Jewish children. Polk was adopted by a Christian family later and raised as their own. “Two weeks after I was adopted from the orphanage, the Nazis were told about the Jews in the orphanage and forty of them were taken away to the camps.” On May 5, 1945 the liberating American and Canadian forces rolled into Amsterdam. “They were throwing slices of bread to the people lining the streets. This was something we had not seen for a long time. Previously, we had had to eat soup made from the leaves of trees.”

Polk immigrated to the United States in 1956, later becoming a naturalized citizen and marrying an American Catholic. Their children were reared as Catholics and Polk eventually converted to Catholicism himself. He has visited the Netherlands a few times since he came to the U.S., even seeing his parents' names on a memorial at Sobibor. “Do I hate the Germans? No. They are good people but they allowed themselves to be misled by an evil person,” Polk concluded.

TAGHS meets at 2PM on the third Wednesday of each month in the meeting room of the Timpson Public Library, located on the corner of Austin and Bremond Streets in downtown Timpson. The public is always welcome. The TAGHS Library is located within the Timpson Public Library and is open and staffed from 9AM until 5PM weekdays. Telephone 936-254-2966 and ask for the Genealogical Library.

March 20, 2024 - March is National Women’s History Month and the daughter of the late W. M. Swindell and Beulah Swindell has made history in the area of sports.

Retha Swindell is well known as the first African American basketball player for University of Texas and still holds fame of high rebounds there. After graduation she played on two professional teams of WBL (Women’s Pro Basketball League), Chicago, and Dallas. As an inspiration to pass on her skills to others she became a basketball coach and teacher of mathematics in two Texas high schools for many years before she retired.

She has been inducted into four Hall of Fames for her achievements: Center High School Alumni, University of Texas, WBL, and most recent Texas Black Athletes Hall of Fame where she received a purple jacket. The family is very proud of her and show their support wherever and whenever she receives the honors.