North Baton Rouge Journal

MEMORIAL DAY: I was privileged to grow up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the 1950’s and 1960’s. The vast majority of my teachers, coaches, pastors, friends’ dads, and business owners were World War II veterans. There’s no doubt they were different. They had been everywhere and seen everything. They had looked death in the face and knew what it was like to lose their best friends. They each carried their own disabilities, wounds, and scars physically or mentally. They truly loved our country. Because everyone else went to war, they didn’t consider themselves special. Valor and courage were ordinary things among the men I knew. They had a seriousness about life that we don’t always see today. Yet, they loved to have a good time. They loved their families so much because they knew what it was to be without them. In fact, they loved life because they understood how precious each moment of freedom is. Divorce was rare. I remember my sixth grade teacher at Fairfield’s Elementary School, Mr. Gautreaux, asking the class how many in our class had a parent who was divorced. Of 30 kids, only one had a parent who was divorced. Virtually all my friends had two parents at home. Maybe that’s one reason we could walk the streets of Baton Rouge at any hour of the day and night and feel safe. Maybe that’s why we kids could catch the bus on Plank Road and ride downtown by ourselves at age 9 or 10 with no adults. Unsafe? Are you kidding! Every house we walked by was a “safe house.” The bus driver had killed Germans. Once downtown, the shop owners on Third Street and the people on the street were looking out for us. Many a time I saw a shop owner grab an unruly boy and s***k him right there on the spot! “Boy, if you don’t straighten up, I’m gonna call your mama!” “No sir, I’ll be good!” The boy would say, even if he knew his mama didn’t have a phone! Yes, the world is very different when it is populated by real men who are heroes. — Woody Jenkins

ATTENTION VETERANS who graduated from Istrouma High School! Istrouma will honor our veterans in ceremonies at 12:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12 at the Istrouma High gym! It will be wonderful! Please come! If you can come, please email me at [email protected] to let me know you are coming! Please include your name, years at Istrouma, branch of service, years of military service, and rank.