FLATWOODS AND LIGHTERKNOTS

 

I was born at Fort Oglethorpe, an old army cavalry post in North Georgia and home of the 6th Cavalry, just as the clouds of war were beginning to loom over our country.  My father went to war and I was moved to the old family farm near Claxton, Georgia where I spent my youth riding horses, tending cattle, selling produce from the farm, and reading, reading, and reading.  My grandfather was a retired schoolmaster who had turned the old farm house into a virtual library.  I would spend my nights reading and my days with my grandfather, answering his questions and drinking in his knowledge.  

Since I was more interested in riding horses and roaming the countryside, I wasn't a very good student in high school; although I did well in subjects that interested me, like Literature, Music, History, and Civics.  Mathematics just wasn't my cup of tea.  When graduation day came, I didn't have the kind of grades that would allow me to go to West Point, like my father had hoped.  So, I enlisted as a Private in the US Army right after graduating from high school.  

My first two years in the army was a wake-up call.  I discovered that math really was important and bought a mathematics self-teacher book.  I learned all about mathematics, algebra, and geometry that I sorely ignored while in high school, even achieving a high SAT score.  By that time, I was almost twenty-one years old, which made West Point out of the question.  However, Officer's Candidate School was still an option.  So, it was off to OCS and finally a career as a commissioned officer in the United States Army.  The army even sent me to college and graduate school (Magna Cum Laude), which included a summer term in England at the University of London. 

I owe any successes that I may have achieved, albeit somewhat delayed by my own procrastination, to those who took in a small child and gave him a sense of determination and a love for reading things other than comic books.  These people come quickly to mind: 

My Grandfather, James Manning Elders; Postmaster, Schoolmaster, and builder of my character.  My Aunt Augusta who took in and raised three children not of her own but as a true mother should.  My father who carried on an over two-hundred year family tradition of service in the cavalry and who taught me that people, like his beloved horses, perform well only when their needs are taken care of before considering your own needs or comforts.  And not least, all those who came before us and gave us the many opportunities we have.  Our only obligation is that we seize those opportunities, search for truth and knowledge, and prepare our children to do the same.  That is why we are all here.