Page 129 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

I was just 12 years old when the news came that Fred had been killed
during World War II. The news hit me hard. My parents worried that I
would never stop crying. Fred had been my neighborhood hero and
idol. I had thought he was indestructible. Even in my youthful grief, I
somehow knew we had lost somebody and something irreplaceable.

The simple truth is that the whole town cried. Our little town
newspaper was soon filled with personal accounts by people of all
ages who had known Fred and were devastated by his death.

We didn’t know much at that time of his distinguished service record,
of his Navy Cross or his Silver Star, or his life-risking valor in serving
our country.

Right then, all we knew was that we had lost an incredibly wonderful
young man, the likes of whom we might never see again. We did not
know how else to express our enormous grief-so we cried.

Fred had gown up poor, but he thought he had grown up rich. And

why wouldn’t he! His Mother, a hard working widow, filled her
children’s lives with love, a strong work ethic, and all the right values.
Like The Waltons” of television fame, the Kinards had almost
nothing materially but in every other way, they had everything.

Fred’s 3 sibling were also outstanding. His sister Nadine was a
popular student in high school. Younger brother Ben became a
national champion gymnast at Florida State University. The youngest
brother, Bob, went to Arkansas on a football scholarship. But even
within this family of doers, they themselves knew that Fred was

special.

Fred even impressed other special people as being extraordinary.
Lake City’s Reverend Dr. E. F. Montgomery, Sr., was named Lake
City’s most outstanding citizen of the first half of the 20th century-
and he early on knew Fred was a shining star of humanity.

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