Full Circle

[Mitch f]

My father was born Dennis Franklin Fields Oct 14, 1921 in Finch, Arkansas. He was the middle son, having 2 older brothers and 3 younger brothers, along with two older sisters. Two of his younger brothers died from blood infections at an early age. He attended an old school house named Bethel, which was first thru sixth grade. He rode a horse 3 miles to school every day and would pick up a young crippled boy about halfway through the ride. Back then, the older children would assist the younger ones, a little different approach than we have today. One of the biggest memories of his childhood was when he was 9 yrs. old and a meteor touched down near the Bethel school and his childhood farm. He said the sky lit up like daylight. There was a neighboring farmer who was part American Indian who had what my dad always referred to as native shrewdness, who actually located the meteor landing spot. They called in a man and his famous team of mules from the next county to extract the meteor. By that time, a small crowd had gathered around the site. My father was one of the witnesses to the extraction. He said the guy was whipping his mules so fiercely, and they were pulling so hard, that their bellies almost dragged the ground. Apparently the money the farmer received form the meteor was a large enough sum that the man retired. Eventually he, according to several testimonies, squandered the money and became a drunk! Ha ha, dont you love the old stories! Anyway, here are a couple of links to the story:

http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/news/meteorite-talk-draws-surprise-eye-witness/image_8e370cf6-bba3-5839-8b54-dca7110bcfdf.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragould_meteorite

Right around WW2, dads family moved from Arkansas to California, Kind of like The Grapes of Wrath. It was a popular thing to do back then, they considered California as the Garden of Eden. Dad joined the army and was stationed in England and Egypt most of the war. My Uncle Mitch, my names sake, went on to be a soldier who went across Normandy Beach on D2. Uncle Mitch went to England on his first leave to meet my father to present him a German Luger, which was one of the most prized possessions a soldier could get in WW2. When he got to England, he found out my father had just left 2 hours before to go back stateside.

After the war, my dad, and a couple of his family members including his parents, moved back to Arkansas. My dad met my mother 10 years after the war, and was married soon thereafter. They moved to St. Louis for employment opportunities, and to raise our family. When my father retired in 84, my mother and he moved back to their hometown in Paragould, Arkansas. He had a good long retirement and passed away in Oct 2012 at 90 yrs. old. The Bethel school where he rode the horse to school as a child, has been preserved and is now a cemetery, and the old school house still stands. Hes buried there next to my mom, who passed 2 months ago, at the Bethel cemetery. So he is back home, resting within 3 miles of his boyhood home, Talk about full circle!

[Greasy B]

A good circle. We are fortunate to have been raised by the greatest generation.

[Terrierman]

That's a good story Mitch

[kmacc]

Great story, its hard to believe what kids had to do back then to get an education. Its taken so for granted now days and yet so easy to get. My grandfather who has since past gave me his pencil box that he carried to school it's about a 2 inch wide by 8 inch long wooden box that had a lid that slid off long ways. If you hold it in just the right light you can still see his name written on the bottom of it. Its hard to believe in this day of throw away and replace everything that a pencil was so valuable that you carried it in a special box to keep it safe. I agree they were most certainly the greatest generation.