SETX Seniors 2018 Resource Guide

2018 resource guide

The

Last Greatest

TAKE ONE

FREE!

of the

A Look Back

SETX SENIOR EXPO DATES MARCH 28, 2018 │CENTRAL MALL JUNE 27, 2018 │LUMBERTON ISD DOME

We truly enjoy putting together each issue of the SETX Senior Resource Guide.

We have enjoyed another great year at the Southeast Texas Senior Resource Guide & SETXSeniors.com. Thank you to all of our seniors for reading our magazine, spending time on the website, and visiting us at our SETX Senior Expo Series events in Port Arthur, Lumberton, and Jasper.

We have enjoyed providing you with local senior news, entertainment, and access to local senior resources.

This issue we are sharing highlights from some of our favorite “Last of The Greatest” WWII Biographies.

We are also providing information on local fellowship opportunities at East Texas and Golden Triangle churches.

Are you looking for a day of fun and access to senior services? Don’t miss our 2018 Southeast Texas Senior Expo Series Events.

Port Arthur Senior Expo, Wednesday March 28th.

Central Mall Lumberton Senior Expo, Wednesday June 27th.

Lumberton Dome.

Is there anything special you would like to see in upcoming articles for the senior community? Call or e-mail anytime.

D aryl Fant, Publi sher (512) 567-8068 SETXSeniors@Gmai l.com PO Box 2131 Village Mills, TX 77663 To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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WEDNESDAY March 28th 10am-2pm CENTRAL MALL, PORT ARTHUR

SAVE THE DATE: Another Great Senior ▪Games Expo will be held at the ▪Free Classes Lumberton ISD Dome June 27th ▪Opportunities for free breakfast and lunch ▪BINGO: prizes are restaurant gift cards ▪Access to organizations that serve local seniors

You won’t want to miss this fun & informational day!

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Senior rehabilitation hospital to help you get back home.

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Suites where your spouse can stay with you Latest rehab technology Star therapists: physical, occupational, speech WarmSprings.org 3340 Plaza 10 Drive inBeaumont (409) 835-0835

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SAVE THE DATE

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You won’t want to miss this fun & informational day!

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MINISTRY Senior Ministries & Fellowship Southeast Texas For twenty years, I spent most of my free time with my sons or with the whole family together. Now that they are grown and I am getting older, I have to accept that maybe I should have spent some time with people our own age. Church senior fellowship opportunities can be a great way to make new friendships or to rekindle old ones.

Here are some from around The Golden Triangle and East Texas.

Mid County

Procter Baptist Church Port Arthur This senior minded church offers both a nursing home ministry and home bound ministry for Mid County seniors.

Would you like to have someone from Procter Baptist Church visit you or a homebound friend or relative? 409-722-8097 or thurt@gtbizclass. com. The church also offers a prayer shawl ministry at Mid County nursing homes. Some of their fun events for seniors include Bunco and Game Days with Potluck Fellowship Meals.

Procter Baptist Church 4401 Jimmy Johnson Boulevard in Port Arthur ProcterBaptistHome.com To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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First Baptist Church Port Neches There are several Bible Study groups available for seniors. Choose from a men’s class, a women’s class, or a mixed class for several age groups ranging from 50+ through 75+.

There is a grief recovery group for those who have lost their spouses.

In addition to group support activities, there are a number of luncheons throughout the year for widows and widowers. For more information, (409) 727-1513 or CAteskie@aol.com.

The church also offers weekly fellowship meals Wednesday evening.

Special fellowship events are held regularly throughout the year.

Are you looking for a safe, convenient place to walk? The family life center opens at 6:30 for walkers – bring a friend, or make a new one!

First Baptist Church Port Neches 1900 Magnolia Avenue (409) 722-8334 FBCPN.org

Orange TX

North Orange Baptist Church

First Methodist Church Orange

Senior fellowship events include:

Senior friendly activities include:

• Senior Adult Team Meetings • Old Fashioned Hymn Singing • Fellowship Suppers • Men’s Breakfast • Senior Adult Luncheon • Nursing Home Ministry • Holiday Parties • Nursing Home Gospel Singings • Senior Adult Covered Dish Dinners.

• Monthly Methodist Men’s Breakfast • Senior Sisterhood • Choir • Praise Band.

North Orange Baptist Church 4775 North 16th St. Orange TX (409) 883-5678 NOBCFamily.com To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

First Methodist Church Orange 502 N 6th St, Orange, TX FUMCOrange.org (409) 886-7466 9

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Bridge City TX

First Baptist Church Bridge City The church has a number of activities and programs for seniors.

A new one is their Quilts for Buckner Children program. Does this sound like a great fit for you?

For more information, call: Imogene Ernst (409) 313-6468.

First Baptist Church Bridge City also offers a wide range of Sunday School classes for local seniors.

• Adult 6 – 60s • Adult 7 – 70s First Baptist Church Bridge City • Adult 8 – 70s+ 200 West Roundbunch Rd. • Adult 9 – All Ages Bridge City • Ladies Class – Women, All Ages Phone: (409) 735-3581 • Sunday School: 9:15 FBCBC.org • Sunday Worship: 10:30

Crystal Beach TX

Crystal Beach Community Church Bolivar Peninsula seniors in need of food assistance have a resource in Crystal Beach Community Church. Their food bank is open on Thursdays from 10am – 2pm. The church also sponsors a clothing ministry. Would you like to combine fishing and fellowship? Talk to Crystal Beach Community Church about their next fishing outing.

The church also hosts a number of fellowship meals and Crystal Beach Community Event Crystal Beach Community Church 1020 Diamond Road (409) 392-6565 CrystalBeachCommunityChurch.org To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Beaumont

Westgate Memorial Baptist Church Beaumont The Senior Adult ministry includes luncheons, seasonal and thematic fellowships. trips, a Senior Adult Council, and various ministry opportunities.

Fellowship Meal Opportunities: For Both Senior Men & Women Senior Senior Luncheon at Floyd’s Restaurant Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 10:45am Everyone will get $5 to apply to your meal.

Sign up: February 4 and 11 Senior Luncheon at New York Pizza on Neches Street March 20, 2018 at 11:00am Sign up: March 4 and 11 Senior Fellowship Night at Westgate Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at Westgate 4:00-7:00pm Bring a goodie to share with others.

Sign up: April 1 and 8 Senior Luncheon Rao’s Sunday, May 20, 2018 Get a $5 gift card towards your lunch / coffee / dessert Sign-up: May 6 and 13 Senior Ladies Only Lunches Lunch at Two Magnolias Restaurant Friday, February 9th 11:00am This is your Valentine Luncheon. The committee is planning something special, don’t miss this day!

Sign up: Jan 15 and 21 Lunch at Elena’s Thursday, April 12 11:00am We meet at Elena’s Mexican Restaurant onPhelan in theshopping center where the new Basic Food Store is located.

Sign Up: March 18, 25 and April 1 To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Lunch at Fuddruckers Hamburgers

11:00am Come dressed in something from the 50’s Sign Up: April 22, 29 and May 6 Other Senior Ministries include: • Grandparent’s Day Breakfast • Fellowship Game Nights • Quilting Circle Westgate Memorial Baptist Church 6220 Westgate Drive in Beaumont (409) 866-3417 Email: MBChandler13@yahoo.com WestgateChurch.com

Silsbee

First Baptist Church Silsbee • Men’s Breakfast: Wednesday, 8am • Walking Club: Monday – Wednesday – Friday, 8:30am • Texercise: Monday – Friday, 10am • Monday Game Time: Monday, 1pm • Quilting: Thursday 1pm • Third Thursday Men’s Fellowship: 6pm.

• Senior Day Trips • Senior Game Days First Baptist Church Silsbee 350 North 5th Street in Silsbee (409) 385-2819 Email: Info@FBCSilsbee.org FBCSilsbee.org

To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Jasper

First United Methodist Church Jasper TX Men’s Prayer Breakfast. Wednesdays at 7am. $2. Coffee, a BIG East Texas breakfast, fellowship and friendship.

Prayer Shawl Ministry. Have you ever wanted to learn how to knit or crochet? Or just need to brush up on your skills? The Prayer Shawl Ministry hosts a training on the first Saturday of the month from 10 am -12 noon in the Meeting Room of the Education Center. They will provide the needles, yarn and expertise.

• Yoga – Thursdays at noon.

• Wesley Ringers – Mondays at 5:30 • Wednesday Night Fellowship Meals. 5pm.

• Bible Study. Wednesdays at noon.

• Sunday School. 9:30 First United Methodist in Jasper 329 North Bowie Street in Jasper (409) 384-5735 FUMCJasper.org

Woodville

Woodville United Methodist Church • Tried and True Senior Fellowship: 2nd Wednesday of each month from 10am – 1pm. The typical format is games or activities followed by a program and lunch. Fun – Food – Fellowship.

• Men’s Breakfast Group: Third Tuesday of each month at 7am in the Wesley Center. Enjoy a hearty East Texas breakfast, a short devotional, and quality fellowship time. A great start to your day!

• Ladies Day Out: Fourth Tuesday of each month at 11:30am. Restaurants change monthly. Contact Norma Peterson: (409) 2833466.

• Upstairs Quilters Sewing Group: Meets 1st and 3rd Thursdays.

10am – 1pm in the Wesley Center – Upstairs! They provide pillows that are donated to heart patients at the Veterans Hospital. If you can’t sew, you are welcome to come and learn – or just get to know the ladies.

• Pickle Ball: Finally, a sport for all ages and ability levels. Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am and 5pm.

• Coffee Fellowship: 9:15 to 9:45 Sunday Mornings Woodville United Methodist Church (409) 283-2471 508 West Bluff Street in Woodville WoodvilleUMC.com To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Lufkin

First United Methodist Church Lufkin • Prime Timers Senior Ministry: Cookouts, activities, and fellowship meals. Find out about the next event: Carolee Brink cbrink@ lufkinfirst.com.

• Bunco • Financial Peace University: Dave Ramsey class to help you get ready for retirement or to help you manage your money in retirement.

• Fellowship Thursday: Meals and fellowship right in your own neighborhood.

First United Methodist Church in Lufkin 805 East Denman Avenue in Lufkin (936) 639-3141 LufkinFirst.com

We hope we have been able to assist you in finding fellowship activities in your area – and that match your interests.

Are you looking for more local activities for seniors?

Visit our online magazines: SETXChurchGuide.com SETXSeniors.com

Would you like for us to have information about your church’s senior ministry and fellowship activities?

Email: SETXSeniors@gmail.com Phone: (512) 567-8068

To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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SETXChurch Guide .com Telling the Stories that Bring Southeast Texas Christians & Southeast Texas Churches together.

www.SETXChurchGuide.com

Serving Seniors in East Texas and The Golden Triangle

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Phone: (409) 994 0300 | ChoiceTX.com

The Continuum of Care When it comes to home health care, you do have a Choice!

To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Our World War II veterans have been heralded as “The Greatest Generation”.

As we look across our Southeast Texas churches, community gatherings, and family reunions, there are less of these men – and women- every year.

Our SETX Seniors series on World War II veterans is called “The Last of the Greatest”. Today we take a look back at our Featured American Heroes and their stories.

He returned back to the US by ship Shelton Meaux, US Army and has a vivid memory of a rogue Shelton Meaux served in the US wave breaking over the ship and Army’s 25th Division during the Padrenching him, waking him from a cific Campaign. nap.

Meaux grew up in Kaplan Louisiana.

Meaux was processed out of the Army At 18, he enlisted in the US Army where he was trained as a “code man” as a Technician 5th Grade in San Francisco and returned to Louisiana via a sending and receiving coded Army very long bus ride. communications.

During his final training in Pittsburgh His return to civilian life did not imCalifornia (near San Francisco), Shel- mediately enrich him. His first job after the war paid a dollar a day. ton Meaux had a portrait taken in the A cousin told him he needed to get out event that he did not return from the of Louisiana and head to Port Arthur. war.

His cousin helped him get on at Gulf Meaux boarded a ship that took him Oil where he spent four years in a to the Pacific Theater under General boiler maker apprenticeship. All told MacArthur. he spent 35 years with Gulf Oil, retirShelton Meaux went from island to island as the campaign inched toward ing in 1984 when they were bought out by Chevron. The work was hard, Japan: but Meaux credits a lifetime of hard • Wake work with helping him live a long life.

• Midway He passed recently, loved by friends, • Iwo Jima family, and his community in Wild• Saipan wood.

• Guam Meaux served five years as the com• Okinawa mander of VFW Post 6384 in NederFinally, he reached Wakayama Japan land. and helped the different divisions He is currently the Jr. Vice Commandaround Japan communicate as they er of VFW Post 1514 in Village Mills moved toward Tokyo. Meaux moved and a member of the American Legion with them leaving Wakayama for Post 72 in Lumberton.

Osaka and then slowly up towards Shelton Meaux belongs to the Holy Tokyo.

Spirit Mission Catholic Church in After the Japanese surrender, Meaux Kountze. remained in Tokyo with the military for six months.

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Walter Breaux, US Navy

Officially, Breaux’s duty aboard the destroyer was serving as a Store Keeper.

On calm days he would order supplies for the ship and its crew. On paydays, they would disperse the payroll to the crew. The ship’s store was the only place for Sailors to get personal items. The most popular were cigarettes, shaving equipment, snacks, and candy. The Cowell had a crew of 325 men, so the store stayed pretty busy.

Walter Breaux had another key role on the ship. When the ship went to battle stations, he was assigned to a 40mm gun crew that saw lots of action against Japanese fighter planes and dive bombers. Later in the war, their guns would be used exclusively against kamikaze pilots. These anti-aircraft guns were the ship’s key defense against Japan’s most feared weapon at the end of the war, pilots who had been instructed to fly their planes into American ships, committing suicide in a desperate attempt to keep the American forces from reaching the Imperial Japanese homeland.

Breaux would see lots of action. The Cowell saw heavy combat all the way across the Pacific including: Gilbert Islands, Kwajalein, the Marshall Islands, Truk, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Paulu, Yap, Majuro, Hollandia - New Guinea, Ponape, Kwajalein, Majuro, Marcus Island, Wake Island, Guam, Rota, Sai Pan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At one point, Breaux and the anti-aircraft team were on station for twenty-seven straight hours repelling attacks from Japanese aircraft. They were credited with shooting down as many as seven in a single day.

On the lighter side…

Breaux had been informed that the ship would make occasional stops at deserted islands for rest and relaxation. He encouraged the officers to secure 100 cases of beer for the crew that would be dispensed at these island stops, as a morale booster for the crew.

One of the officers had been charged with securing the beer in the ship’s locked store rooms. A friend of Walter’s discovered that one of the store rooms wasn’t locked. The Sailors would take a few cases of beer each night to one of the ships 5- inch gun emplacements and chill the beer with the ship’s CO2 fire extinguishers, leaving a collection of empty beer cans in the destroyer’s wake.

After the War Breaux married and spent a lifetime with his wife Barbara. He retired from Gulf Oil with 41 & ½ Years of Service – which included his time with the US Navy during WWII. To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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Charles Henson, Army, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine

Charles Henson was fifteen years old in 1938. He’d grown up during The Great Depression and around him the local Port Arthur job scene looked bleak. He enjoyed going to the old drawbridge over the Intercoastal Waterway near Pleasure Island in Port Arthur. He’d eat jelly beans and watch the ships go by.

They were a child’s actions, but he had a man’s yearning for the sea.

The family moved to Beaumont, and he no longer could see the ships. The smell from the Magnolia Refinery reminded him of them, until he could not take it anymore.

He told his mom he’d like to go to sea, and they talked to Commander Scott with The Coast Guard. At fifteen, Charles was not eligible for service, but Commander Scott allowed Charles’ mother to sign an affidavit that he was sixteen. He was assigned the lowest rank in the Merchant Marine “mess man”.

With good jobs hard to find, there were lots of older, more experienced men also looking for work on the ships.

He went to the hiring gate every day for three months before getting a position on the S.S. Aurora with a salary of $60 per month. Henson was in love with the ship and the romance of life at sea. He soon figured out he was really a glorified maid essentially performing housekeeping duties. Typical assignments were peeling potatoes, cleaning the officers’ state rooms, and other odd jobs. He didn’t care. His dream of being a seaman was coming true. On his first voyage, his ship sailed right past the old drawbridge where he used to eat jellybeans and watch others live a life of adventure.

From 1938-1940, Henson sailed around the world with the U.S. Merchant Marine. The Port Arthur boy who had never been anywhere soon found himself in New York, Aruba, and the Congo. In the Congo he remembers seeing giant crocodiles in a river where African children swam nearby. He wondered why they children did not fear the crocodiles. He also remembers hearing jungle noises at night that brought to life the Tarzan movies he’d watched on the screen just a few years earlier. Charley also visited the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, Nagasaki Japan, Sumatra, Borneo, and several Russian cities.

Henson has a vivid memory of his Merchant Marine convoys to provide war supplies to the Russians who were already well into their deadly conflict with Germany. The Merchant Marine Convoys were taking supplies to the Russian cities of Murmansk, Vladivostok, and Arkhangelsk. Their convoy was assembled in Reykjavik Iceland, which he remembers being, “as far north as a sailor can go with nothing there to tempt a sailor”. The convoys typically contained bulk carriers and tankers. Twenty to one hundred ships would travel together. In a convoy, all ships travelled at the speed of the slowest ships which made them easy prey for German submarine “wolf packs” and Stuka dive bombers. Some of the ships were armed. Henson’s ship had a five-inch cannon on the stern and a 3.5-inch cannon on the stern. They also had four 20mm cannons, two on each To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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side. Charles was assigned to one of the 20mm cannons.

About half way across the Atlantic, the German Stukas could be counted on to appear. The Merchant Marine gunners did not have much chance of hitting the attacking dive bombers but were told they could, “keep them from effectively making their dive”. On one convoy trip, six Stukas attacked. Henson and the other gunners were unable to hit any of them, but they were successful in keep the bombers from hitting any of the ships in the convoy. This is one of many days when Henson remembers giving prayers of thanks. Henson did say that he and the other gunners had never heard of earplugs back then and remembers being unable to hear for thirty minutes after the encounter, and he is 80% deaf today.

One of his last ports in this portion of his time with the Merchant Marine was Shanghai in China. It was in Shanghai that Charles had his next brush with World War II. Henson’s ship was supplying oil to China (they were also still selling oil to Japan at this time), and any study of the Japanese motivations in the early part of the war includes the importance of oil. Japan both wanted oil and wanted to prevent their enemies from having oil. Henson had a friend in Shanghai named Lucy Wong. He asked her what would become of her as the war intensified and she said, “One day the Japanese will come and then there will be no more Lucy Wong”. Japanese dive bombers were actively bombing Chinese towns and cities. Henson’s ship the India Arrow was ten miles upriver when they got an order to sail immediately as news broke that the US and Japan had broken diplomatic relations. The India Arrow was stopped on its way down the Yangtze River to the sea by a Japanese Destroyer. After several minutes of silence during which the Japanese presumably communicated with their command for instructions, the Japanese destroyer turned and vanished into the night. Charles wondered later if they’d been let go so Japan would not tip the hand of their pending aggression. The India Arrow actually stopped at Pearl Harbor for a couple of days to refuel before heading back to The US. In 1941, the world changed with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Henson was drafted into the United States Army. He was not destined to leave the sea he loved, however. A colonel came into training and requested all of the men that had Merchant Marine certifications. Henson was transferred to a brand new part of the U.S. Army, the landing craft division at Camp Edwards. Henson was assigned to a high powered patrol boat with twin gasoline engines and a top speed of forty miles per hour. The boat had a .50 caliber machine gun in the front and a .30 caliber machine gun in the back.

The German submarines were sinking 2-3 ships a day from Corpus Christi to Maine, leading to another new initiative, the Liberty Ship campaign. Henson’s Merchant Marine certifications were again valuable, and he was transferred back to The Merchant Marine under The US Coast Guard. He was transferred to Beaumont and assigned to a tanker ship. His team refueled 2-3 ships per day for 18 months in the South Pacific.

During this portion of his career, Henson saw they brutality of war up close.

He watched a torpedo stream by his ship and sink the US Navy Tanker. Henson remembers refueling the mighty British Battle Ship King George. The next day they received word that the King George had been sunk. Shortly after, he saw a Texaco tanker that had been sunk by German subs when the Germans attached the refineries at Aruba. Henson and his ship arrived the day after the attack.

One of the German subs surfaced near them and followed them for a half an hour before turning away. Henson and the crew believed the Germans had used all of their torpedoes and ammunition in the Aruba refinery attack and were waiting for resupply.

The war did not only affect Henson. His brother, also a sailor, was nearly killed when the SS Ario was sunk by German subs off the coast of South Carolina.

Charles’ ship passed the wreckage of his brother’s sunken ship shortly after. It To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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was months before he heard that his brother was still alive.

Henson applied for a transfer back to the Army. Initially it was refused due to the importance of the refueling mission, but it was finally approved by Admiral Land. When he got to the Army, a whole new series of adventures awaited him.

He was assigned to the 382nd Military Police Battalion in Europe. Under Captain Klein, Charles saw a wide range of duties. One that made a tremendous impression on him was assisting with depositions during the Nuremburg War Trials. His commanding officer, Captain Klein, spoke fluent German. He brought in two Jewish ladies to tell their story at treatment under the SS. They were prisoners in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In one incident, they were stripped naked and Nazi officers rode them around like horses with a whip until they collapsed from exhaustion. In another incident, one of the girls was again stripped naked and Nazi guards sat on her while a female German concentration camp guard defecated on one her face and made her yell, “I am a Jew, a filthy stinking Jew”.

He also assisted in attempting to restore some normalcy to the German city of Bremen that had been 90% destroyed by allied bombing and by fighting between the Germans and Allied Forces. He pulled German bodies out of the rubble and assisted with grave registration for the Germans. He was assigned as a motorcycle escort under General Wainwright, a posting that would benefit him later in civilian life.

There was a soft side and a hard side to the military police job. On the soft side, one day on patrol several elderly German ladies were taking coal from the supply station. When asked by a new recruit what to do, the officer said, “Not a damn thing – let them have it or they will freeze” On the hard side, some of the cooks and truck drivers were deserting after the war ended and taking up with local German girls. One was involved in an incident in which a child was killed. The deserter fled through a carnival crowd and locked himself in a bathroom stall. When he refused to come out, the same officer used his Tommy gun to make an “X” in the door, killing him.

The motorcycle patrol portion of the job sometimes put the MPs at odds with officers from other branches and from Allied forces. There were a number of accidents due to unsafe speeds, and Charles and his partner were told to strictly enforce the speeding policy. On one patrol, a black Mercedes was speeding excessively and Henson and his partner chased them for 2-3 miles before the driver would pull over. When they finally got to the vehicle, Henson was confronted by a senior officer who was in charge of the US Navy base in Bremerhaven. The senior officer was angry at being pulled over and yelled, “Who do you think you are.” Charles calmly answered, “We know who we are, who are you?” The furious naval officer even tried to get them arrested. Captain Klein backed them up and the officer was prosecuted for excessive speed and evading arrest. The drama did not stop there. Henson and his partner later arrested a Russian Major and a British Captain.

In a lot of the movies we see today about World War II there is a lot of strong language. That was not Charles Henson’s experience in World War II in any of the three branches he served in. There was not much cursing by Germans either, in fact they did not seem to have curse words in the way we do. If they were angry, their big insult was “pig dog”.

Not only did Charles Henson see with world, he also met a “who’s who” of World War II leaders including Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Omar Bradley.

Back in the US after the war, Henson was assigned to the Fourth US Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He served under Four Star General Jonathan M. Wainwright who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Henson was then a Staff Sergeant with the 62nd Military Police Platoon.

When Charles and his MP partner came up for re-enlistment, Henson opted to To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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leave the service and return to the US. His partner reenlisted and was killed in Korea.

One of Henson’s final assignments with the Army was to assist in an eighty vehicle convoy. When a fellow MP was hit by a drunk driver, Charles was sent to Beaumont to get a statement. Beaumont PD Chief Pollock was impressed with his uniform and highly shined leather. He told Henson that he wanted him for the Beaumont PD. Henson joined the Beaumont PD, serving for eight years on motorcycle patrol. The pay back then was $190 per month. They worked six days each week with no overtime pay. Life as a Beaumont police officer had its own dangers.

Henson once shot a car thief in the foot to prevent his escape. Another time he had to draw his gun to arrest a man who had shot someone on Broadway near downtown Beaumont. The most traumatic event was an accident. He went by his partner’s house before a shift to tell him that he was going in early to have his radio worked on. When he got to the station, he received word that his partner had been killed shortly after on the way in when his police motorcycle was hit by a drunk driver at Willow and Harrison.

After the police department, Charles moved to Mobil Oil in the plant security department. He served there for four years until the department was outsourced.

He then served with the air ambulance team in Beaumont.

If you see Charles Henson out in the community. You’ll recognize him.

He has made himself a uniform that honors the branches of the service he served in during World War II – Army, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine.

He wears it proudly and is always happy to share his experience and pride at being a US veteran.

To Advertise Call (512) 567-8068 Today!

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TJ Sasser

TJ Sasser has had a rich life – former Port Neches mayor, World War II Veteran, pastor, and family man.

TJ Sasser began working for Texaco in 1936. He worked at their asphalt plant in Port Neches for seven years until he was drafted for service in World War II with the US Army. He was making forty-eight cents an hour with Texaco, and he was happily married to Edna Sasser when the war broke out. At twentyfive years old, he was drafted (practically an “old man”) with mostly 18-21 year olds and went to basic training at Fort Lewis in Washington. He joined H Company in the 44th Division of the New York / New Jersey National Guard.

After time serving as a training cadre in the states and performing maneuvers in Louisiana, Sasser’s unit went to Kansas to prepare for deployment to Europe.

H Company went directly to France on a captured Italian luxury liner. They landed in Cherbourg France a couple of months after D-Day. The war was at a high point and the German’s were determined to hold on to France. Fighting was fierce as both Allied and German forces sought an upper hand.

In Southern France Sasser was a squad leader on an 81mm mortar crew. Being part of a mortar crew involved a lot of heavy lifting. The base plate was 45 pounds, the tripod was 45 pounds, and the barrel was 45 pounds. The mortar required a crew of seven infantry soldiers to carry and operate it.

On November 11th 1944, Sasser’s team was operating near Nancy in Southern France. They were detached to another unit to lend support. Their mission was to find a deadly, experienced German mortar emplacement and to attempt to take it out. TJ and a member of his team were spotted by a German forward observer, and they were shelled by German mortar fire. In an instant, Sasser’s war was over. His leg was severely injured by mortar shrapnel. TJ was shipped out to Bristol England for surgery and recovery. After some time to heal, he was shipped to El Paso for further treatment. Sasser was discharged in San Antonio, and he made his way back home to Port Neches - and to Edna.

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TJ’s story continued well after World War II ended.

This was a comparative golden era for employer – employee relationships and commitment. TJ Sasser’s job was waiting for him at Texaco. He spent forty years with them, moving up through the ranks. He retired as a supervisor of packaging and shipping in 1980 at age 62.

Today Sasser is 97. We were introduced to Sasser by one of his proud grandsons.

He speaks highly of his wife Edna, his partner thoughout a long and happy life.

They went to a movie on a blind date. TJ points out that, “It was just the movie – not dinner and a movie. There wasn’t money back then for both!” Edna was working as a waitress at Moncla’s Cafeteria. They were married on December 12, 1939. TJ appreciates the way Edna supported him in all of his endeavors: TJ served as pastor of the Thorn Crown Chapel in Eureka Springs. He pastured several churches near Port Neches and served as interim pastor in churches from Sabine Pass to Woodville.

He served on the city council in Port Neches for six years and was proud to serve his community as the Port Neches Mayor for six years.

Sasser is a member of the American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans.

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McKinley Bland, Chief Petty Officer US Navy

McKinley Bland served in the Navy during World War II and beyond in a unique role that put him in a position to witness key historical moments and figures.

When McKinley was 19, he enlisted in the US Navy and was sent to Hawaii to serve on the Heavy Cruiser Salt Lake City. The impressive warship, called by some “The One Ship Fleet”, is widely regarded to have taken part in more battles than any other ship during WWII. McKinley was aboard for all of them.

He began his career as a mess steward. He would bake, cook meals, and serve the officers. As a mess steward, he was able to meet most of the 1300 service men on the crew.

The USS Salt Lake City was headed from Wake Island to Pearl Harbor for war games when they heard of the attack. They had actually been assigned to play the role of a Japanese ship attacking Pearl Harbor. Instead, they found themselves fighting a real war against the Japanese.

For the first time, Bland saw the Captain strap on a side arm. The Salt Lake City soon found itself in one of its first engagements, trading fire with two Japanese submarines. Bland saw a submarine fire torpedoes that went right under his ship and headed for the Battleship North Carolina. The torpedoes just missed the North Carolina. Both ships were very lucky that day.

Early in the war, black men did not work the guns. They carried the ammunition. McKinley Bland and others pushed to be allowed to man a gun.

Bland and seven other black men were rewarded with an assignment to crew one of the five-inch cannons. When an attack came, a US Marine was assigned to lock the gunners inside the gun until the battle was over.

Typically, mess stewards were passed over promotion. One of the officers went to bat for McKinley Bland, refusing to sign the promotion list unless Bland was promoted to Chief Third Class. This was the third case in a short time of McKinley being a witness (and beneficiary) of someone taking a stand against the way things had “always been done” in the Navy regarding race.

It was a big promotion for Bland, bringing an elevation in pay to $250 per month and a new uniform.

McKinley was distilling fresh water from salt water when he received the news. He remembers writing his mother to tell her while officers played the song “Acey Deucey” over the ship’s radio and the crew engaged in widespread celebratory craps and card games all around him.

Bland would soon be thrust into another of the great moments in US history. His ship was assigned to meet up with the Carrier Ranger and accompany the Doolittle Group on their historic attack run on Tokyo the Say, “I saw it in SETX Seniors Guide”

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first time the war was taken to the Japanese mainland.

If you are interested in WWII, this was truly one of the great symbolic moments. The plan was daring almost to the point of being suicidal. The run was very long. After sinking one Japanese ship, the destroyers had to turn back to avoid running out of fuel and being stranded in Japanese controlled waters. The Salt Lake City, The Carrier Ranger, and the bombers continued their mission. The bombers had been modified to carry twice their normal fuel reserves. There would be no fighter escort – fighter places simply could not carry enough fuel. The bombers were too big to land back on the carriers, so they had to land in China and Russia – all would crash land, out of fuel. The attack signified to the Japanese that The Americans Are Coming. To Americans, the attack symbolized that Japan was finally vulnerable to US attack.

As a senior steward, Bland was transferred to fly with VIPs around the world.

He flew with a US Admiral to Pearl Harbor in preparation for dropping the first atomic bomb on Japan.

At one point, he travelled with President Eisenhower on a trip to France for four days.

In London, he was there for the inauguration of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

He flew to the Vatican for the coronation of Pope John Paul II. Who could have guessed that a humble beginning as a mess steward would bring McKinley Bland into the company of Admirals, The Queen of England, The Pope, and The President of the United States?

After he retired, Bland joined the US Post Office where he put in another twenty years earning a second federal retirement.

McKinley Bland is a 33rd degree Mason and served as President of his Masonic Order.

He is currently living in Port Arthur.

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Louis Scott, US Army

When you serve in the Army, you do not always feel valued and appreciated.

Often there is more emphasis on everyone performing and being valued the same, silent wheels in the cogs of the United States’ well-oiled war machine.

In contrast, it was nice talking with Louis Scott about his World War II experiences. He was fortunate to regularly be told how much his commanding officers valued his contribution to their team.

In 1943, Louis Scott enlisted in the United States Army right here in Beaumont.

After a brief medical examination in Houston, Louis was given a week back home before shipping out for basic training. He was a young man, excited for the adventure he would find in a war that stretched to every corner of the globe. He bragged to his friends about the role he would play in the war.

Then came basic training. Louis was not quite as prepared for the Army as he thought he would be. The drill sergeants were tougher than he ever imagined.

They broke him down in a way that overwhelmed him. His basic training experience was so rough that Louis turned to his grandfather and his godfather for relief. Both were farmers. They were surprised by Scott’s uncharacteristic distress and teamed up to hire a lawyer to try to get him released from service.

When he found out that the lawyer’s efforts were denied, Scott went back to the barracks and cried. The drill sergeants’ response? A twenty-mile hike.

A surprising thing happened after basic training.

Louis Scott loved the US Army.

He was sent to cooking school and excelled.

The Fort Lee Mess Sergeant was impressed with Scott when he made five perfect chocolate sheet cakes without a recipe and without measuring his ingredients. The Mess Sergeant had told Louis that if he was not going to use a recipe, that his cakes better be absolutely perfect. They were- moist, rich, and flavorful. Scott humbly credited watching his mom bake for his success. Scott was installed as Fort Lee’s 3rd Cook in charge of baking desserts and pies – hand crafted treats that were very popular with the soldiers. Louis rose quickly, being promoted rapidly to 1st cook and then to Mess Sergeant.

Even if it wasn’t the way he had originally envisioned it, Louis Scott had found his way to live up to his bold statements to his friends back in Beaumont. He was now Sergeant Scott of the US Army.

Every two months, Scott watched a new class of recruits graduate and board a train to California. Their next stop would be the war in the Pacific.

Several times, Scott thought he would join them. He requested overseas duty a number of times. Each time, a last-minute request from a superior office would hold Scott back in Fort Lee. On one occasion, the revised orders came after he Say, “I saw it in SETX Seniors Guide”

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had already boarded the train to California.

An officer told him that the quality of food he was providing for the huge number of troops headed overseas was extremely valuable and that he should be proud of his contribution. He was giving soldiers a taste of home before being sent abroad – something not all Army cooks could deliver.

Louis Scott won seven prestigious mess hall inspections in a row. His captain invited the general to dine with them monthly.

Knowing how much Scott had wanted to go overseas, his commanding officer gave him a special assignment – cooking on the trains bound from Fort Lee to California. He said, “That way I know our soldiers will leave for their assignments happy, well fed, and well cared for”.

Louis Scott was married during his time in the service and lived with his wife off base.

After the war, he returned to Beaumont and found that it was like a Las Vegas on the Gulf Coast. The area was hopping with night life. Scott went to work for a popular private night club that did a brisk gambling business. He waited tables and served drinks to the high rollers, couples on dates, and the local business people who frequented the club. Oil money was everywhere.

One gambler would rub Scott’s hair for good luck. When he won, he would tip Louis $100.

A Houston oilman’s wife dropped her earring. When Scott found it, he received another $100 tip.

Popular with the clientele, Scott would make $80 - $100 during a Friday / Saturday shift. That was a lot of money in the 1940s and 50s!

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How much? In 1955, Scott bought a brand-new Mercury with his wife for $1500 cash. In his car, he made his own bank and kept it in his trunk. He always had money to lend people in the neighborhood.

A well-intentioned politician out of Houston came to Beaumont and shut down all of the gambling and night spots.

Due to his popularity, Scott quickly found work with a pipeline contractor that worked with Mobil Oil. Some of the jobs were tough, like a fifteen-day assignment to do emergency repairs on a remote pipeline in an area with no hotel room.

One of the things his new employer appreciated was that no matter how early they were scheduled to leave for a project, Scott was never late. He had an internal clock and never needed an alarm. If they wanted to leave for a project at 3 am, Scott could be relied on to be ready to go every time.

Soon they found something they liked even more – Scott’s cooking. When a caterer was dismissed for poor food quality, Scott took over and prepared a large number of briskets that were pronounced the best his team had ever eaten.

Soon he was cooking for all of their events. When executives from Mobil came to town, Scott was requested for his signature char-broiled steaks, seared over mesquite wood.

His food was so popular that the President of Mobil Oil Pipeline wanted to serve Scott’s gumbo for a party he was throwing. He sent Mobil’s private plane to Beaumont to pick it up.

He also was requested to fix breakfasts at the hunting ranch of the President of Mobil’s pipeline division.

In those days, you could see some pretty interesting things in the oil business.

Scott recalled an occasion on which a valued older contractor was told he was going to have to retire do to the industry’s shift to computerized systems he was not familiar with. He was told to bid the next job exorbitantly high.

He would be awarded the contract as a reward for his years of working with Mobil – and the artificially inflated rate for the job would fund a comfortable retirement for a valued partner.

Louis Scott has enjoyed life tremendously.

He turned 95 last year.

He does have a few things he credits to his long life: Six days a week he walks a mile in his neighborhood. Everyone recognizes him and waves.

He still washes his own dishes and folds his own clothes.

He has some stretches that keep his muscles, back, and limbs loose and comfortable.

Scott is a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he is especially fond of the music.

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Lester Trauth, a D-Day Survivor.

Today, Lester is one of those likeable mature men who you see having animated conversations with waitresses, store clerks, and strangers he comes across on road trips – a fun, gentleman who makes you feel better at the end of your conversation.

His World War II experience was a real life “Saving Private Ryan”.

He landed on the beach at D-Day and served through the entire war – walking through most of Western Europe along the way.

In one incident, he’d taken off his large army overcoat that he dubbed his “horse blanket” and wrapped it up tightly and packed it in his backpack. A German mortar shell exploded and a shrapnel fragment tore through Lester’s backpack, mess kit, an extra pair of socks, the field radio batteries, his emergency MREs (including a Hershey bar) and halfway through his folded overcoat- all at the center of his backpack. If he had been carrying one less item, the shrapnel would have shattered his spine.

This was just one of the brushes with death Lester survived in his march across Europe.

A particularly odd event happened to Lester near the end of the war.

Trauth was standing on one side of the river alone about to take a swim when a much larger group of Germans showed up on the other side with their hands up wanting to be taken prisoner. “I didn’t even have a way to get to them. It was the funniest thing ever. They wanted to surrender, and I couldn’t get to them. If they wanted to, they could have just walked away and disappeared. I couldn’t have done anything to them. They didn’t want to walk away though. They were through with the war. They’d had all they wanted.”

Lester was able to commandeer a French boat and ferry the Germans back to the American side of the river for surrender.

At the end of the war, Trauth was a US Army corporal.

He was awarded four battle stars and the combat infantry badge.

Trauth has been a member of the American Legion for 66 years with Post 222 out of Marrero LA.

We greatly enjoyed the time these true American Heros spent with us.

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