Henry Bartell Rodrigues

I left Simsboro High School (SHS) and enlisted in the Air Force (AF) in 1955. Bob Bell tried to talk me out of leaving high school and said I would never finish school if I left before I graduated. I knew he was only trying to encourage me to stay in school. I tried to get my classmate, Glen Raymond Kennimer to join the military with me, but he was smarter than me and stayed and graduated (he also married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Lee). My brother Jerry, who had already completed high school, joined with me and we stayed together over two years before he was transferred to Japan. After we finished Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), San Antonio, TX we were sent to an electronic technical school at Scott Air Force Base, which is near St. Louis, Illinois, for almost a year. While stationed at Scott, I took my GED test for my high school diploma, which I passed. I went back to SHS to receive my diploma. Bob Bell went with me to Mr. Napper's (Principal) office for me to receive my diploma. Bob was smiling as big as I was. Thanks for your prodding Bob, it helped me to complete my high school degree. Along the way I did earn a few college credits.

It seemed like as a small youngster I always wanted to be in the military. It may have been from hearing some of my Uncle Estes Rodrigues' World War Two stories, he served in the Marines and was in combat on Okinawa. One ironic thing, I was hitch hiking to Monroe from Simsboro, to enlist in the Army Paratroopers, when an Air Force Recruiting Sergeant picked me up. Before arriving in Monroe, he talked me into enlisting in the Air Force, which ended up being a great opportunity for me, because I was able to use all my military experience for my vocation. I had over thirty six years, counting my AF time, in the Federal government, which included working for the US Navy, General Service Administration, and the Department of Energy. I forgot to mention, when it came time for me to be sworn into the AF, all my family took me to Monroe, at that time Jerry said, "someone had to look out for me", so he just decided to join up also. We left from Monroe going to our basic training base. Our Dad, Mother, and sister, Willie Annette Lain, went back home without us. They said, they cried all the way home, it may have been tears of joy.

My wife Barbara (a Kentucky girl, any she is very happy when I call her girl, all though my favorite name for her is Baby) and I were married in 1974, I had three children and she had five, so we have quite a large family. At present, when all our family come over to our home for holidays, we have over thirty people. That is a reunion!

Barbara and I are RVers and we have been very fortunate, The Lord has blessed us, allowing us to travel to all the US States and many foreign countries. But some of my fondest memories are my school years at Dear Old Simsboro High School. I think it was because I had such great schoolmates and teachers that tried to make a difference in my life.

I should also mention Simsboro High School Basketball, as Billy Gullatt said, Mrs Emmons thought the Simsboro Boys were born with a basketball in their hands. We could always go to Mr. Napper to get a key to let us in the gym anytime, also he let us crawl in the windows and turn the lights on and play ball as long as we liked. In fact, every Sunday afternoon Mr. Cole would unlock the gym doors and lots of the high school boys would play ball for two or three hours every Sunday, summer time, winter time, it didn't matter.

Speaking of crawling in gym windows, Jerry had a movie theater, I say Jerry because he financed it, in Athens. One time before it was time to show the movie, Jerry, Ben Alexander, and I went to the Athens High School Gym and crawled in the window, I guess we thought all schools allowed basketball players to crawl in gym windows, and play ball anytime. Someone called the local police and they came and were going to arrest us. They finally let us go when we promised not to use their facilities again. We may have felt so relieved, we threw in a few movie tickets and a bag or two of popcorn.

Barbara and I live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville, if anyone from our Simsboro School days come this way, please look us up.

Bartell Rodrigues