On Independence Day, I had the opportunity to reminisce about a true American success story which began in a small Texas town after the Great Depression.
My wife and daughter were fortunate to travel to Texas this spring to visit my wife’s family. While there, my father-in-law took the two of them and one of Grace’s cousins out to the town of Gunsight, Texas where he spent his early years.
It was a tiny town, with a population of less than 150 people when he was a resident. His family was struggling with the aftermath of the Depression and lived in a 1870s log cabin with no indoor plumbing or utilities of any kind. There isn’t much left of the town – just the church and the school house, preserved across from the cemetery by the descendants of the town’s residents. Although the outbuildings are gone, my father-in-law was able to take the girls out to see the log cabin, which is still standing almost 150 years after it was built:
The 1870s log cabin where my father-in-law spent his early years.
My father-in-law has been blessed to age very well and still has incredible mobility and memory at 85. He recalled for my wife, daughter and niece the circumstances which led the family to move out to this humble town. His father and mother had purchased land and cattle in East Texas, where my father-in-law was born, in the late 1920s. When the Great Depression hit they lost everything they had. With three young children to care for their options were limited. When my father-in-law’s mother’s parents offered his parents the chance to live on part of their property in Gunsight, they jumped at the chance.
While living in the cabin they ranched a few head of cattle, grew their own grain and vegetables and raised hogs. My father-in-law’s father hauled water from a nearby pond to fill the cistern by the house – the only source of water they had. My father-in-law and his two older sisters walked across the fields to the school in Gunsight, about a mile and a half each way. The school only had 17 students when my father-in-law arrived in Gunsight. He was the only one in the second grade, so after a few weeks his teacher promoted him to the third grade.
The school (left) and church (right) in Gunsight, Texas.
From these humble beginnings my father-in-law went on to graduate from the local junior college (now known as Tarleton State University and part of the Texas A&M University system) while working his way through school cleaning out the insides of oil drums in the brutal Texas summer heat. He then graduated from Texas A&M University and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
The veterans’ memorial at Tarleton State University.
During his career in the military he flew fighter jets in the Vietnam War, supported the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, worked on the SALT talks and ultimately rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. At the height of his career he was the highest-ranking non-service-academy-graduate in the Air Force.
I always find myself inspired by stories like his, not just because of what he was able to achieve but because of how much I can learn from how he achieved it.
My father-in-law (whom I affectionately call “The General”) was an intense competitor who would not allow his circumstances to get in the way of his success. He was confident in himself and his abilities, despite his family’s precarious financial situation and humble living situation. He also possessed an amazing capacity for communication, whether it was with his superiors or the men under his command. His command of the English language and his ability to speak it in a way that all could understand is what I believe separated him from the rest of the pack and helped him rise to such an elite rank.
The General was a natural leader from a young age and has retained this ability to this day. He can still captivate an audience when he speaks. He not only knows what to say and how to say it – he knows when to speak and when to stay silent. He knows how to motivate the people around him to reach their potential and work together for a common goal. Ten years ago my in-laws moved to a retirement community in San Antonio called Air Force Village II. Within a year of moving in, he was elected to the Board of Directors for the 700+ resident community. As part of the Board of Directors he helped plan, fundraise and implement a remodeling and improvement plan that helped prepare the community to address the needs of retirees in the 21st century.
Despite all of his success, my father-in-law has never forgotten where he came from. He doesn’t shy away from telling stories about his humble beginnings. He is proud of his origins and how his early life experiences helped shape him into the man who would dine with foreign dignitaries and help shape military policy for the most powerful nation in the world.
It’s a great reminder that America truly is the land of opportunity. If you want it bad enough, anything is possible.
The General standing next to a plane he actually flew in Vietnam at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Dulles, Virgina.