Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
In a world where storytelling has been our link to the past since the days of cave drawings, there exists a timeless tradition. It's the art of passing down knowledge, and for Military Veterans, it's a crucial piece of their legacy. Join us on the Veterans Archives Podcast, where we dive deep into the heartwarming and awe-inspiring stories of those who served, no matter when or where.
Here, Veterans get the chance to be the authors of their own narratives. Through guided interviews in a relaxed and safe environment, they paint their experiences with their own words and unique voices. The result? A memory card in a presentation box, a precious gift they can share however they please.
But that's not all. These stories find a secure home in our archive, a treasure chest of experiences for future generations to explore. The best part? It's all a gift to the Veteran – our way of saying thank you for their service.
Tune in to the Veterans Archives Podcast, where history, heroism, and heartwarming tales come to life.
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Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
What Does It Mean to Serve? Billy Adams' Story
From Oklahoma oil fields to Vietnam and beyond, Billy Adams' life story captures the essence of service, resilience, and finding joy in life's journey.
Born in Drumright, Oklahoma in 1948, Billy grew up in Louisiana as the oldest boy among seven siblings. His early years were shaped by baseball, helping his father in the oil fields, and developing the work ethic that would serve him throughout life. When the draft came calling during the Vietnam War, Billy made the conscious choice to serve his country despite having opportunities to seek exemption due to his essential civilian work X-raying pipeline welds.
Billy's military journey took an unexpected turn when his 45-words-per-minute typing skills landed him a position as a company clerk at a post office near General Westmoreland's headquarters in Vietnam. This assignment came after a memorable first night in-country that included being blown off a latrine commode by a rocket attack – a baptism by fire that fortunately left him uninjured but certainly alert to his new surroundings.
After his military service, Billy returned to his roots in the oil industry before eventually moving to Florida and joining the Division of Forestry. It was in Florida where he met Shirley, his wife of over 30 years, forming a bond built on mutual respect and admiration. An avid runner in his younger days, Billy completed numerous road races, including a memorable marathon across the 26-mile bridge outside New Orleans – a feat he accomplished thanks to the encouragement of a fellow runner who refused to let him quit.
Now enjoying retirement and time with his grandchildren, Billy's message to future generations reflects the wisdom gained through his experiences: "Be calm, go with the flow, and accept what the good old United States will offer you." His story reminds us that through service, perseverance, and maintaining perspective, we can navigate life's challenges while appreciating its blessings.
Today is Tuesday, may 13th. We're here with Billy Adams, who served in the United States Army. Good morning, billy, good morning. It's great to see you this morning.
Speaker 2:Nice to see you, sir.
Speaker 1:All right, Now we're going to start out pretty simple. When and where were you born?
Speaker 2:I was born in Drumright, Oklahoma, August 23, 1948. Okay.
Speaker 1:And I think we talked earlier before we started recording, that you didn't actually grow up in Oklahoma, though, did you?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because my father was in the oil field business too. I was in there a long time myself, but we he got transferred for interstate oil and pipeline to Louisiana.
Speaker 1:All right, and were you pretty young when you moved to Louisiana. Then yeah. Okay, well, did you have brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2:Three brothers and three sisters. Oh my gosh Seven kids.
Speaker 1:Wow, what was it like growing up in a house with six brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2:Lunacy, yeah, did you have to fight for your meals, did you? Yeah, you didn't have to fight for your meals, did you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and so were you the oldest.
Speaker 2:The youngest Were you in the middle. Somewhere I was number. Well, I got a sister older than me and then I was the second one, okay, out of seven kids.
Speaker 1:So you were the oldest boy then.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, All right Now. Did you grow up in a city city or?
Speaker 2:were you out in the country? Do you recall pretty much? Uh, we, we were outside of have. Are you familiar with faraday louisiana? Yes, I've heard of it okay, we lived outside, uh, faradayay, not actually on Lake Concordia, but it was across the levee from us. Okay, you know, we had a lake there and everything. It was pretty neat yeah.
Speaker 1:Now, did you growing up? Were you and your brothers and sisters? Did you do a lot of things together? Were you friends or did you do stuff with other people? Were you?
Speaker 2:friends, or did you do stuff with other people? Or, uh, I would say we were everybody. We seem to be independent of each other. Okay, uh, because of school and the, the kids we played with and all of that kind of stuff, the stuff we did. I mean, you know, girls are going to be different than boys.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:When it comes to that especially.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:But I was into athletics and my brothers, well, one of them was in athletics. I had three brothers, and so I was different in that I was always, you know, playing baseball.
Speaker 1:Okay, so baseball was your sport.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, and did you play that all through school? Yeah, okay. And how was school for you? Did you enjoy school? Uh, were you, or was school a way for you to play baseball?
Speaker 2:Uh, it was mostly afterschool type stuff, okay.
Speaker 1:The baseball.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I wasn't too smart in school, you know, I had to ask Mr Quimby to give me a D so I could graduate.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:You know, with my class. You're right, I didn't stay another year.
Speaker 1:Was he obliging then?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what do you remember about your parents? Anything that you recall about your mom and dad that kind of sticks out in your mind.
Speaker 2:Well, my mother used to watch soap operas with the next-door neighbor. Uh-huh, let's see. My father worked for Ashland Oil and I eventually worked for Ashland Oil and worked with him for many years. Oh, okay, I would go to work with him and help him oh. And all the oil fields around there. You know there's a lot of oil fields. I'm not sure what it's like now, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's interesting because I think when I think about Louisiana, I don't necessarily think about oil fields, you know, I think about like Texas or someplace like that, but I guess Oklahoma, Louisiana, all that whole area right.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Okay, now you eventually graduated from high school. You got that D that you needed and you graduated. Were you drafted into the service right after that, or was there? Do you remember how that happened?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the draft lady called and said I was going to be drafted, but I could. At the time I was working for Houston Gamma Ray Company. Do you know what they do? No, what do they do? They do X-ray pipelines all over the United States Okay, in different places.
Speaker 1:All right, and for people who don't know the pipelines that are made of steel, when those are welded they X-ray those welds and then they keep records of it right? So in case something happens, yes, okay, and so that's what you did for them.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, but, yes, okay, but anyway, let's see, I used to. For many years I x-rayed whales. And where were we before that?
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, no problem. So we were talking about you. The lady from the draft board called.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, and said that you were going to get drafted. Yes. And she said but Billy, since you work in pipeline x-ray and you work out of Houston Texas, you can switch your draft thing to Texas, houston Texas, and you probably won't be drafted. Oh. You know, because it's a bigger place.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know, a little podunk fair to Louisiana.
Speaker 1:Everybody went right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you switched it over to Houston.
Speaker 2:No, I didn't, oh you didn't, you stayed Okay. I stayed Okay. I felt that you know that. What do you call it? You know, I felt I had to do it yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, kind of that commitment.
Speaker 2:Even though I could have got out of it.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, so you ended up.
Speaker 2:I wasn't getting along with my wife either.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you were married at this time. Yeah, okay, all right. Did you have any children?
Speaker 2:One son Uh-huh, jody, okay, he's growing up now yeah.
Speaker 1:Doing well.
Speaker 2:Well good, Did he stay in Louisiana? Then your son? He actually moved across the bridge to Natchez, Mississippi. Okay, so he's lived in Natchez many years. He's coming to visit here in about a week.
Speaker 1:Wow, that'll be exciting, Mm-hmm. Wow, he's got three kids. Oh, that'll be busy. Wow, he's got three kids. Oh, that'll be busy. So you stayed there and you eventually got drafted right Into the Army. Yes, okay, yes, and we were talking earlier that you went to basic training at Tiger Land, yeah, which is kind of a historic place for basic training. It was yeah, so tell me what you remember about basic training.
Speaker 2:What was it like when you got there? You know you learn how to the marksmanship, to shoot and all the stuff you do low crawl, just exercise. It was just a whole divvy of stuff you know, right Running every day. You know you didn't rest much.
Speaker 1:No, no. And so do you think that working in the oil fields helped you when you got to basic training, or was it kind of a surprise when you got there?
Speaker 2:No, working in the oil fields with my father helping him. That was a good experience for me too.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because I ended up going to work for Aston Oil myself and I knew a lot about the oil field.
Speaker 1:All right, well, let's go back a little bit to basic training then. So you made it through basic training.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And then do you remember where you went from there.
Speaker 2:Yes, ait was because I had worked on the river. I don't know if I told you this. I worked on the river a year on a tugboat for Ashland Oil. Know if I told you this, I worked on the river a year on a tugboat, okay, for Ashland oil, hauling oil from New Orleans all the way to Ashland, kentucky, okay, and uh-huh.
Speaker 2:So so that helped you pick what job you were going to do in the army then yeah, whenever I got to fort eustace, when I got drafted and I went to fort eustace, uh, because of my uh work on the boat yeah they, they end up putting me in seaman training okay, all right.
Speaker 1:And then, uh you, you did that for a period of time.
Speaker 2:Yes, learning how to drive the Mike boats and U-boats and those are the boats that carry equipment. You've seen them in World War II and all that. Yeah when the front of the boat lets down and the troops charge ashore to fight it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were doing that?
Speaker 2:I ashore to fight it. Yeah, we were doing that. I learned how to drive those, but yeah, we weren't in combat with them. We hauled equipment in Vietnam mostly. Okay, all right you know because they're. But yeah, they used them in war, in World War I and II, I think.
Speaker 1:But you were using them to make sure people got what they needed. Yeah, okay, so when you finished up with AIT, then is that when you went to Vietnam?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, whenever they, I got my orders. Well, I volunteered for Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And so I flew out. I flew to Alaska, oh, and to the airport. I went to the airport and a transport plane landed there and just picked me up oh, by myself.
Speaker 1:Well, you must have been pretty important. You got your own plane, I felt important, I'll bet, I'll bet.
Speaker 2:And so we flew there to Japan and from there to Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Okay, Do you recall what it was like when you first got there to Vietnam? Do you remember what that was like for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, because a helicopter took me to a place out in the middle of, of course, vietnam, mm-hmm. You know, and she'd never been there before and we stopped at this restaurant it was a restaurant and it was closed and they dropped me off and said a truck would come and pick me up there. And so I, you know, here I was in the middle of it and all that you know, waiting on a truck to come pick me up at night it was, you know I.
Speaker 2:It didn't bother me. I wasn't as afraid as I thought I would be, even though you could see the bombs going off in the background.
Speaker 1:Yeah you must have felt kind of alone, though I mean.
Speaker 2:Alone, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm assuming the truck finally came there and picked you up? Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:And took me to a unit 784th Transportation Company outside of Saigon. We were about, I think, about 20 or 30 miles from Saigon. But, anyway, Fort, let's see. And so there, let's see. Oh, I got to tell you this story.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:The first night I got there and they dropped me off at the unit. There was a latrine and so I needed to use the bathroom. Real bad, so. I go in there, you know, and a rocket landed outside the train and blew all the windows out and everything and blew me off the commode and, you know, across the floor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, welcome to Vietnam. And it didn't hurt me, I mean, it didn't you know across the floor. Yeah, welcome to vietnam.
Speaker 2:Me I mean, it didn't, you know, I wasn't injured, but I, yeah, I got christened yeah, yeah, that'll.
Speaker 1:That'll wake you up, won't? All the windows blew out and everything oh my gosh yeah did you kind of wonder what you were had got myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah a little bit, a little bit.
Speaker 2:So you got to your unit and then were you driving boats then at this time? No, I'd done those mostly in AIT and basic training.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay. So then, when you got to Vietnam, what did you do there?
Speaker 2:Well, I went in, the first sergeant was there. He looked over my thing, he said oh, you can type 45 words a minute, and I said yes, sir. He said well, welcome, you're my new company clerk. So I had it made.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was the company clerk there at a post office. Okay, clerk there at a post office. Okay, you know the big post office for years of a general Westmoreland.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, so tell this. So what was that like? Was that it? Was sounds like good duty yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was good duty. It was just probably safer there than in the States.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't be surprised. Mail is pretty important.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how long were you in Vietnam? A?
Speaker 2:little over a year.
Speaker 1:Okay, any other stories you want to share about your time there? Any interesting things that happened other than the rocket attack at the latrine? Oh, anything. No attacks or anything like that happened while you were no not were.
Speaker 2:From then on, we were in a very fortified place.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:You know, around there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because General Westmoreland was just up the road. Yeah okay In Saigon.
Speaker 1:Okay, so pretty, other than when you first got there. Then pretty, pretty uneventful tour of duty then.
Speaker 2:As far as fighting and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, did you make some friends while you were there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, do you still keep in touch with any of them?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, all right. So you were there for a year and then did you take R&R at any time during your tour there?
Speaker 2:Yes, Okay, yes, I met my first wife in Hawaii for R&R.
Speaker 1:That's where most of the guys went right. It was Hawaii. Mm-hmm. Yeah, how was that for you? Did you enjoy Hawaii?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, yes.
Speaker 1:Oh good.
Speaker 2:You ever been there?
Speaker 1:Yes, I have. I went there for my honeymoon actually.
Speaker 2:I got to tell you a story about that. When I went to Hawaii for R&R, I stayed at the tallest hotel on Waikiki Beach. When I went back to Hawaii with my second wife, it was the shortest hotel on Waikiki Beach.
Speaker 1:Things change, don't they, billy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like telling that story because you know it went from a little hotel to a skyscraper hotel. Oh, yeah, yeah that's wow.
Speaker 1:Yep, things do definitely do change. So you, uh, you, once you finished up your tour, then you, you flew back home, did you? Did you fly through Alaska again, or did you? How'd you get home?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I went through Alaska.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and then did you from there? Did you go back to Louisiana then, mm-hmm, okay, back to Natchez.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, natchez, natchez, faraday. Actually, faraday is where I lived. Okay, all right, which is across the bridge from Natchez?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so did you go back to work for the oil company yes, ashland Oil, all right. And were you working with your dad at this time? No, okay, I worked. I got a job for him.
Speaker 1:Okay, I worked, I got a job for them Okay.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:And you were still married then yeah. And you're raising your son and working, and so do you recall how long you worked for the oil company? Was it a long time?
Speaker 2:Probably a couple of years.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then you said that you went to work for the Forest Service, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I moved to Baton Rouge and was living down there for quite a while and I'd always heard about Florida.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:So you know, I decided to move down here, so that's what I did, and I've been here ever since.
Speaker 1:Okay Now. Were you still married when you moved to Florida, or were you?
Speaker 2:No, I wasn't.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you were a single guy at this time. You moved to Florida and then so is this where you went to work for the Forest Service then? Or what did you do when?
Speaker 2:you got here, yes.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Division of Forestry.
Speaker 1:All right, and what did you do for them?
Speaker 2:I was a company, clerk.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a company clerk for forestry.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you processed all the paperwork and all that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm, all right. Any highlights from working there that you want to talk about? Any interesting stories from the Forest Service?
Speaker 2:You know, it was just the smoky barrier and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Doing programs, checking for wildfires, Mm-hmm, like they're doing now fighting wildfires. Of course I was working in the office, so I didn't have to actually fight wildfires myself.
Speaker 1:Did a lot of coordination for them. Okay, so there's a big controversy. You can answer this question for me. So some people say Smokey the Bear and some people say Smokey Bear. Which is it? Is it Smokey the Bear or Smokey Bear? I've always been curious, or is it just one of those things we'll never know?
Speaker 2:I always say Smokey Bear.
Speaker 1:Okay, Myself yeah.
Speaker 2:I've always said Smokey Bear yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, and you work for the Forest Service, so I'll take your word for it on that one. So tell me, how'd you meet Shirley?
Speaker 2:I was working for Forestry and I had a house. They gave me a house in South Orlando, out there South OVT. During that time I met her Okay and she actually moved into the forestry house with me.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, All right. And now did she have children, or did you guys have children together?
Speaker 2:We didn't have any together, but she had children Eric and Jennifer.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, they moved in with you as well. Mm-hmm. Okay, all right, so you've been married for a few years now, so that must have all worked out for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what is it? What was it about Shirley? Do you recall? What was it about Shirley that attracted you to her? What was?
Speaker 2:She's an incredible. She's very smart, for one thing, Uh-huh, you know she's a college grad and everything but, and she's just a good person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very good person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, they don't make women like that much. Don't tell her, I said that Okay.
Speaker 1:She's behind you. All right, that'll be between us. We were saying she's a really good person and really smart, so you decided to get married. Now, how long have you been married? Do you recall?
Speaker 2:Over 30 years.
Speaker 1:Okay, All right. And so you got married, you raised a family and you retired, and you're enjoying your retirement now, and we talked earlier too that you used to do a lot of running.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I lived in Baton Rouge before I came to Florida, I used to run road races the 10Ks and 5Ks and I ran a marathon or two. In hindsight, I wouldn't have run as much because I ended up two knee replacements.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's hard on your body, isn't it? Yeah, or it can be.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I actually run. My marathon was across the 26 mile bridge in New Orleans. Oh, are you familiar with the bridge?
Speaker 1:I'm not Outside of New Orleans, I'm not Tell me about this.
Speaker 2:Outside of New Orleans there's a bridge. It's 26 miles long, I know.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:From the other towns on the other side of the bridge.
Speaker 1:So that whole marathon is just that bridge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they did a marathon on there once and I ran that, wow, how do you? I'll never forget this. If you don't mind me, I'll never forget this, if you don't mind me, I'll never forget this. This old black gentleman. I said I was jogging along by him and I said, man, this, 26 miles. I didn't realize that's a long way it is. And I said, and they had a bus on the bridge outside of New Orleans that would come along and you know, if you were, you could get on the bus, Right, you could quit if you wanted. You could quit if you wanted, you could quit if you wanted. And I said, yeah, next time the bus comes by I'm getting on it. He said, no, you're not, you're going to finish.
Speaker 1:So I said okay, so he encouraged you to finish that race. Huh, yeah, yeah, did you guys finish it together? Yeah, oh, okay, so he encouraged you to finish that race. Huh, yeah, yeah, did you guys finish it together?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah, Wow, that's a great story.
Speaker 2:He was a big guy too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you weren't going to tell him no, huh, no.
Speaker 2:But he was really nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, that's fantastic. Did you do anything after retirement? Did you do any work or anything like that afterwards, or did you just enjoy retirement?
Speaker 2:Mostly just retirement.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just enjoying the grandkids and all of that. Yeah, well, very good. Well, you know I've asked a lot of questions today and I'm just going to ask you one more question. Well, first, actually, is there anything that we haven't talked about that you want to talk about, that you want to share?
Speaker 2:Did I tell you the story about the rocket landing outside the Latourian?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, we did talk about that. Definitely have to get that story in there.
Speaker 2:That's one of my best stories.
Speaker 1:That's a great story. Lucky that you're here, by the way, yeah, reading.
Speaker 2:Stars and Stripes and got blown off the commode.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, you should have kept that paper. That was your lucky newspaper. That's what that was.
Speaker 2:I probably did keep it and then lost it or something somewhere along the, you know, in Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, we do that. So the only other question I have is that you know people are going to listen to this. You know years down the road and I'm just wondering is there like a message that you would like to leave for people?
Speaker 2:something that you would like to tell people that are listening to this. Well, just if I had to say something like that, I'd say just be calm, go with the flow you know and accept what the good old United States will offer you. Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Well, thanks for taking time out today to talk with me. Yeah, I guess. Okay, all right. Well, thanks for taking time out today to talk with me. I really appreciate it, and thanks for talking with me.
