Ralph Daigle's Small World

BOB: I WAS RECENTLY CONTACTED BY NELDA SUE LEOPARD BLYTHE POPE. SHE WAS THE WIFE OF OUR BELOVED FRIEND AND CLASS MATE TONY BLYTHE, WHOM I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER. SHE IS AN ISTROUMA GRADUATE, AS WELL AS HER BROTHERS DUANE LEOPARD, AND DONNIE LEOPARD. SHE EXPLAINED TO ME THAT TONY WAS ILL WITH RENAL CELL CARCINOMA. WITH A LOT OF MEDICAL CARE, AND PRAYERS, NELDA AND TONY REALLY THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD RECOVER. GOD HAD DIFFERENT PLANS FOR HIM, AND AFTER TWO PAINFUL AND FRUSTRATING YEARS, GOD CALLED HIM HOME. SHE AND TONY HAD FOUR CHILDREN, DARRELL, WHO PASSED AWAY IN 1987, GARY, RHONDA, AND BRENT. IF THEY ARE ANYTHING LIKE TONY, I'M SURE THEY BRING HER GREAT COMFORT. NELDA WAS REMARRIED, TO REID POPE, AND THEY NOW RESIDE IN FORT COLLINS.

NELDA HAS RECENTLY LEARNED, SAW, AND READ, THE ARTICLE THAT I SENT TO YOU ABOUT NEIL JONES, OUR FORMER VIETNAM PRISONER OF WAR HERO,AND THE INCLUDED PICTURES OF TONY, RUSSELL, BILLY AND ME, ON OUR TRIP TO FLORIDA. SHE WAS THRILLED TO DEATH. SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE AND TONY HAD JUST STARTED DATING, WHEN THAT TRIP WAS TAKEN. SHE ALSO RECOGNIZED TONY'S 1947 PLYMOUTH SHOWN IN THE PICTURES, AND ALSO RECALLED THAT TONY HAD TAUGHT HER TO DRIVE, IN THAT CAR. KEEP IN MIND THAT NEIL IS MARRIED TO TONY'S SISTER, GLENDA BLYTHE JONES. SMALL WORLD ISN'T IT?

IT IS ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR NEWS ABOUT ANY FELLOW ISTROUMA INDIANS, ESPECIALLY "CLASS OF 1954" INDIANS. SINCERELY, RALPH DAIGLE

I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS COINCIDENCE. I SING WITH A GROUP KNOWN AS "COMMUNITY SINGERS", IN GONZALES, LA., OF WHICH I AM ONE OF THE YOUNGEST MEMBERS. IMAGINE THAT. WE SING AT SIX DIFFERENT NURSING HOMES, REGULARLY, AND ON OCCASION, OTHER PLACES.

ON MEMORIAL DAY WE WERE ASKED TO SING AT A MILITARY MEMORIAL, HONORING ALL OF THE VETERANS, OF ALL WARS. THE MAIN SPEAKER WAS A FORMER VIETNAM PRISONER OF WAR FOR SIX AND A HALF YEARS. REMARKABLY, HE JUST GAVE US HIS STORY, NEITHER COMPLAINING OR BRAGGING.

WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED, HE HAD SEVERAL INJURIES, INCLUDING BROKEN LEG, BROKEN ARM, BROKEN RIBS, INTERNAL INJURIES, AND OTHER THINGS.

THE VIETNAMESE WERE VERY VICIOUS PEOPLE. THEY DIDN'T TREAT HIS WOUNDS, WOULD NOT LET HIM SEND OR RECEIVE MAIL, GAVE HIM VERY LITTLE TO EAT.

HE HAD LEFT A YOUNG WIFE, AND TWO SMALL CHILDREN, TO GO INTO THE WAR. SHE HAD TO FEND FOR HERSELF AND HER CHILDREN, NOT KNOWING IF HE WAS DEAD OR ALIVE, OR WHETHER THEY WOULD EVER SEE HIM, OR HIS BODY AGAIN. HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO ANYONE, AT ANY TIME. PENALTY, "SHOT ON THE SPOT".

HE SPOKE OF OTHER INHUMANTIES THRUST UPON HIM AND HIS FELLOW PRISON MATES. HE LEFT HIS WIFE WITH TWO BABIES, TO TAKE CARE OF, BY HERSELF, AND WHEN HE FINALLY GOT BACK HOME, THE KIDS WERE ALL GROWN UP. HE MISSED OUT ON MOST OF THEIR CHILDHOOD. HE HAD EVERYONE IN THE AUDIENCE IN TEARS, OR CLOSE TO IT.

AFTER THE CEREMONIES, MY WIFE, PAT, AND I, AND OTHERS WENT TO SPEAK WITH HIM, AND THANK HIM, FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE FOR HIS COUNTRY, AND FOR SPEAKING WITH US. DURING HIS TALK, HE HAD MENTIONED HE HAD MARRIED A GIRL THAT HAD GRADUATED FROM ISTROUMA. WE ASKED FOR THE NAME OF THE GIRL. I ONLY REMEMBER HIM SAYING THAT SHE WAS A BLYTHE. (I THINK THAT SHE WAS 4 OR 5 YEARS BEHIND US). I ASKED HIM IF HE KNEW TONY BLYTHE, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, WAS IN OUR GRADUATING CLASS, AND DIED SEVERAL YEARS AGO. HE SAID YES, THAT WAS HIS WIFE'S BROTHER. I RELATED TO HIM THAT TONY WAS ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.

BETWEEN OUR 11TH GRADE AND 12TH GRADE, TONY, BILLY EVANS, RUSSELL HAYDEL, AND I TOOK A TRIP TO FLORIDA, IN TONY'S CAR. IN THOSE DAYS, THAT WAS A PRETTY BIG THING. WE HAD NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE STATE. I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW OUR PARENTS ALLOWED IT.

I JUST COULD NOT GET THIS FELLOW, AND HIS FAMILY OUT OF MY MIND. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER, I GOT TO THINKING THAT I HAD TAKEN SEVERAL PICTURES WHILE ON OUR TRIP. IT WAS A LOT OF TROUBLE, BUT I FINALLY GOT HIS PHONE NUMBER, AS HE WAS FROM ANOTHER PART OF THE STATE, AND TOLD HE AND HIS WIFE ABOUT IT. THEIR NAME WAS MURPHY "NEIL", AND GLENDA BLYTHE JONES. I E-MAILED THE PICTURES TO THEM. THEY WROTE BACK AND TOLD ME HOW GREATLY THEY APPRECIATED IT. (SMALL WORLD, ISN'T IT)

I ALSO TOLD THEM ABOUT A COUPLE OF INSTANCES THAT HAPPENED ON THE TRIP. THEY WERE AMUSED. ONE OF THE FUNNIEST THINGS WAS THIS. THE FIRST DAY, WE MADE IT TO PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA. WE DROVE UP ON THE BEACH, AND SWAM FOR A WHILE. WE GOT TO THINKING THAT WE SHOULD JUST GET OUR BLANKETS, AND SPEND THE NIGHT ON THE BEACH, AND SAVE MONEY, WHICH WE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH OF. EVERYTHING WORKED OUT WELL, FOR A WHILE. WE WERE GETTING A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP. ABOUT MIDNIGHT, ABOUT 20 OR 30 CARS STARTED SURROUNDING US, AND WE BEGAN TO GET SCARED. WE FINALLY REALIZED THAT WE WERE SLEEPING ON "LOVER'S LANE". WE WERE REALLY EMBARASSED, SO AROUND 1:00 A.M., WE STARTED PACKING UP ALL OUR STUFF, AND GOT OUT OF THERE, AND WENT TO A CHEAP MOTEL. SO NOT ONLY DID WE NOT SAVE MONEY, BY SLEEPING OUT, WE ONLY USED THE MOTEL FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

THOUGHT YOU WOULD APPRECIATE HEARING ABOUT THIS. I CAN'T GET THIS FELLOW OUT OF MY MIND, AND I STILL "TEAR UP". I SOMETIMES FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT. I CAN REMEMBER, DURING MY ENTIRE 4 YEARS, THAT I SPENT IN THE MILITARY, LIKE OTHERS, I WAS "BITCHING" MOST OF THE TIME. WE REALLY WERE ON A "PICNIC", COMPARED TO WHAT THIS MAN AND HIS FAMILY WENT THROUGH.

"GOD BLESS PEOPLE LIKE HIM, AND HIS FAMILY, AND MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA"

RALPH DAIGLE