May 31, 2006

Memorial Day Celebration in Aubrey by Glenn Redfearn and family of two Army buddies as they come to visit the Redfearns on June 12.

The oldest male Redfearn also lives on Hill Street in Aubrey’s old historical district, received an e-mail from a couple of his old Army buddies. They have established June 12 for their date for celebrating Memorial Day.

After viewing the many Memorial Day moments of celebration from all over the county during the past week, remembering different patriotic events that have occurred during the past fifty years, I learned that Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Redfearn are making plans to host their long ago friends as guests in the home on Hill Street on June 12.

Glenn’s Army friends from more than fifty years ago are planning a reunion with Glenn and Mary Katherine Redfearn. The former veteran friends, Willy Davis and his wife Gloria ad Leonard Elliot and his wife, Shirley, plan to renew old friendships or Army Infantry experiences.

On September 3, 1950, Glenn enlisted in the Army for his training as an Advanced Infantry Forward, which was a position of danger on the front as the team sent forward. Glenn was 18 years old on May 30, 1950. Glenn’s training was completed at Fort Bliss, Texas, along with his very brave fighting friends. They served in the military on the Korean front. Glenn and his fellow army soldiers spent 36 days on the boat going to Korea, where they spent 9 months and ten days in Korea.

He has not seen his friends, Leonard Elliott from Pearland, Texas and Willy Davis from Victoria, in 55 years.

Glenn remarks, "I can’t put a face on these good friends until I see them. I haven’t seen these buddies since February 11, 1952." "I got home to see my dear Mother Vernie on her birthday and it was with great joy and happiness that I returned home."

He also said, "My my, what a life....you know, I went to school in the same grade as Jackie Cogburn. We were the first bunch of kids to leave Aubrey in the tenth grade and go to high school in Pilot Point."

Glenn’s wife’s mother was Mary Grace who married Loyd Jenkins.

"Bouncer, just think 54 years, Mary Catherine Jenkins and I raised four kids. There is Glenda who married a Lofland, Tommy, Nancy Grubbs and Cindy Yarbrough. We have 12 grandkids, and five great-grandkids," Glenn stated.

Before Glenn got up to walk back to his house, he says, "Bouncer, your 5 kids and 12 grandkids cause us to realize just what is really making the community grow. It is people like us that are adding to the census explosion."

As Glenn was readying to walk back, he explained to me one of the worst things that happened in his life.

Glenn experienced all of the dangers while in Korean combat duty, and returned home to take up the duties of providing for his family as an insurance salesman.

Glenn said that his Dad, Deck Redfearn, always carried a pair of pliers in his right hip pocket because his left arm had been hurt in an accident.

Dale Redfearn, one of Glenn’s brothers, had just given Glenn a pair of his old Levi pants which always came down over his boots. Glenn credits the Levi pants for causing the serious accident.

Glenn said that he and his Dad had just installed a new cotter key into the universal drive shaft just minutes before the accident. The cotter key was whirling around and caught his right leg at the right ankle joint. The drive shaft on the tractor kept rolling his pants leg up and was eating into the flesh and bones. The accident was so bad that it filled his boot with blood.

Bobby, his brother, was in the house near the phone, Bobby came to his brother’s rescue and to the hospital they went. Glenn was in surgery for a skin graft on his right knee. It required 17 days in the hospital.

One blessing was when Joyce Ann Harmon organized a fund raiser that brought the desperate Redfearn man into a civil reality. With what Joyce Ann raised and gifts of 100 dollars from many, he is nothing but thankful on this national Memorial Day.

Glenn’s army friends have a lot of talking to do to catch up on what has happened in their lives since they all got off of the big boat in Seattle Washington.

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