Who are these folks from Midland

Can anyone tell me who these people are from a reunion probably in 1992 or 93?

1st Sgt. Miguel A. Wilson

BONHAM — When 1st Sgt. Miguel Anthony Wilson, 36, said good-bye to his mother a month ago, he assured her he was happy in his job and proud of his missions and what he was doing in the military. He told her he knew there was danger and if something happened, he would want his family to celebrate his life and not mourn him.

But Friday, when a military detail, including a chaplain, came to her home in Bonham. The words they spoke to her seemed like a dream from which she thought she would awake any moment. They said her son died Friday in Abu Sayf, Iraq while he was rescuing another soldier. His mother learned later another soldier was drowning and her son jumped in to save him. “Later on we found out he did save him,” she said. “He didn’t take his gear off (when he jump in the water) which those back packs weigh 65 pounds. He just dived in and saved his fellow soldier and the weight of that back pack kept him under and then the current, they said, was strong and he drowned.”

Wanda Wilson said, the whole time the chaplain was speaking to her she just kept saying “no, no, no, no.” And, even now, though in her head she understands what happened, a little part of her still doesn’t believe it. “I don’t think it will become real to me until I go to the viewing and I know that is going to be hard for me,” she said.

First Sgt. Wilson was a 1990 graduate of Bonham High School where he was a member of the Warriors football team. His stepfather Vincent Neal says 1st Sgt. Wilson played corner back and running back. His father Michael Cooke, of Denison, remembers that Miguel stood out in soccer, played a little basketball and also ran track.

Wanda said through her tears, “Today, I’m fine. I’m not sad. I’m a very proud mother.”

His memorial service will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood’s 19th Street Chapel with interment at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen at 3 p.m.

A second memorial service will be held in Bonham at 3 p.m., Dec. 2 at the First Baptist Church of Bonham. The Patriot Guard Riders will serve as escorts for the family.

I might be a good bear

When you’re a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could totally do that.

Before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could totally do that too.

When you’re a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts, the big ones are about a pound) while you’re sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you’re a momma bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who messes with your cubs, and if your cubs get out of line you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you’re a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat. Yep, I’d make a good bear.

Now, I’d like to take credit for all this cuteness and wonderful comparisons to nature, but I can’t.

I heard it first from Mary Roberts last week as she opened my Bible study session. She said she usually looks for things to make people laugh that go along with the study materials for the day. “I’m just going to tell you up front,” she said. “I’m telling you this one just because I think it’s so cute.” She said it had been sent to her in an e-mail, and while she normally doesn’t forward or pay a lot of attention to them, she did read this one and loved it.

I loved it too. Enough so that I took the time to investigate the life of the American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus). It’s true about child birth during sleep. The little cubs nurse from their sleeping mom and find their warmth from her body while they grow their own fur.

It’s merely one more piece of evidence that our universe has been planned in every detail by a higher being. Bears don’t experience bone loss during those long periods of inactivity and they also don’t take bathroom breaks during their months of sleep.

Scientists are puzzled by these two features. Research has led to isolating a chemical in the bear’s blood that may prevent bone loss and could ultimately lend itself to treating human osteoporosis.

Yep, I could be a bear and would probably like it. But God made me a woman, and one thing I’ve learned in my 60 years is that God has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11). Accepting that is far more rewarding than anything I could want for myself.

I’m happy to be how God made me.

Role Models in my church

I stumbled across a quote I once read. I liked it well enough to write it down but must offer apologies to its author because I didn’t make a note of his or her name.

As I look at it today, I think of Julia and Bill Jacks in Van Alstyne. I’ll bet everyone reading this knows someone to whom this applies: “Peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank. The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.”

Bill’s illnesses have kept him from attending services for some time and that has worsened. Until illness overtook him a few years ago, he was helping out at church whenever his skills fit the need.

It never surprised me to run by the church to drop something off or pick something up and find him in his coveralls with a hammer or saw in his hand and always with a big smile.

Julia also has been a servant in a variety of areas in our church. I’ve watched this beautiful couple, the past 20 years, enjoy their lives, their friends, their church and family. Bill played many years in a local country western band.

Thank God for those wonderful people in our lives who set such fine examples for the rest of us.

Bill's birthday dinner

We went to San Miguel's in McKinney for some good Mexican food and a few friends dropped in to join us.

Happy Birthday Bill Godwin

November 19.

To the friends of Billy Wayne

Check out the article called "Heroes" in July 2007

Psalm 145

Psalm 145: 4-13

One generation shall praise Your works to another
And shall declare Your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness,

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And shall shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in loving kindness.

The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works,

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;

To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom,

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.


Which things about God and His work in the world would you relate to a friend or family member?

Special quotes from Tommy Franks

For complete story see www.heralddemocrat.com

Special quotes from Gen. Tommy Franks Nov. 8 for “Salute to Service” at the Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum, Hobart, Okla.

“… we as Americans have never done the best job we could have done, and we didn’t do what we should have done, when we should have said ‘welcome home’ to all those who served over there, a long time ago, in a place called Vietnam.”

“… young men and women serving a long way from home in Afghanistan and Iraq, not for the purpose of celebrating war but for the purpose of guaranteeing peace and freedom, and the ability for you and me … to be able to live in the land of the free because of the brave.”

“It’s time this time of year for us to recognize our veterans, recognize their families, recognize those who served, and raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.”

Gen. Tommy Franks, Retired with Four Stars

Speech by Gen. Tommy Franks Nov. 8 for “Salute to Service” at the Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum, Hobart, Okla.:

You honor us by being here. All of you honor us by being here. You gentlemen (motioning toward veterans) honor us by what you did.

Isn’t it amazing, one nation under God. (Members of the crowd could be heard saying amen followed by applause).

How many of you are either veterans of service or family of veterans of service or love those who served? (Everyone in the crowd raised a hand).

This is a special day for us because we get a chance to open the doors on a little interim — kind of a museum. Some of y’all who went to OU are wondering what that word means — interim. Now, all the people from Oklahoma State would be able to tell you that interim is somewhere between where you start and where you’re going. That’s what we are opening today just for you. We want you to be able to walk through there and think about where you were, when.

And think about our kids, grandkids and all the things that made this country what it is. We have more than 230 years of American history and if you were anywhere around my wife at any particular time in your life, she would have given you an education about history because she’s a history teacher. She’s been giving me an education on history for a lot of years, going on 40 of them. She has had a lot to do with what you see when you go walking through the little exhibits next door.

What a wonderful community we have here that opened their arms to an outsider and said “come on down.”

You can think back a long, long time. Think back to Lexington and Concord more than 230 years ago when Americans first stood up and said “hey, hey, hey, we’re Americans and we’re going to live in a country that’s free.”

And you can go from there to Gettysburg and Vicksburg while we were all trying to figure out as a young nation what we were ultimately going to be.

And you can go from there to remember places like the Muse and the Argonne in World War I a long time ago, when none of us were here to see it, but the fact is that these young men and women, who wore uniforms like that one standing over there (pointing to a service man in uniform) didn’t come home until it was over, over there.

Then you can go from there to Omaha Beach, Pearl Harbor, the greatest generation, and you can think about those who served. You can go to Inchon, the Frozen Chosin and think about all those who served. and you can go from there ..... pause .... and An Loc and you can go to the Highlands and the Delta and recognize that we as Americans have never done the best job we could have done, and we didn’t do what we should have done, when we should have said “welcome home” to all those who served over there a long time ago in a place called Vietnam. (Applause).

You can go from there in 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon where we lost our Marines and you can go to 1993 in a place called Mogadishu, Somalia where we left so many of our dead in the streets and didn’t even bring them home — Mogadishu, Somalia.

Then you can go from there to 1996 to Kobart Towers, Saudi Arabia and in the middle of that you can go to Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 91 and you can go on, all the way through where we are today, with young men and women serving a long way from home in Afghanistan and Iraq, not for the purpose of celebrating war but for the purpose of guaranteeing peace and freedom, and the ability for you and me and my family and my daughter and her husband and our grandkids standing right over there (motions in the direction of his family) to be able to live in the land of the free because of the brave.

It’s time this time of year for us to recognize our veterans, recognize their families, recognize those who served, and raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.

That’s enough bawlin‘ and everything like that. I get a little emotional when I talk about this kind of stuff and when I look in the eyes of people who really and truly care about what they are doing like my son-in-law who, as we speak, serves in our military and I’m honored that you are No. 1 part of my family, and No. 2 that you are here.

So what we are fixin‘ to do is some of us are going to eat donuts over here and drink coffee and whatnot; some of us are going to go through that little trailer and see what kids at 130 schools in Oklahoma are going to see this year because what we do is we drive it up to the school grounds and kids and their teachers get a chance to go through to see things they’ve never seen before about a part of the world that’s very important to our country. And some of us will go down and go through the little museum. And I encourage you not to get in there and get in a rush. Take your time. There are some exhibits and stuff to look at but there’s lot of words and I encourage you to just slow down a little bit on this day and read some of the words and things about some of these wonderful people that serve this country.

Thanks for being here on this most magnificent day and for holding your head up and being proud to be an American. God bless all of you, and God bless America.

Tommy Franks Museum - Veterans' Day Service

Here are some pictures from the Tommy Franks Museum in Hobart, Okla. Saturday.

General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum

Tommy Franks, retired four-star Army general who led the entire military forces that entered Iraq in 2003 and beyond, points to veterans in uniform as he speaks to the crowd gathered at the “Salute to Service” for veterans, military personnel, service individuals, their families and guests in Hobart, Okla. Saturday morning. The event took place at the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum which will open formally in May. Franks ended his speech with “It’s time to recognize those who served, raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.” At right are Trapper Heglin, museum coordinator, and Hobart Mayor Tom Talley.

Vote Vote Vote Vote

For any who remain undecided on how to vote Nov. 4, check out some Biblical direction. For any who may have decided to vote the wrong way, perhaps this advice will cause a change.

“A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left.” ...Ecclesiastes 10:2