|
|
Not sure what his path would be, Weldon didn’t call to tell he was headed home, but Joe Bailey had called his wife Fay. Weldon was back in Texas, and in the world of small Texas towns, word traveled fast. Weldon boarded a bus in San Antonio and headed north. From Dallas he hitch-hiked to Royse City arriving on Main Street sometime close to the 4th of July 1945. Aunt Ola and Uncle Tipton owned a barbershop in town, they closed up shop and drove him home. Weldon remembers, "Dad was riding the tractor and Mama was hoeing in the cotton field. She threw down the hoe where she stood and never went back into the field again. Weldon’s first meal home was fried chicken, cream potatoes, black-eyed peas, sliced tomatoes and strawberry shortcake. “It sure was good.” That Saturday everyone went to town and Wendell Wesberry was at Bennie and Fonie’s Café. Weldon went in to say hello, then left. Before he could get far, Wendell called him back into the Café saying, “I just got in trouble for not introducing you to the waitress.” That waitress was Wanda Jean Spearman. She was 16 years old and Weldon was 24, Weldon decided to stay and order a burger. “It was love at first bite,” he always said. The local newspaper repeatedly contacted Weldon, trying to get a story from him about the war. Weldon told the reporter, “The war is over; I came home to forget.” Weldon was home for 90 days then was sent back to Santa Monica, California to finish his service. Military discipline was pretty much non-existent and food was plentiful. The officers knew the men had been through so much so they just asked that they salute when saluted to. The soldiers were being organized into regiments to be sent back to Europe on peacekeeping missions. As the military began to count points Weldon had 85, enough to keep him in the states. Back up to his original 192 pounds on October 13, 1945, Weldon was Honorably Discharged and returned home to stay.
|
