Galveston Unscripted | Free. Texas History. For All.
Galveston’s award winning history podcast. Listen to us transform Galveston into the world’s largest free museum. Be sure to check out the Galveston Unscripted free audio tour at galvestonunscripted.com!
Galveston Unscripted | Free. Texas History. For All.
Eddie Janek's Century of Service
I sit down with Eddie Janek, one of the few living WWII veterans. At just 17 years old and barely 5 feet tall, Eddie stormed the beaches of Peleliu as a beachmaster, later he witnessed atomic bomb tests from just miles away, after that he served again in the Korean War. But his story doesn’t stop with the military, he came home to coach baseball for decades, serve as a county commissioner, and raise a family rooted in service and community.
Ladies and gentlemen, this episode is one for the history books. Today we sit down with a living witness to defining moments of the 20th century. He is a very special guest and I am honored to have had him here in the studio. During World War II, at just 15 years old, he lied about his age to enlist in the United States Navy. He got caught, went home, got some documents, forged a date, went back and joined again by the age of 17,. He was storming the beaches of Peleliu, barely 5 feet tall and just over 100 pounds. During this offensive, over 1,700 Americans were killed and over 8,000 wounded, while over 10,000 Japanese were killed on this island. He was there on the front lines serving as a beachmaster. He fought again in Leyte, the first major offensive to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation. After World War II. He stood on deck as the US tested atomic weapons at Bikini Atoll. Then, when war erupted again in Korea, he went back.
Speaker 1:After two wars he came home to Galveston, texas, built a life, raised a family and gave back to his community. For decades he coached generations of kids on the baseball field. His story is one of grit, sacrifice and unwavering service to his community, his family and his country. His name is Eddie Janik Sr and, at 98 years old, he's one of the few surviving World War II veterans left in the United States. To me, this is more than an interview. This is a first-hand account of American history, from the Great Depression to the beaches of the Pacific, to the legacy of service right here at home.
Speaker 1:Again, I am extremely honored to have Eddie Janik here in the studio to discuss his 98 years of life and in this two hour sit down, I believe we barely scratched the surface. If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, please make sure to leave us a review. It helps others discover stories just like these. If you're watching on YouTube, please make sure to like the video, leave us a comment and subscribe to the channel. It really helps us out. Now, without further ado, please welcome Mr Eddie Janik to Galveston Unscripted. Well, I have to say I mean, it is an absolute honor to have you in today.
Speaker 1:It really is, thank you, what we're going to talk about well, I have a a few things that I want to discuss with you. Okay, you know, when kim reached out to me, she sent me a little list of all kinds of stuff that you've done throughout your life a lot of those things not here on the island a lot of those things in the Pacific Theater Korea.
Speaker 2:In the Philippines, pacific Korea, japan, china, right, I've been to all of them.
Speaker 1:Man, you're 98 years old.
Speaker 2:Yes, I joined the service at 15, and they caught me. Well, they were going to court-martial me, but then I talked to my little vet. I was scared to death. Then I found my Catholic birth certificate, uh, confirmation papers. I changed it seven to a six. I joined again. Wow, I went over these. I had just turned 17. I was 5 foot 4, and I weighed 114 pounds. And that's when I made my first invasion.
Speaker 2:My goodness yeah the guys who were in my group said you don't have to worry, Eddie, the Japs can't even see you. I was that smart.
Speaker 1:Before we get to the Pacific Sure, you were born in 1927. Yes, 1927. And that is so. You grew up in the Depression. Yes, what was that like?
Speaker 2:Well, I was born and raised on a farm outside of a town called West and back in those days everybody was very poor. I didn't have a father and my mother didn't have a car, so we really ate what we planned. And I had an aunt I found out later on. She used to bring their leftovers to eat, but everybody was poor. I mean, there wasn't any cars, wagons and mules.
Speaker 1:Was West a big town back then.
Speaker 2:No, I think at that time it was like 2,500. Okay, and it's about the same now. Mm-hmm, and it's about the same. Now it's a Czechoslovakian community. Everybody there speaks.
Speaker 1:Czech. What was school like?
Speaker 2:Well, I went to a school called Alligator Alligator. Alligator School is a two-room school. Alligator Alligator school is a two-room school.
Speaker 2:That had been named Snake Creek. It was a creek that ran by the school and then somebody found an alligator and so they named it Elligot School, with two rooms, had four classes in each room and probably at the most seven kids in each grade, and we had recess, we played. I walked to school every day. It was three and a quarter miles. We had recess, we played. I walked to school every day. It was three and a quarter miles. Along the way I picked up a girl by the name of Teresa Raycheck and then we walked another quarter of a mile and we picked up two of the Zappalack brothers. There was about six of us who wound up at school walking rain or snow.
Speaker 1:Did you have any brothers or sisters?
Speaker 2:I had a half-sister yeah, my mother. Her first husband died when my sister was two years old and my mother had an affair with a married man. He got her pregnant, and so they got his brother to marry my mother to give me a name.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:My name was actually Berenger, but my sister wouldn't go to school with me because I had a different name. So my mother sent me to school under the name of Yannick. Now we pronounce it Janick here, and so when I came to Galveston at the age of 15, my uncle told my mother she oughta change my name.
Speaker 2:I told my mother she ought to change my name to either Hickle, which was the family name, or Deonic, and so my mother changed it to Deonic. And I'm no kin to Deonics, I just have their name, that's all.
Speaker 1:Interesting, so that pronunciation of Yonicick to Jannick.
Speaker 2:Yeah. What was that I kept saying Yannick when they came to Calvison and everybody would spell it Y. I said no, it's J Well it's. Jannick. I said okay, so I stayed with Janik.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is that a Czech name?
Speaker 2:Yes, Right yeah, my mother was born to 16 children. She had 15 brothers and sisters, and two of them died young, but 14 grew up and lived for a long time.
Speaker 1:Wow, what year was she born?
Speaker 2:She was born in 1897. Wow, yeah, yeah, my grandfather. He came from Czechoslovakia and he was married. He had two children. Then his wife died, he married again and I had 14 more children. Man. They were good. Really, they were either good Catholics or over-sexed One of the two.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of crossover there, right.
Speaker 2:I never knew my grandfather. He died the year I was born. But I knew my grandmother and she couldn't talk English. In fact, I had two aunts who couldn't talk English Only.
Speaker 1:Czech, only Czech Did talk.
Speaker 2:English Only. Czech Only.
Speaker 1:Czech. Did you learn to speak Czech oh?
Speaker 2:I was fluent in Czech. Then they gave me Galveston. I won the service. I quit talking. Well, I could read, check everything. In fact. I went to school at the age of seven and they sent me back home with a note that said Eddie has to learn to speak English. So she told her brothers and sisters when you're around son, they come and so I'd speak English, and that's how I learned to talk English.
Speaker 1:English and that's why I learned to talk English Growing up in West during the Depression. You're speaking Czech, yes, and you know you're going to school in a two-room schoolhouse with seven other students, for the most part, yeah. What was the, the factor that led your family, or your mother and your family, down here to Galveston?
Speaker 2:Well, my sister got married in 41, and I had two uncles who lived here and they got my brother-in-law a job and so he moved down here. My mother came here to take care of the baby and when school was out in 42, I came here. So I have an eighth grade education.
Speaker 1:So when you arrived at Galveston, you were 15.
Speaker 2:Yes, the same year that you tried to join the Navy or you did join the Navy yes, I got a job as all my young life I lied about everything. I came to Galveston and I went to the Broadway drugstore. My sister had said why don't you go there and try to get a job as a delivery boy? So I said okay. So I went there and I told the man who owned it by the name of Williamson, and I told him I'd like to be a delivery boy and he said sure, do you know? Do you know your way around town? I always remembered that and I'm lost. I'm going east, should have been going west. There was a guy on a bicycle. I stopped and I said I'm lost. He said but you got nothing. I told him you're going the wrong way. You got to go to 23rd Street. So he said I'll show you. So he went with me and then he said you want me to stay with you?
Speaker 2:all day I said yeah, his name was Joe Polkenhorn and when he passed away I was a Paul Berger. That's how long he and I stayed friends. Wow up by gals. And then I needed I think it made like eight cents an hour and I decided to go. Somebody had said go to Bob Daley's. He was on, he was between between 21st and 22nd on mechanic and they said he owns a bowling alley. So I went there and I said I'd like to be a pin setter. He said have you set pins? I said yes, sir. So I go in the back. He sent me in the back.
Speaker 2:There was a guy there by name Rufus Farino who became a detective later in life. I'm looking around. He said have you ever sat pens? I said no. I'm looking around. He said have you ever been in a bowling alley? I said no. He said you can't. I said no. He said you want me to teach you to sat pens? I said I sure would. Then I worked for the phone company. Years later he was a detective and when they had some people that had unlisted numbers who were criminals, he called me because I worked for the phone company and he said Joe Blow, that lives on XXX Street.
Speaker 2:But we don't have a phone number for him or maybe an address, I'd get that for him.
Speaker 1:So it was like I say, I lied, then lied to get in the Navy and I don't lie now I don't have to, right. So you're 15 years old. You come to Galveston in 1942. Yes, right. What prompted you to lie to join the navy? What was pushing you into into getting in the navy?
Speaker 2:well, I didn't want to go back and pick up, so I saw all the sailors in galveston. It was world, world War II, and I liked the uniform, so I joined the Navy and then I got really patriotic and I stayed in the Pacific, in the Philippines, and in 46, I was on the atomic bomb test.
Speaker 1:You were on the atomic bomb test.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it was held at the island of Bikini. I saw the bomb go off July the first, and then the second one went off July the 25th. It's almost right around the corner. Wow. And then I got out. I got a job at the phone company. Then, in 1950, I got called back to Korea and I was in another 20 months. So all told, in my young days I was in the service. Most of that time was spent overseas.
Speaker 1:Wow, most of that time is spent overseas. Wow, I would like to look into your service in the Pacific and then jump into the atomic bomb test and then Korea, kind of looking at each of those. So in the Pacific, you were in for four years, so you joined in 1942.
Speaker 2:Joined in 1942. I was in Corpus. I kept putting in for sea duty and June the 6th I hitchhiked home, june the 5th, and I went to Beaumont first A friend of mine in the Navy and I hitchhiked to Beaumont, then I hitchhiked to Galveston, and it was June the 5th. I'm standing at about where Crystal Beach is now and the mosquitoes were just horrendous and a car comes up. Man says sailor, the mosquitoes are gonna really hurt you tonight. Why don't you come, stay at our house? So I said yes, sir, and he said where you going. I said yes, sir, and he said where you going. I said Galveston, he said well, he said I'm going to work in Galveston that tie-dryer. I said I'll take you home. So I went. I was just tickled pink. They had a room downstairs and I stayed in it that night. They were going to Galveston and on the radio it said that United States created D-Day Normandy. Right.
Speaker 2:And when I got back to Corpus, the chief said John, you got your seat, dude. I said what carrier am I going on? He said you're not and I said I'm not. He said no and I said where am I going? No, he said you're not and I said I'm not. He said no and I said where am I going? He said Ann Phibbs and I said what's Ann Phibbs? He started laughing. He said you'll learn. And I went to San Bruno, california. We stayed in. There was a racetrack there called Tanforant and it closed and they had Italian prisoners in it and they grabbed them bitch by the being kind of crappy living. Right.
Speaker 2:So they made it into a Navy camp that were trained by the Marines. So I wore the Marines greens for a year and a half Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was a beach master. Beach masters were the first ones on the beach and they secured the beaches where the people who were going to come and invade they had on Palau pillow. They had white one, white two, orange one, orange two and orange three and I was on orange one. We went back. Two of my sons took me back in 2005 and they had hired a guy and we went there and I tell him I was on Orange One. We went to Orange One and he said what do you remember about it? I said we were pinned down by a machine gun towards our left. He looked at me and he said the machine gun is still there. They preserved it and nobody could have a party on the beaches of Palo Alto. They were sacred. We lay in this. It was 118 degrees and we each had two canteens strapped to us, our car being a 45-pistol and I weighed 114 pounds. At noon we ran out of water, so they signaled back to the ships. We were out of water. Everybody was just really hurting and they brought them.
Speaker 2:I was one of the first ones because we were the beach masters. I go in a film canteen up and take a drink and threw up. They had failed to clean the oil out of the drums. Everybody got sick of doing it. Everybody got sick of doing it. They signaled back and they finally brought some drinking water finally.
Speaker 1:So they were reusing gasoline cans or oil drums as water containers, Oil drums yeah, oil drums as water containers, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I stayed on Peleliu until about right make the invasion of Leyte. That's in the Philippines and that's where MacArthur came across. So we were, and that was October 20th. Then in December we went to another small island and then we went to so I think Lengine Gulf and made an invasion there, and then I got put in the hospital for R&R. I guess they thought we were going goofy and there was a guy in the hospital who I knew from California and he said what are you gonna do? I said, well, I, I'm going to go back to being the beach master. He said, Eddie, you don't want to do that. They're going to invade Japan next. They had just invaded Okinawa. Right.
Speaker 2:He said you're a pretty tough guy, we have a boxing team, why don't you request to stay here? So I said it's a good idea. So I stayed and in November I shipped over for two years so I could go home early, and four of us that shipped up. Our ship took us to Portland Oregon, up to Columbia River, and then on December 26th and on December 26th Pete Graham and I started hitchhiking from Portland Oregon to go to Galveston, new Year's Eve in Kansas City. And then we started hitchhiking again january the 2nd and we stopped in oklahoma and ford worth, had a few drinks and we got home around the 10th of january I'm sure, being a service member, people were pretty welcoming and eager to give you a ride.
Speaker 2:Oh gotcha, when I was in Corpus, a guy was there ahead of me from Galveston. I didn't know him in Galveston, his name was Eggleston Pinhead Eggleston, and December the 25th 1943, he came to my barracks. Well no, he came Christmas Eve night and he said why don't you and I go to Gallows? I said I don't have any money. He said I don't either. We'll hitchhike. So I said okay.
Speaker 2:I never had a hitchhike before. So we hitchhiked. We got out of Corpus about 35, 40 miles. Guy dropped us off and we're standing on the highway and it's around noon. Then there was a house about a mile off the highway and a car leaves that house, comes towards us and the guy said Sailors, my wife and I have two sons in the Army and they're overseas. We have a big Christmas dinner. Why don't you all come and join us? Absolutely. So I had a country Christmas dinner, all the trimmings.
Speaker 2:When we got through he took us back to the road and we caught a ride with a couple and they were going to Houston. And the man said where are y'all going? They said we're going to Gallows. I said we're going to Galveston. I said okay. So when he got to Houston he drove to the bus station, he went and he came back here. You ought to have tickets to go to Galveston.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's how gracious the people were for people in uniform it was. It was you'd hitchhike and you'd stand out there maybe half hour and somebody would pick you up and then talk about where you're from and all that stuff it was. It was a good history lesson about how people acted back in those days Everybody. If there was a blue star in a people's window, it meant that they had a son in the service. If there was a gold star it meant that they had a son killed in the war.
Speaker 2:And yeah, you look at that and I never thought what it would do to my mother. But here my mother has one son and he's stupid enough to join the Navy and worry her to death. I never thought about that until four or five years later when I kind of got more grown up about all the misery I created for her. Sometimes when we were in combat we couldn't write a letter for a week or two and sometimes if I wrote a letter she got it maybe a month later. So that was a month with no mail and she had no idea years how much misery I created for her.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine, yeah. So what kind of vessel were you on?
Speaker 2:Well, I wasn't on a vessel in World War II. Okay, I was a beast master right. And after world war ii I signed over for two years. I got on the ship and we went to the atomic bomb test. I was on a troop transport that APA, it was attack troop transport and we carried all those Higgins boats and they would transport the Marines or the soldiers to the island. And I stayed on that for quite a while and then I got on a cruiser and then a destroyer and then I decided to get out and after I got back in I was on an APA attack transport and we transported troops to Korea or Japan, korea, japan, japan, korea. And I was on that right about 20 months 20 months.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm curious about the atomic bomb testing. Was it testing? Yes, they were doing the Bikini Atoll.
Speaker 2:Yes, I had no idea. But what happened? I had no idea. But what happened? They wanted to test the bomb If there were a bunch of ships, what it would do, say, in a fleet of ships. And so the first bomb, they dropped from the sky. The second bomb, they detonated it underwater and they told us don't look at the blast. Well, of course you're 18 years old, you don't care. As you're 18 years old, you don't care. So all of us saw the bomb go off, with the fire shooting out of the clouds and it looked like a big wave was heading towards us. And then when they dropped the one, then when they set the one under the sea, well then they, they had sailors who brought the ships out there, just a skeleton crew, and all those ships would come on, ships like ours who could handle troops. And so seeing all those ships being blown up, you could see at times a ship in the air is how potent that bomb was.
Speaker 1:How far away were you in the guise?
Speaker 2:Probably eight miles, eight miles, but you could see it. Oh yeah. And they told us don't look at it, it could blind you and you, being on your time test, you could become sterile. Well, I had three kids so I wasn't sterile, but it was quite a sight. We went there. We went to Bikini I think it was latter part of April and we got there and we started taking troops on board who brought the ships there to be bombed. So we had a lot of people on board the ship who were actually troops and there was a lot of gambling going on all that type of stuff. We had a boxing team and the supply officer who was in charge of the boxing team. He came to me and said I see where you were boxing, boxing, huh. I said yes. So he said if we're gonna start up a team, would you be in charge of it? I said so I was kind of in charge of the boxing team. Oh no.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry when he asked me if I'd box on the team, I'm 18. And I said sure, and so we had some real good guys on the team. I fought as a featherweight I weighed about 119 pounds at that time, and all the guys who were on the boxing team our captain was gung-ho about a boxing team, and after each fight, if it was on our ship, it had to cook grilled steaks for the opposing team and us, and if you won, you got a fountain pen. Back then, the Parker fountain pens were just the thing to get.
Speaker 2:So I had a couple, three fountain pens and during the Korean War I was in charge of all the ship supply stuff the exchange where you bought tobacco and stuff, laundry, barbershop, cobbler's shop, and it was that. And I was there and we had been at sea for probably a couple months and the word came that we were going to Hong Kong. For probably a couple months. And the word came that we were going to Hong Kong. So we went and pulled into Hong Kong and all these people who sold suits or tailor-made suits for $10. They all came on board and I got this one guy started talking to him. He said you want names of a good hotel. I said yeah. So he gave me the card of this hotel in Hong Kong. I still have the card. And so a guy by the name of Parker and I and we passed the word to other guys. So we went there and it cost us $35. And Parker and I were in rooms alongside of each other and we're going back and forth to each room hitting the juice and all of a sudden there's police with whistles and sirens going off and I told Parker. I said they're raiding us. So I said, come on. We went down to the engine room and I saw the engine room as I was going up to my room. That's why I knew where it was and we hid in the engine room going up to my room. So I knew where it was and we hid in the engine room.
Speaker 2:Everybody was moved out. The hotel was empty. So I told Parker. I said come on, so we go to the desk and we tell the guy we want our money back. And of course, all of a sudden he can't speak English. So I grabbed him and I pulled him in and I had a church key, those things you open cans with. I put it to his throat and I said I want my money. I called boss, called boss. Well, they had two doors, big doors, and they had, I guess, one of the windows. I guess the woman wonders about that wire on each door, what you can see outside. And Parker was by the door and he said Janik. I said what's wrong? He said the cops are here. The guy had called the police and there were 12 Jeeps that pulled in, guys with machine guns sitting in the back. He said what you gonna do? He said I swear to heaven. Troy dropped that bar and that bolted the doors.
Speaker 2:So this English detective, tall, slim, built a mustache. He knocks on the window. Hey, mike. He left me in, what's going on? And I'm talking to him Through the door, screaming, and he said let me in. So I said drop your gun. So I dropped the gun and I said now, drop the gun that's on your leg. So he dropped it. I let him in. He said what are you doing, mike? And I said I explained to him. I said no, it's your fault because y'all have a deal going right the hotel, you get sailors and you bring them here and then write it. And he was, he and I were. We wasn't screaming each other or even back and forth. He said let me go back outside.
Speaker 2:I said you ain't going outside what I said you and. I and.
Speaker 2:Parker are going to stay here for three days if we have to. I want my $35. And Parker wants his $35. He said Moise, you've got to be crazy. I said well, I just don't like getting screwed around. You get our $35 and you can go free. So he goes to the desk and he brings each of us our $35 and he said well, get in the Jeep with me.
Speaker 2:I said no, I'm not going to jail. He said mate, you got a lot of guts. I said I don't have any choice. So he said you won't go to jail. I said we shake hands on it. So we shook hands. He said you ride with me. I said okay, so we're going and we're changing a few words. He said Mark and I do have a lot of rubble. He said you know, I like you. Like I told you before, you have a lot of guts". And I said well, I appreciate that. So we get. Hong Kong was half had the modern stuff. So he stopped there and I'm with Bretta's Bar. He shook my hand and he said I can tell you, I like you. He said just do me one favor. I said sure. He said don't create any more problems. I said oh, so I'm probably the only sailor ever in the Navy that held up a hotel in China.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, and.
Speaker 2:Parker and I stayed friends until he passed away about two and a half years ago and we went to all the reunions and stayed real close friends. It was a trying time. We had a lot of fun, it was kind of shaky at times, but overall I loved that night. You had the time to get up and you had the time that you could go to sleep. They gave you three meals. They checked your teeth and your heart, everything. It was good living. Right. After being on the farm, I think, and got pretty good living.
Speaker 1:What a contrast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what a big contrast. Yeah, yeah, big contrast, yeah. So I stayed in the reserves is why I got called back to Korea and after Korea I decided to stay and retire. They had a good retirement. Their hospitalization retirement really takes care of you. I mean, I don't pay for any drugs. I don't pay for any drugs. So I stayed for a reason and the reason I was so gung-ho about staying and getting retirements. I saw my uncles. They got 65 nickel work to farms they didn't have the money to and there was no assist 11 stuff back then. And I saw them how they had to depend on their kids and I said that's what they had to depend on their kids. And I said that's what's gonna happen to me. Right.
Speaker 2:So I'm 98, I still live in my house, I still drive. I just drove to San Antonio back about a month ago, oh wow. So I know that this year more than half, it's probably gonna be my last driver's license, I think my luck is running out.
Speaker 1:You sound like a pretty lucky man. No, I bet luck Fortunate when you were a beach master. Yeah, you know you're in the. You're going on to Peleliu and Leyte. Yeah, what do you remember about? You know you mentioned you were pinned down by a machine gunner, but what are? What are some of those more things you remember about storming the beaches?
Speaker 2:yeah, I never heard of a lady and they told us that we're going to late day, that were going to Leyte. It'd be airstrip on Leyte and Leyte was about eight hundred miles from the Philippines. Admiral Holtz, he didn't want to screw with Ley, so we just starved them out. Well, what happened is there were 10,300 Japanese on the island, two and a half miles by five miles, and they were in caves. It was the first time the United States attacked an island where they lived underground. They had built barracks underground, chow Hall underground, underground Chow Hall underground, a small hospital underground. So when we went in they had people go on the beaches, give us a lot of problems. And then we got stuck on Orange One. The Marines that landed on White One came through, okay, and they circled around and kind of saved us and, like I said, we hit the machine gun.
Speaker 2:But what happened? Macarthur wanted the island and I'm trying to remember exactly the exact count, but there were like 1,200 Marines and sailors who were killed and there were over 10,000 Japanese killed. You could walk along and you could see. Every place you looked there was dead people. And it was so hot they swelled up and the blowflies were about twice that size, and so it was a screw-up on the United States that got all those Marines and sailors killed and it was a hush-hush invasion. And six, seven months later guys had asked me me where you been. I said I was on the late day. Oh, the late yeah, peleliu, peleliu.
Speaker 2:And they said where is that? The United States hushed it up. Nobody knew about Peleliu for a long time and then people started talking about it. And how many people were dead. Can you imagine? Two and a half by five miles, 14,000 people in there. I can't. It was a mess.
Speaker 1:Were you there for the entire campaign.
Speaker 2:No, I got pulled out right around the first of October.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And by then they were mopping up on the other side of the aisle. The Marines were on white one, white two, orange one, two and three, and on the other side of the island the Army invaded that part and they had purple one and purple two. So there were actually seven beaches that were invaded. And of course, there was a guy by the name of Pulver. He wrote a book about it. He was a Marine, he went to college and he became a writer and he wrote a book about it.
Speaker 1:What is it like for, because you were 17 at the time of Peleliu. Yeah. What was it like from the briefing to the moment you land on the beach?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he told us before we went in that it was going to be a mop-up. There wasn't hardly any Japs on the island and the way we got in the Higgins boats, all the beach were masters. Some were white one, white two or anyway you couldn't see the island. It was so much smoke from the firing. All the ships were shooting and then they airplanes dropping bombs. So going in you couldn't see the island until you got about under the machine gun fire and the small rocket fires. A few of the Higgins Bo-Bo's just got blown up and there were approximately 30 people in each boat At the beach, masters. When we went in we were all scared but we were more concerned about staying alive and we had Marines who were in charge of us, all the sailors and they. You know, keep your head down, don't stick your head up. We were behind a big sandbar. And.
Speaker 2:I remember one of the guys took his head up and said see what's going on. You got shot Right there. And then there were two guys who wound up in Galveston, plus me Three of us who were on pallet Wow yeah, plus me three of us who were on power Wow yeah, one one. He worked at UTM, he worked at the Maritime Academy. He was in charge of things like oysters and all that, and during the war he was a corpsman and he helped quite a few guys survive.
Speaker 1:What was his name?
Speaker 2:Sammy.
Speaker 1:Ray, sammy Ray. His name, sammy Ray, sammy Ray.
Speaker 2:Dr Sammy.
Speaker 1:Ray yeah.
Speaker 2:You might have heard of him.
Speaker 1:I sure did.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was, he and I would get together and shoot the bulls. He didn't invite me to his house and he said I, I turned open oysters and he and I would eat oysters.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was quite a deal, Wow. And then we went to Leyte. We had a pretty good encounter landing, but the Japs had moved back into the jungles and wanted us to have to come in the jungles and back in those days all the houses were bamboo houses. There was no wooden structures. It was kind of old-timey, Right. We thought sure, going into late there'd be houses we could hide behind or whatever. It didn't happen.
Speaker 1:It was all bamboo huts Concealment but no real cover. Huh, no, that's right. How long was that offensive?
Speaker 2:I was related from October the 20th till around January the 4th, january 4th, and they pulled us out to go to that small island we went to and I forget the name of it, and then we got through there and we they shipped a lot of us out. They shipped about four of us to a place called Samar in the Philippines, to a hospital called Fleet Hospital 114.
Speaker 2:It was a 3,000 bed hospital that they had built, one on Samar and they built one onon-one for the people who were going to get hurt, going in to make the invasion of Japan. But then Truman, he pulled the trigger on the two atomic bombs and that ended the war in Japan.
Speaker 1:How did you hear about the first two nuclear bombs, Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Speaker 2:And of course they got through teletype and stuff, all the news and that spread the news out and we heard that they had dropped the one bomb and I forget the next day or so they dropped the other one and everybody was cheering and hollering and carrying on that. We really felt like the war was gonna be over, that we really felt like the war was going to be over. And then I think it was in August that they claimed Feijie, the factory in Japan. And that's when everything quieted down. And people, guys who could go home, if you had no points For each day that you were overseas, you got points. For each day you was in combat, you got points. So guys who were there from 1942 to 1945 were the ones who got to go home first. Right.
Speaker 2:And so Pete and I, Gray, we decided to ship over. Then we know we're going to get going. Right.
Speaker 1:I think Lisa has a question actually. So you mentioned you landed on Leyte October 20th. Yes, and General MacArthur also landed on October 20th and gave his famous speech from the beach.
Speaker 2:Did you?
Speaker 1:see that.
Speaker 2:I didn't see him make the speech, but some guys who did told us about it. Yeah, we were saying he walks on in, like I say most of the Japanese had moved inly where they could be more effective, but we did have some fire. But we did have some fire, but it wasn't anything like a pal-a-loo. Yeah, light it was. I thought sure we were going to see a big city. They talked about it. It was all bamboo out there and there was a movie that came out years later with Robert Taylor and it showed Leyte and all the bamboo buildings and stuff you've spent years in the Pacific and then you spent years in the Pacific in the.
Speaker 1:Navy. And then you go to Korea, you hold up a hotel during the. Korean War in Hong Kong. What year did you and you witnessed I can't miss you witnessed atomic testing in. Bikini.
Speaker 2:Atoll.
Speaker 1:Yes, what is the most memorable thing about the atomic testing that you remember, besides being told not to look at it? And, of course, as a kid, you gotta peek through, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess the thing that stood out the most, how devastating it was. My God, just Clouds were three, four miles up in the air with still fire shooting out of the clouds, water in the clouds. It was just amazing and scary. It was scary. It was scary. When you saw those water churning towards us, we really thought that they may get caught in that, but by the time it got to us it was pretty well calmed down.
Speaker 1:Were you given any protective equipment, goggles or anything? No. Just your hands.
Speaker 2:They said don't open your eyes. The guys that went on the ships who were blown up and they had animals on the ship. They had animals on them yeah, goats and sheeps and mice rats and those guys that went on, they all had suits, but they still some contacted cancer.
Speaker 1:From the radiation.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What about you mentioned you were about eight miles away.
Speaker 2:I'd say six to eight, six to eight.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, any concerns? I mean I know they mentioned you might become sterile.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, any concerns? I mean I know they mentioned, you might become sterile, but any concerns about radiation, more than just being sterile with the guys you were with. You know, us guys who were the working class on the ships really didn't know much about radiation. We found out about it later on when they talked about going on board those ships and checking radiation, how long it stayed after the test and everything.
Speaker 1:What about the sound?
Speaker 2:We really didn't hear much of the sound. Really it was we heard boom, Right boom, but then the thing that you got so engrossed in looking at the aftermath of the bomb just amazing.
Speaker 1:Any shockwaves.
Speaker 2:It was some. I got pictures. They gave each of us a book who was on the test and my book got washed away in the night. But I do have pictures that guys got from other guys. Back then very few sailors had a camera Right, we just didn't have them. But in Korea I took a lot of pictures and they all got wiped out. In Ike I got a Navy room downstairs and I got all the planes that I saw during the war got made off the ceiling and I got all my medals. My medals got wiped out. And then Tammy Laubach.
Speaker 1:Wonderful woman.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who graduated?
Speaker 1:from A&M.
Speaker 2:And I got to know her real well. They found an Adam in a shadow box and they found him on the beach on Pelican Island and they were showing them to Tammy and she said those are Eddie Cannon's medals. And so it was on national TV that a war hero's medals were found five miles away on the island, and so did. And it was the Chronicle who came and took pictures and I'm trying to think who was the president of the Maritime Academy at that time.
Speaker 1:In 08.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the Maritime Academy.
Speaker 1:Right, was it Bowen Lofton?
Speaker 2:I think so. And Tammy, she was in on the pictures. I still see her quite a bit. She comes to the propeller club of functions. I like Tammy, she's a good German.
Speaker 1:She's great, she's great. So your medals got washed away during Hurricane Ike.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:September 13th 2008,. Right yeah, how long after they were lost, how long did it take for them to be found?
Speaker 2:About four days.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's pretty quick actually.
Speaker 2:Phones were all bad back then, back then and and as soon as she saw what they called the Chronicle, and then channel 13, I think, came down and they presented them to me. The bottom part of the metals had got water on it so, and I had those done by a place in South Carolina so I sent it back to them and I told them what happened and they redid everything and didn't charge me. People still had fond memories of of a serviceman of a serviceman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say so.
Speaker 2:We went through a thing like NAM. Those guys got spit on and everything you know what you're saying. Right. But when we came in into Portland up to Columbia River they had bands, palermo, god Bless America all the patriotic stuff. And then Korea we came back and we were kind of forgotten. And then Nam was terrible for the returning servicemen and now it's back to being good for servicemen, and it should be.
Speaker 2:Those are the people who. So yeah, and you know, I came back and got a job from company, fell in love, got board Galveston Historical District. I did a lot of things in Galveston.
Speaker 1:Were you hit by, run over by a barge in Galveston too, how would you deal with?
Speaker 2:that I was working in in Bay City with phone companies and the companies. We got a problem. The submarine cable going to Pelican from Galveston sprung a leak. I need you. It was just two of us who knew how to work on submarine cape. So I came back. I'm on one barge and slim is on the other barge, but guys helping us and we had to cut that section. I took my hacksaw and I was slicing and hanging on when I cut the cable I fell overboard and I'm under the barge. There's a tide. I got my big lineman boots on. It's cold and I'm saying my God, don't let me die and I keep scratching and there were a lot of barnacles and they helped me and finally I knew I was gonna drown and my hands they're on the edge of the barge.
Speaker 2:I put my hands up and a friend of mine, roy Lee Dixon was there looking over he saw my hand and he grabbed me and they pulled me on the barge. I said shoot. So I said I can't believe serving two warriors and to come on the round. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been putting a book together and I'm trying to find somebody who can put it all together for me. You need a book. Yeah, you deserve a book. Your life does for sure.
Speaker 2:Everybody says you know, when I tell them about the baseball career, I had all the things I done, like the Alyssa. I was on the board of the Alyssa and I was also a crew member, board of the LISSA and I was also a crew member. So I got to sail. The first five times that they sailed I was a crew member climbing the riggins and I really didn't bother them because I climbed poles for 21 years. So being up 35 foot was no problem for me. You get used to it Right.
Speaker 1:So, a mast on an 1877 ship is no problem, right, yeah, especially on a historic vessel like that. Oh, there's nothing like it.
Speaker 2:No, just really enjoyed being part of the crew.
Speaker 1:It's the people that make it right. Yeah, it's the people make it right. Yeah, that's right. How did you meet your wife?
Speaker 2:In 1948, I got a service in 47. In 48, a girl asked me to take her to the 1948 prom Ball High School. So I said, okay, well, we went and the prom dance was held there at the Menard Park Recreation Center and we went there. I saw there was about six guys cluttered and I asked her my date. I said what's going on there? She said oh, they're in there. In the middle of that crowd is Doris Denke, everyone's tan sweater. And I saw her true story. I got a crush on her. I said my God, that is gorgeous. And I didn't see her again until a friend of mine who was my helper at the phone company. He was in hospital and I go there to see him and Doris and her boyfriend were there.
Speaker 2:And so I left to meet her, talk to her and then in 1950 I get called to service I hadn't seen Doris but twice and I get out of the service. Oh, I come home, one leave and, if you want, and Pat bars land are at the bowling alley on 24th Street we're drinking a beer and Doris comes and I said Patty, is that that dinky girl?
Speaker 2:She said yeah. I said man, I'd sure like to date her. He said she ain't going to date you. I said why? He said you're always in a fight, some bitch. She ain't going to screw with some rowdy guy like you. I said okay, so I get out of the Navy and I get my own department. A friend of mine's girlfriend. He's in the service and she asked me to take her to a birthday party. I said okay. So I took her to the birthday party at the Seabreeze. It was a big party and Doris was there. So in the course of the night I asked her to dance. She said sure, we'll dance. And I asked her again a little later and I said would you go out with me? She said sure. So I took her out on March the 17th 1952. And on May the 17th 1953,.
Speaker 2:I married her, oh my goodness, and I was in love. I'm saying in love, this heavy, heavy crush on the girl that I'd seen twice in my lifetime. And then I see her dance, ask her to dance, and that was it. All those guys, all the guys who were in high school, were all the football players. I said I'm the shit, can't you fall in love with some little guy like you? I said the good Lord smiled at me. So we wound up with three kids. So we wound up with three kids and then 91's. He started having I have a son who's a doctor. And he said dad. He said have you noticed mom is kind of forgetting stuff? I said yeah, so anyway, he set up a meeting for us at the Baylor School of Medicine Alzheimer's Center and she was just furious. I'd take her once, maybe twice a week and I'd take her and I'd run tests and give her questions. She had to answer all kinds of stuff and after about a month we went there and they said we want to talk to you on the office.
Speaker 2:I said oh indeed. They said you have Alzheimer's. We're going home. That afternoon. She said honey, I want to apologize. I said for what she said, raising hell Each time we came up here. She said well, you did it because you love me.
Speaker 2:I said yeah, and then she fell in 2007, and that's when I hired a lady to help take care of her and then, well, she didn't fall then and she went to live with my son, kyle, who's a doctor, in Austin, and my house got downstairs it just got wiped out, so I just let her stay in Austin.
Speaker 2:And then she was there for three months. I finally got the house where it was livable, I brought her back and she fell. I finally got to the house where it was livable, I brought her back and she fell and she wound up in the hospital and she broke her hip.
Speaker 2:And then I had to put her in a nursing home there at the end of the seawall and she stayed there for two months, a little over two months, and then I decided to take her home and that's when she really faded and she got to the point she didn't know who we were. And she got to the point he didn't know who we were. And then she laid in that bed for seven years and eight months, never settled work. And I had a hospital bed brought in and I got I had the one lady I hired and then I knew it was too much for one.
Speaker 2:So I went to one of these places that does healthcare so I got them to assign somebody doors three days a week and the lady I had was four days a week, and then in 2015, january 23rd, she passed away, but we were married 63 years 63 years Wow. Yeah and all because I saw a lady, a girl, in 1948. I saw her three times and that's the first date.
Speaker 1:Incredible.
Speaker 2:And wound up being married 63 years.
Speaker 1:Incredible, yeah, wow.
Speaker 2:We had a good wedding.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm and three kids too.
Speaker 2:Three kids and three kids too. Three kids, yeah, it's, I've had an interesting life. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's hard to believe a dummy comes to Galveston. I came to Galveston, my sister was living at 21st Avenue L and she drew me a map and sent it to me. So when I got off the train I walked to 21st Street, I turned right and I got to about a post office and there were a couple of guys there and I asked them if I was going right and they said yeah. They became good friends of mine years mind years later. One of them said Eddie, you was the goofiest looking guy we ever saw Straw hat beat up cowboy boots and a guitar across your back. I said I guess I was pretty country looking. Yeah, you were a joke. They said we laughed about you when you left us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, coming from West Texas to the big city of Galveston back then right.
Speaker 2:You know all the lights and everything. Gee many questions. I said, hell, I ain't going back. And I didn't. I go home every year. I used to go twice a year Family reunion. At one time I had 52 cousins. Now I got five cousins still left. I'm the oldest and the next ones are upper 90s. Wow, yeah, and the next ones were upper 90s.
Speaker 1:Wow yeah, our family had a long livelihood and that's good, or I wouldn't have been here right and to be able to tell these stories, which is very important. Do you have any veteran friends? And to be able to tell these stories, which is very important? Do you have any veteran friends who you still get together with guys you served with?
Speaker 2:No, there's only two World War II guys in town. One of them is a guy by the name of Bunty Gavassos. He and I play dominoes at around 2.30 every Friday at the country store. The country store is on 14th, 14th of 14th mechanic. He's 102. He'll be 103 August the 25th and he and I we play dominoes every Friday.
Speaker 1:I know where I'm going to be on Friday at 2.30.
Speaker 2:Then you're welcome to come. We laugh and play dominoes. I'll drink a cup of beers or a cup of drinks, of drinks, but it's. It's fun to see two guys who equal 200 years. Wow, yeah, he's 102. I'm not in here. You saw this. That's 200 years on this earth that's that's interesting to think about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, two centuries of knowledge and experience and history.
Speaker 2:He was in World War II, he was in Burma and then he left Burma and went to the Philippines things. So yeah, he's still pretty sharp.
Speaker 1:Maybe I should get him in here or bring a microphone down to the country store. There, you go, that's even better.
Speaker 2:That's a good idea. Yeah, we laugh and cut up and just have a good time. I guess we enjoy being alive Right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You have a baseball field or fields named after you, don't you? Yeah?
Speaker 2:I got a building named after me in Santa Fe.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I have a field that's named after me, the whole complex on 53rd Street. There's three baseball fields, a couple of softball fields, playground equipment, soccer field. It's a big, big park. Right. And I just got that name.
Speaker 1:That's where my son plays tee ball.
Speaker 2:Is it really?
Speaker 1:Yeah, at your field.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I coached a little league, there were three leagues and there were four teams in each league and it was so good that we were cutting players to get to 15. My grandson played Little League about 10 years ago. There were three teams in the city of Galveston. Two of the teams had nine ballplayers and one team had 12. And if somebody was a messin' they would borrow one of the team's 12 players and play this thing. That's called something and you pay to have your son play that.
Speaker 1:Really ruined Leslie Right select ball. Is it select or yeah, that's it. A select league.
Speaker 2:And I don't know it kind of ruined the kids having playing against each other and all the camaraderie and everything. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:How long did you coach for?
Speaker 2:I coached Little League four years. You coach for. I coached Little League four years. I coached Pony League four years. I coached Colt League two years. Then I coached American Legion 24 years 24 years wow. I won five state championships. I went to the World Series one year.
Speaker 1:What year was that?
Speaker 2:1970.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, we wound up third in the United States. Man, that's something to brag about right there.
Speaker 2:That was so great. You know, we went to Danville, virginia, and played. We were there for five days and we ran out of pitchers and that really hurt. You know, I look back and I probably coached well over a thousand young men, uh-huh. And I still have a lot of them who keep in touch. You know, richard DeVries, he played ball for me. Richard DeVries, he played ball for me. Darryl Romani Yarborough, just man, I had two guys who went pro, albert Schult and Adrian Devine. Those are the two that went pro.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was. It was fun. I started to coach when I didn't have any boys and then I wound up with three. Have any boys, and then I wound up with three. I coached. My two oldest boys played little league and pony and then they went to tennis. My youngest son, craig uh, he stayed with baseball, east David baseball through high school 98 years old, you've seen so much throughout your life.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, a world war, one forgotten war, as they call the Korean War. Right yeah, we've discussed quite a bit of your life. I know, one thing I didn't really dive, we haven't gotten into yet, is your kind of career as a commissioner. Oh yeah, you got any. What is a commissioner and what was your kind of your role there?
Speaker 2:your kind of, your role there, a county commissioner, probably one of the most important jobs in the state a commissioner color. He controls all the any judge, district attorney, everybody in the county answers to the county commissioners.
Speaker 2:We control the purse in 1989, in 1989, later part, joe Max Taylor, who was the sheriff, him and Phil Loyk, and Phil was the county auditor. And they came to me and said we want you to run for county commissioner. And I said I don't. I don't want to run for county commissioner. And they said we need you. Jan Coggeshell is gonna run and you're the only guy in town who can beat her". So I called my friend Frankie Williamson and I said you want to run for county commissioner? I'll help you. No, I called Rudy Dykeman, asked him why doesn't he run? He said no, so they come back and talk to. Came by, I needed some soil and I talked to him and we're sitting out there on a concrete bench drinking a beer, concrete bench, drinking a beer, and I said what do you think about me running for County Commissioner? He said sounds good. Reached in his pocket, he gave me three $100 belts. He said that's your first donation. My wife said now what are you going to do? I said I got to run, you got to.
Speaker 2:So I ran for Walter Hall, who was the big vote-getter in the county, who owned the Dickinson Bank, and so Chuck Wilson, who was the tax collector at the time, he took me to see Walter Hart. Walter Hart said you know, eddie, I can't help you. I'm helping in San Cogges Hill. He said the best thing that you can do is just drop out. You can't win. Whoever I backed, they win. I said, mr Hall, I done signed up to run. I got to run. Well, I'm just letting you know I think you're a nice guy, but you can't win if I'm not backing you. And there were nine of us who wound up in the race and Janet and I wound up in the runoff and I beat her two to one.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:And so I became a commissioner. And so I became a commissioner and I won election in April of the runoff. And so Judge Holbrook, who backed Jan, came to me and said why don't you come to the meetings? I'll include you on everything, because you're going to be going there January the 1st. And I said thanks. So I started going to the meetings to catch up on things. There was a guy by the name of Belly Jack Piggies who was commissioner of Precinct 3. Eddie Barr was no, billy Jack was 4, precinct 4iam johnson was a precinct and those in judge oldbrook. So I learned a lot just by going to the meetings right but the county commissioner county commissioner they were.
Speaker 2:They control everything in the county. Nobody knows that, but some people who know the county know that it's an important when you control the money, you're it. Right.
Speaker 2:And Holbrook was. He stayed five years and then he retired and I helped Jim the Yoruba to get elected and he stayed on for quite a while. After I was in the Commissary for about five years, wayne passed away. He was the only black commissioner we had at that time. When Wayne died, yarborough nominated Holmes Steve Holmes as a commissioner and he's still there. But I don't think he can win again. They changed the voting ground and there's a lot of politics.
Speaker 1:Of course there's politics right.
Speaker 2:Unreal.
Speaker 1:How long were you a commissioner? 16 years, 16 years.
Speaker 2:And the reason I decided not to run again. My wife was real ill and I felt I needed to spend more time with her alone, so I retired. And then, eight years later, they named the building in Santa Fe Eddie Janik County Commissioner Building. I have to tell you this in 1946, when I came back from the atomic bomb test, war was over and went to Sam's Hesco to help our ship putting a dry dock to take care of, and so the Navy came and said you can, y'all can, wear civilian clothes, but you can't bring them on the ship. And back then they had lockers maybe 20 lockers in a small building and you rented lockers. So I decided to have a picture taken and sent to my mother in civilian clothes. So I go and I have that picture taken and a couple of guys after four or five days said have you seen your picture? And I said no, they said it's in that studio on Market Street and I said that's where I have my picture taken. Anyway, I made a point to go by there. I'm in the middle, and they got six girls' pictures these are all eight, but tens surrounding me and I said oh my god.
Speaker 2:And I hung out at this club called bimbos and I had a story about it in the Look magazine. It's where there was a girl in a pool in the basement. Through mirrors they brought her into a fish tank on the bar and you could talk to her. Anyway, it was a real nice place. So I'm there a couple times and there was a guy sitting by me. He said you know, I've been looking at you. You're the guy in the studio right and I have my uniform. I said yes. He said I was admiring that You're a good looking guy. I said Byron, you're a good looking guy. I said thank you.
Speaker 2:Anyway, a couple nights later I'm in there with one of the guys off the boxing team and he said okay if I talk to you for a few minutes. I said sure. He gave me a card and said MGM Studios. He was the head scout for talent at MGM. He said I'd like to give you a screen test. I said no, I stuttered, but he said we'll take care of that. He said I want to tell you you're the best looking damn thing I've ever seen. He said you're the best looking thing damn thing I've ever seen. He said you're good-looking, you gonna be a hit and all the.
Speaker 2:Then the guys on the ship find out about it and they're harassing me, of course the movie show, oh my god. So he brought his wife in and she talking to me and our ship was about to pull out and I told him I couldn't do it and I got into a depression about three and a half years ago and part of the problem was I'm seeing all these movies made in 48, 50, 55. And I'm saying shit, I could have been in these movies and it kind of depressed me and like I talked to a good friend of mine and I said you know, I shouldn't be depressed. I married the prettiest girl in town, I got three good kids, I've had a great life in Galveston, I know practically everybody and I said I have a beautiful wife, three kids and I'm happy, right, beautiful wife three kids and.
Speaker 2:I'm happy, Right so, but it really bugged me. But not so these shows were made, would have been in my era. Uh-huh. So anyway.
Speaker 1:Well, that leads perfectly into my last question for you After living for 98 years, what is after all these stories you've just told me for a couple hours here? What is your proudest accomplishment?
Speaker 2:I think raising three sons to be good citizens and not getting on drugs or alcohol or anything I think that's the main thing. And then I'm happy about helping people. I worked phone company and when I retired I got $30,000. I called a friend of mine who worked for Jones Stocks and Bonds and I told him I had $30,000 and I never had invested in anything Because he helped me. He said sure, so it turned into a good deal.
Speaker 2:I built a house on Channel View Drive and I sold it for $123,000 profit. I put that in stocks every year and then I put money in. As the first one was born I made a 529. I put 55,000 and then every year on that birthday he got $5,000. Sometimes during the year I throw an extra $ 529, and I've got one who just went into his senior year in college and I have a granddaughter who's going into her sophomore year in high school. So all those to me.
Speaker 2:I was so broke as a kid that we used to fight over pennies Five cents to buy you a doubled up ice cream cone and so I felt that here I help and I give away probably right at 10,000 to 11,000 a year to St Jude Shriners for cancer, doggy stuff, svca, the veteran stuff, tunnels to towers, all that stuff I donate to them twice a year. Except six of them I donate every month. It comes out of my credit card and that's I'm saying say it's a bunch of, and that's about nine of them who I do that to. So if people say people who are, why do you do that? I said what am I gonna do with them? I'm happy, I got everything I want, so why not spread it around? And that's one of the things I'm. I'm proud that I haven't been stingy and trying to stingy and trying to hoard money to where I'm a multi-millionaire.
Speaker 2:It's rewarding to give and it's and I'm happy that my kids, my grandkids, all have gone through college through a 529 program, so, and I don't have any great grandchildren.
Speaker 1:Not yet. Huh Well, mr Janik, thank you so much for coming in today. I really, really appreciate you coming in the studio sitting down. Tell me about your night, a little bit, about your 98 years. I'm sure we just scratched the surface yeah but it's an absolute honor to officially meet you Well thank you. And have you come in today.
Speaker 2:It was a pleasure meeting y'all. I've never seen a podcast in my life and I don't do Facebook. I should learn I'm kind of old fashioned, I guess you could say. I had my cell phone and a few years ago I texted my son, carl Austin. He called me back and said Dad, what's wrong? I said why are you saying that? He said you don't know if somebody showed me. So I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks of tax.
Speaker 1:That's right, I love it.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed it I want to thank you all for being so kind as to do this well the pleasure the pleasure is all ours. Trust me I never thought it'd be a podcast. I sure do appreciate y' are taking the time.
