Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
In a world where storytelling has been our link to the past since the days of cave drawings, there exists a timeless tradition. It's the art of passing down knowledge, and for Military Veterans, it's a crucial piece of their legacy. Join us on the Veterans Archives Podcast, where we dive deep into the heartwarming and awe-inspiring stories of those who served, no matter when or where.
Here, Veterans get the chance to be the authors of their own narratives. Through guided interviews in a relaxed and safe environment, they paint their experiences with their own words and unique voices. The result? A memory card in a presentation box, a precious gift they can share however they please.
But that's not all. These stories find a secure home in our archive, a treasure chest of experiences for future generations to explore. The best part? It's all a gift to the Veteran – our way of saying thank you for their service.
Tune in to the Veterans Archives Podcast, where history, heroism, and heartwarming tales come to life.
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Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
What Does It Mean to Serve? Billy Adams' Story
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From Oklahoma oil fields to Vietnam and beyond, Billy Adams' life story captures the essence of service, resilience, and finding joy in life's journey.
Born in Drumright, Oklahoma in 1948, Billy grew up in Louisiana as the oldest boy among seven siblings. His early years were shaped by baseball, helping his father in the oil fields, and developing the work ethic that would serve him throughout life. When the draft came calling during the Vietnam War, Billy made the conscious choice to serve his country despite having opportunities to seek exemption due to his essential civilian work X-raying pipeline welds.
Billy's military journey took an unexpected turn when his 45-words-per-minute typing skills landed him a position as a company clerk at a post office near General Westmoreland's headquarters in Vietnam. This assignment came after a memorable first night in-country that included being blown off a latrine commode by a rocket attack – a baptism by fire that fortunately left him uninjured but certainly alert to his new surroundings.
After his military service, Billy returned to his roots in the oil industry before eventually moving to Florida and joining the Division of Forestry. It was in Florida where he met Shirley, his wife of over 30 years, forming a bond built on mutual respect and admiration. An avid runner in his younger days, Billy completed numerous road races, including a memorable marathon across the 26-mile bridge outside New Orleans – a feat he accomplished thanks to the encouragement of a fellow runner who refused to let him quit.
Now enjoying retirement and time with his grandchildren, Billy's message to future generations reflects the wisdom gained through his experiences: "Be calm, go with the flow, and accept what the good old United States will offer you." His story reminds us that through service, perseverance, and maintaining perspective, we can navigate life's challenges while appreciating its blessings.
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Today is Tuesday, may 13th. We're here with Billy Adams, who served in the United States Army. Good morning, billy, good morning. It's great to see you this morning.
Speaker 2Nice to see you, sir.
Speaker 1All right, Now we're going to start out pretty simple. When and where were you born?
Speaker 2I was born in Drumright, Oklahoma, August 23, 1948. Okay.
Speaker 1And I think we talked earlier before we started recording, that you didn't actually grow up in Oklahoma, though, did you?
Speaker 2No.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Because my father was in the oil field business too. I was in there a long time myself, but we he got transferred for interstate oil and pipeline to Louisiana.
Speaker 1All right, and were you pretty young when you moved to Louisiana. Then yeah. Okay, well, did you have brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2Three brothers and three sisters. Oh my gosh Seven kids.
Speaker 1Wow, what was it like growing up in a house with six brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2Lunacy, yeah, did you have to fight for your meals, did you? Yeah, you didn't have to fight for your meals, did you?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, and so were you the oldest.
Speaker 2The youngest Were you in the middle. Somewhere I was number. Well, I got a sister older than me and then I was the second one, okay, out of seven kids.
Speaker 1So you were the oldest boy then.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, okay, All right Now. Did you grow up in a city city or?
Speaker 2were you out in the country? Do you recall pretty much? Uh, we, we were outside of have. Are you familiar with faraday louisiana? Yes, I've heard of it okay, we lived outside, uh, faradayay, not actually on Lake Concordia, but it was across the levee from us. Okay, you know, we had a lake there and everything. It was pretty neat yeah.
Speaker 1Now, did you growing up? Were you and your brothers and sisters? Did you do a lot of things together? Were you friends or did you do stuff with other people? Were you?
Speaker 2friends, or did you do stuff with other people? Or, uh, I would say we were everybody. We seem to be independent of each other. Okay, uh, because of school and the, the kids we played with and all of that kind of stuff, the stuff we did. I mean, you know, girls are going to be different than boys.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2When it comes to that especially.
Speaker 1Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2But I was into athletics and my brothers, well, one of them was in athletics. I had three brothers, and so I was different in that I was always, you know, playing baseball.
Speaker 1Okay, so baseball was your sport.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Okay, and did you play that all through school? Yeah, okay. And how was school for you? Did you enjoy school? Uh, were you, or was school a way for you to play baseball?
Speaker 2Uh, it was mostly afterschool type stuff, okay.
Speaker 1The baseball.
Speaker 2But yeah, I wasn't too smart in school, you know, I had to ask Mr Quimby to give me a D so I could graduate.
Speaker 1Oh, okay.
Speaker 2You know, with my class. You're right, I didn't stay another year.
Speaker 1Was he obliging then?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, what do you remember about your parents? Anything that you recall about your mom and dad that kind of sticks out in your mind.
Speaker 2Well, my mother used to watch soap operas with the next-door neighbor. Uh-huh, let's see. My father worked for Ashland Oil and I eventually worked for Ashland Oil and worked with him for many years. Oh, okay, I would go to work with him and help him oh. And all the oil fields around there. You know there's a lot of oil fields. I'm not sure what it's like now, though.
Speaker 1Yeah, and it's interesting because I think when I think about Louisiana, I don't necessarily think about oil fields, you know, I think about like Texas or someplace like that, but I guess Oklahoma, Louisiana, all that whole area right.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1Okay, now you eventually graduated from high school. You got that D that you needed and you graduated. Were you drafted into the service right after that, or was there? Do you remember how that happened?
Family life and working in oil fields
Speaker 2Yeah, the draft lady called and said I was going to be drafted, but I could. At the time I was working for Houston Gamma Ray Company. Do you know what they do? No, what do they do? They do X-ray pipelines all over the United States Okay, in different places.
Speaker 1All right, and for people who don't know the pipelines that are made of steel, when those are welded they X-ray those welds and then they keep records of it right? So in case something happens, yes, okay, and so that's what you did for them.
Speaker 2Yes, okay, but, yes, okay, but anyway, let's see, I used to. For many years I x-rayed whales. And where were we before that?
Speaker 1Okay, yeah, no problem. So we were talking about you. The lady from the draft board called.
Speaker 2Oh, yes, and said that you were going to get drafted. Yes. And she said but Billy, since you work in pipeline x-ray and you work out of Houston Texas, you can switch your draft thing to Texas, houston Texas, and you probably won't be drafted. Oh. You know, because it's a bigger place.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2You know, a little podunk fair to Louisiana.
Speaker 1Everybody went right.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Okay, so you switched it over to Houston.
Speaker 2No, I didn't, oh you didn't, you stayed Okay. I stayed Okay. I felt that you know that. What do you call it? You know, I felt I had to do it yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1You know, yeah, kind of that commitment.
Speaker 2Even though I could have got out of it.
Speaker 1Right, okay, so you ended up.
Speaker 2I wasn't getting along with my wife either.
Speaker 1Oh, so you were married at this time. Yeah, okay, all right. Did you have any children?
Speaker 2One son Uh-huh, jody, okay, he's growing up now yeah.
Speaker 1Doing well.
Speaker 2Well good, Did he stay in Louisiana? Then your son? He actually moved across the bridge to Natchez, Mississippi. Okay, so he's lived in Natchez many years. He's coming to visit here in about a week.
Speaker 1Wow, that'll be exciting, Mm-hmm. Wow, he's got three kids. Oh, that'll be busy. Wow, he's got three kids. Oh, that'll be busy. So you stayed there and you eventually got drafted right Into the Army. Yes, okay, yes, and we were talking earlier that you went to basic training at Tiger Land, yeah, which is kind of a historic place for basic training. It was yeah, so tell me what you remember about basic training.
Being drafted into the Army
Speaker 2What was it like when you got there? You know you learn how to the marksmanship, to shoot and all the stuff you do low crawl, just exercise. It was just a whole divvy of stuff you know, right Running every day. You know you didn't rest much.
Speaker 1No, no. And so do you think that working in the oil fields helped you when you got to basic training, or was it kind of a surprise when you got there?
Speaker 2No, working in the oil fields with my father helping him. That was a good experience for me too.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Because I ended up going to work for Aston Oil myself and I knew a lot about the oil field.
Speaker 1All right, well, let's go back a little bit to basic training then. So you made it through basic training.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1And then do you remember where you went from there.
Speaker 2Yes, ait was because I had worked on the river. I don't know if I told you this. I worked on the river a year on a tugboat for Ashland Oil. Know if I told you this, I worked on the river a year on a tugboat, okay, for Ashland oil, hauling oil from New Orleans all the way to Ashland, kentucky, okay, and uh-huh.
Speaker 2So so that helped you pick what job you were going to do in the army then yeah, whenever I got to fort eustace, when I got drafted and I went to fort eustace, uh, because of my uh work on the boat yeah they, they end up putting me in seaman training okay, all right.
Speaker 1And then, uh you, you did that for a period of time.
Speaker 2Yes, learning how to drive the Mike boats and U-boats and those are the boats that carry equipment. You've seen them in World War II and all that. Yeah when the front of the boat lets down and the troops charge ashore to fight it.
Speaker 1Yeah, we were doing that?
Speaker 2I ashore to fight it. Yeah, we were doing that. I learned how to drive those, but yeah, we weren't in combat with them. We hauled equipment in Vietnam mostly. Okay, all right you know because they're. But yeah, they used them in war, in World War I and II, I think.
Speaker 1But you were using them to make sure people got what they needed. Yeah, okay, so when you finished up with AIT, then is that when you went to Vietnam?
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, whenever they, I got my orders. Well, I volunteered for Vietnam.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And so I flew out. I flew to Alaska, oh, and to the airport. I went to the airport and a transport plane landed there and just picked me up oh, by myself.
Speaker 1Well, you must have been pretty important. You got your own plane, I felt important, I'll bet, I'll bet.
Speaker 2And so we flew there to Japan and from there to Vietnam.
Speaker 1Okay, Do you recall what it was like when you first got there to Vietnam? Do you remember what that was like for you?
Training and assignment in Vietnam
Speaker 2Yeah, because a helicopter took me to a place out in the middle of, of course, vietnam, mm-hmm. You know, and she'd never been there before and we stopped at this restaurant it was a restaurant and it was closed and they dropped me off and said a truck would come and pick me up there. And so I, you know, here I was in the middle of it and all that you know, waiting on a truck to come pick me up at night it was, you know I.
Speaker 2It didn't bother me. I wasn't as afraid as I thought I would be, even though you could see the bombs going off in the background.
Speaker 1Yeah you must have felt kind of alone, though I mean.
Speaker 2Alone, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1So I'm assuming the truck finally came there and picked you up? Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2And took me to a unit 784th Transportation Company outside of Saigon. We were about, I think, about 20 or 30 miles from Saigon. But, anyway, Fort, let's see. And so there, let's see. Oh, I got to tell you this story.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2The first night I got there and they dropped me off at the unit. There was a latrine and so I needed to use the bathroom. Real bad, so. I go in there, you know, and a rocket landed outside the train and blew all the windows out and everything and blew me off the commode and, you know, across the floor.
Speaker 1Yeah, welcome to Vietnam. And it didn't hurt me, I mean, it didn't you know across the floor. Yeah, welcome to vietnam.
Speaker 2Me I mean, it didn't, you know, I wasn't injured, but I, yeah, I got christened yeah, yeah, that'll.
Speaker 1That'll wake you up, won't? All the windows blew out and everything oh my gosh yeah did you kind of wonder what you were had got myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah a little bit, a little bit.
Speaker 2So you got to your unit and then were you driving boats then at this time? No, I'd done those mostly in AIT and basic training.
Speaker 1Oh, okay. So then, when you got to Vietnam, what did you do there?
Speaker 2Well, I went in, the first sergeant was there. He looked over my thing, he said oh, you can type 45 words a minute, and I said yes, sir. He said well, welcome, you're my new company clerk. So I had it made.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2I was the company clerk there at a post office. Okay, clerk there at a post office. Okay, you know the big post office for years of a general Westmoreland.
Speaker 1Yeah, so, so tell this. So what was that like? Was that it? Was sounds like good duty yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, it was good duty. It was just probably safer there than in the States.
Speaker 1I wouldn't be surprised. Mail is pretty important.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, so how long were you in Vietnam? A?
Speaker 2little over a year.
Speaker 1Okay, any other stories you want to share about your time there? Any interesting things that happened other than the rocket attack at the latrine? Oh, anything. No attacks or anything like that happened while you were no not were.
Speaker 2From then on, we were in a very fortified place.
Speaker 1Okay, okay.
Speaker 2You know, around there.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Because General Westmoreland was just up the road. Yeah okay In Saigon.
Speaker 1Okay, so pretty, other than when you first got there. Then pretty, pretty uneventful tour of duty then.
Speaker 2As far as fighting and stuff.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, did you make some friends while you were there.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Okay, do you still keep in touch with any of them?
Speaker 2No.
Speaker 1Oh, okay, all right. So you were there for a year and then did you take R&R at any time during your tour there?
Speaker 2Yes, Okay, yes, I met my first wife in Hawaii for R&R.
Speaker 1That's where most of the guys went right. It was Hawaii. Mm-hmm. Yeah, how was that for you? Did you enjoy Hawaii?
Speaker 2Oh goodness, yes.
Speaker 1Oh good.
Speaker 2You ever been there?
Speaker 1Yes, I have. I went there for my honeymoon actually.
Speaker 2I got to tell you a story about that. When I went to Hawaii for R&R, I stayed at the tallest hotel on Waikiki Beach. When I went back to Hawaii with my second wife, it was the shortest hotel on Waikiki Beach.
Speaker 1Things change, don't they, billy?
Speaker 2Yeah, I like telling that story because you know it went from a little hotel to a skyscraper hotel. Oh, yeah, yeah that's wow.
Speaker 1Yep, things do definitely do change. So you, uh, you, once you finished up your tour, then you, you flew back home, did you? Did you fly through Alaska again, or did you? How'd you get home?
Speaker 2Yeah, I went through Alaska.
Speaker 1Okay, all right, and then did you from there? Did you go back to Louisiana then, mm-hmm, okay, back to Natchez.
Speaker 2Yeah, okay, natchez, natchez, faraday. Actually, faraday is where I lived. Okay, all right, which is across the bridge from Natchez?
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2And so did you go back to work for the oil company yes, ashland Oil, all right. And were you working with your dad at this time? No, okay, I worked. I got a job for him.
Speaker 1Okay, I worked, I got a job for them Okay.
Speaker 2All right.
Speaker 1And you were still married then yeah. And you're raising your son and working, and so do you recall how long you worked for the oil company? Was it a long time?
Speaker 2Probably a couple of years.
Speaker 1Okay, and then you said that you went to work for the Forest Service, right?
Speaker 2Yeah, when I moved to Baton Rouge and was living down there for quite a while and I'd always heard about Florida.
Speaker 1Uh-huh.
Speaker 2So you know, I decided to move down here, so that's what I did, and I've been here ever since.
Speaker 1Okay Now. Were you still married when you moved to Florida, or were you?
Speaker 2No, I wasn't.
Speaker 1Okay, so you were a single guy at this time. You moved to Florida and then so is this where you went to work for the Forest Service then? Or what did you do when?
Speaker 2you got here, yes.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, the Division of Forestry.
Speaker 1All right, and what did you do for them?
Speaker 2I was a company, clerk.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, a company clerk for forestry.
Speaker 1Okay, so you processed all the paperwork and all that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm, all right. Any highlights from working there that you want to talk about? Any interesting stories from the Forest Service?
Speaker 2You know, it was just the smoky barrier and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Doing programs, checking for wildfires, Mm-hmm, like they're doing now fighting wildfires. Of course I was working in the office, so I didn't have to actually fight wildfires myself.
Speaker 1Did a lot of coordination for them. Okay, so there's a big controversy. You can answer this question for me. So some people say Smokey the Bear and some people say Smokey Bear. Which is it? Is it Smokey the Bear or Smokey Bear? I've always been curious, or is it just one of those things we'll never know?
Speaker 2I always say Smokey Bear.
Speaker 1Okay, Myself yeah.
Speaker 2I've always said Smokey Bear yeah.
Speaker 1Well, and you work for the Forest Service, so I'll take your word for it on that one. So tell me, how'd you meet Shirley?
Speaker 2I was working for Forestry and I had a house. They gave me a house in South Orlando, out there South OVT. During that time I met her Okay and she actually moved into the forestry house with me.
Speaker 1Uh-huh, All right. And now did she have children, or did you guys have children together?
Post-war life and career
Speaker 2We didn't have any together, but she had children Eric and Jennifer.
Speaker 1Okay, all right, they moved in with you as well. Mm-hmm. Okay, all right, so you've been married for a few years now, so that must have all worked out for you.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, so what is it? What was it about Shirley? Do you recall? What was it about Shirley that attracted you to her? What was?
Speaker 2She's an incredible. She's very smart, for one thing, Uh-huh, you know she's a college grad and everything but, and she's just a good person.
Speaker 1Yeah, very good person.
Speaker 2Yeah, you know, they don't make women like that much. Don't tell her, I said that Okay.
Speaker 1She's behind you. All right, that'll be between us. We were saying she's a really good person and really smart, so you decided to get married. Now, how long have you been married? Do you recall?
Speaker 2Over 30 years.
Speaker 1Okay, All right. And so you got married, you raised a family and you retired, and you're enjoying your retirement now, and we talked earlier too that you used to do a lot of running.
Speaker 2Yeah, when I lived in Baton Rouge before I came to Florida, I used to run road races the 10Ks and 5Ks and I ran a marathon or two. In hindsight, I wouldn't have run as much because I ended up two knee replacements.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's hard on your body, isn't it? Yeah, or it can be.
Speaker 2Yeah. I actually run. My marathon was across the 26 mile bridge in New Orleans. Oh, are you familiar with the bridge?
Speaker 1I'm not Outside of New Orleans, I'm not Tell me about this.
Speaker 2Outside of New Orleans there's a bridge. It's 26 miles long, I know.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2From the other towns on the other side of the bridge.
Speaker 1So that whole marathon is just that bridge.
Marriage and retirement years
Speaker 2Yeah, they did a marathon on there once and I ran that, wow, how do you? I'll never forget this. If you don't mind me, I'll never forget this, if you don't mind me, I'll never forget this. This old black gentleman. I said I was jogging along by him and I said, man, this, 26 miles. I didn't realize that's a long way it is. And I said, and they had a bus on the bridge outside of New Orleans that would come along and you know, if you were, you could get on the bus, Right, you could quit if you wanted. You could quit if you wanted, you could quit if you wanted. And I said, yeah, next time the bus comes by I'm getting on it. He said, no, you're not, you're going to finish.
Speaker 1So I said okay, so he encouraged you to finish that race. Huh, yeah, yeah, did you guys finish it together? Yeah, oh, okay, so he encouraged you to finish that race. Huh, yeah, yeah, did you guys finish it together?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Oh, okay, yeah, Wow, that's a great story.
Speaker 2He was a big guy too.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, you weren't going to tell him no, huh, no.
Speaker 2But he was really nice.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. Well, that's fantastic. Did you do anything after retirement? Did you do any work or anything like that afterwards, or did you just enjoy retirement?
Speaker 2Mostly just retirement.
Speaker 1Yeah, just enjoying the grandkids and all of that. Yeah, well, very good. Well, you know I've asked a lot of questions today and I'm just going to ask you one more question. Well, first, actually, is there anything that we haven't talked about that you want to talk about, that you want to share?
Speaker 2Did I tell you the story about the rocket landing outside the Latourian?
Speaker 1Yes, yes, we did talk about that. Definitely have to get that story in there.
Speaker 2That's one of my best stories.
Speaker 1That's a great story. Lucky that you're here, by the way, yeah, reading.
Speaker 2Stars and Stripes and got blown off the commode.
Speaker 1Oh, no, you should have kept that paper. That was your lucky newspaper. That's what that was.
Speaker 2I probably did keep it and then lost it or something somewhere along the, you know, in Vietnam.
Speaker 1Oh, yeah, yeah, we do that. So the only other question I have is that you know people are going to listen to this. You know years down the road and I'm just wondering is there like a message that you would like to leave for people?
Speaker 2something that you would like to tell people that are listening to this. Well, just if I had to say something like that, I'd say just be calm, go with the flow you know and accept what the good old United States will offer you. Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1Okay, all right. Well, thanks for taking time out today to talk with me. Yeah, I guess. Okay, all right. Well, thanks for taking time out today to talk with me. I really appreciate it, and thanks for talking with me.
