Wandering with Uncle Bud™
A trip long overdue ... a promise fulfilled.
Sep 23, 2004, 18:47

2-12-04

”To a friends’ house, the road is never long.”
-Anonymous-

By Uncle Bud

Classic southern White Oak dedicated to yours truly.

Our travels over the past 17 days were a true test of the foregoing quotation. We found the road not very long … just took a long time is all. Five days and 2,687 miles to South Carolina with five days and 2,770 miles to return home.

When we arrived in Fort Mill, Buck and Betty Buchanan asked me to take a close look at the giant White Oak in their front yard with instructions to walk around it. Low and behold, there was this engraved plaque … seeing the plaque and truly great friends once again made the driving fatigue vanish.

I had commented to Buck last year about the shear beauty and majestic presence this tree had in their yard. So, it is now mine … probate be damned. (I pocketed a few select acorns from my tree to take home just to see if I can get one to grow in Boundary County.)

Almost as much fun to drive as Belchfire.

My euphoric state of seeing these two fine folks was short lived as Buck told me I was just in time to cut the grass before “Ivan” hit. Seriously though, I had been bugging him about test driving his Skag mower for the past two years.

There were too many high points and surprises during our stay to mention them all in this report. However, I have to report my profound sense of pride and the pleasure it gave me to see two of their sons’ take off on a Sunday afternoon jaunt on their spotless motorcycles. In 1967, these two were just squirts … now, after military careers of their own, John on the left is a high school teacher, and Tony on the right is the general manager of a steel rolling plant. The Buchanan’s third son, Bob lives in northern Virginia and like his two brothers, also completed a military career as a warrant officer.

Brothers on the road … where ever those bikes take them.

The Buchanan clan is well rounded out with two daughters and enough grandchildren to fill a school bus. (I have not seen these ladies since they were babies.)

While we were in Fort Mill our hosts’ took us on a tour of the Heritage grounds. You have to go back in time to remember the infamous evangelist (and scam artist) Jimmy Baker and his equally famous wife Tammy Fae (Famous for her love of make-up and air conditioned dog houses.)

Pontis Pilate’s historic moment brought to life in sculpture.

While the grounds were of course sadly lacking in maintenance, you could still get a feel for the magnitude of this religious theme park and retreat. A classic example of great times gone bad … bad for a lot of good people.

I became fascinated with this quiet spot tucked away in the woods and was drawn to the statuary and its profound portrayal in sculpture of Pontis Pilate washing his hands before Jesus was taken away to be crucified. We salute whomever is responsible for keeping this particular area of the now defunct Heritage complex in a fair state of cleanliness and repair.

This report is turning into a book, but stick with me, as there was a twofold reason for this long trip.

The artist certainly succeeded in capturing our Lords’ dismay at Pontis Pilate’s decision.

Soldiers, when in garrison, call upon their respective commanding officers on New Year’s Day. This form of a courtesy call was by some, grounds for gripping by my peers in my day. First Sergeants and Sergeant Majors were integrated into the annual officers courtesy call upon unit commanders on New Years Day in the early 60’s. Some of my peers would remark “We have to put on our dress blues and go to the C.O.’s house just so he can see his sergeants are sober enough to walk after New Years Eve.”

It was never labeled a duty when it came to calling upon a former commander of mine by the name of Colonel Clyde A. Selleck Jr., Commanding Officer of the 937th Combat Engineer Group … it was an honor and a pleasure. It was the fond memories of those days under his command that prompted me to make yet another courtesy call on him 30 years later.

After leaving our beloved Buck and Betty in Fort Mill South Carolina we drove north to Chapel Hill North Carolina where we made that long overdue courtesy call on our Commanding Officer and his ever charming wife, Dolly. The residue from hurricane “Ivan” was chasing us and time was short, but this stop had to be made.

You’ll have to forgive me, but I cannot find the right words to describe our feelings as we dined that night in their beautiful home. It brought back memories of dinners many years ago in Fort Riley Kansas at the “Colonel’s” home. Let me just summarize by saying you have not really dined until you’ve been a guest at a table set by Dolly Selleck and presided over by Pete Selleck. (Still find it hard to call the Colonel Pete.)

With an unspoken rule, Pete and I did not discuss the current war in Iraq … we both know it is not our Army any more. Instead, we spoke of the great soldiers we were privileged to serve with in the 937th Group. Yes, we even managed to discuss a few of our weirdo’s.

After a sumptuous breakfast we said our farewells secure in the satisfaction that a promise to pay this courtesy call upon our “Colonel” and his lovely Dolly had been fulfilled. I’ll even confess that I found myself preparing to render a salute as we parted company. Yes, he was that good of a commander.

Enough about Fort Mill as the visit was pretty personal in nature.

Regrets? Just one … two other comrades and their wives from years long ago could not marry up with us in Fort Mill as planned. Paul and George … you were missed.

Editors Note: Due to Uncle Bud's tendency to ramble at times, we have deemed it necessary to print the last portion of this article in a new Wandering column a couple weeks from now. So stay tuned for the "rest of the story" on Uncle Bud's fun trip down south.

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