MEETING JOHNSON, PRESIDENT JOHNSON, TWICE!

Presidential politics was all new to me. The euphoria of John F. Kennedy faded into oblivion. We sought new presidential leadership and found one. We did not know who this lanky Texan would turn out to be. Somehow Gussie Busch, owner of Budweiser invited LBJ to the City of St. Louis. The announcement was brief with little notice.


I knew something was up and acted accordingly. "THE MAN WAS COMING TO TOWN" AND I WAS GAME. Our wounds of the assassination had hardly healed. It was just 84 days since November 22nd. I vowed I would be ready and I was.


My hand was LBJ's hand as we shook. Meeting and greeting Lyndon Johnson was thrilling. The implications of pressing flesh taught me much. In the course of the year I saw "Lyndon" again and grew to like this tall Texan. But why?


The Vietnam War happened so fast and I was caught in the thick of things. But Mr. Johnson kept me in his camp by his "charm." So what.


Johnson seemingly defeated himself in the final analysis. I was trained to be a soldier.. something I never regretted. I saw the world, I learned a thing or two and dis my duty. If it wasn't for Johnson I'd be still working at the Brookfield Orchards!