| JOE ALEX DICKSON....CLASS OF 1942 | | FROM HORN LAKE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD AND BACK... |
| "I graduated in the class of 1942 and was one of four speakers at our graduation. Upon graduating, I received a complete scholarship to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) that even provided me with a stipend of $ 20 per month. |
| As was the case with most young men of our age at the time, World War II was raging in both Asia and Europe; consequently, I received my 'Greetings from the President'. At that time they were only taking draftees into the Army - so I went to New Orleans and joined the Navy. From there, I went through 'Boot Camp' at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois. |
| I had two cousins who were graduates of the Naval Academy, Louis Hudson, Class of 1931 and his brother Keith, Class of 1933. Each approached me about going to the Naval Academy, so I decided to go that route. Because it was too late to enter the class of 1948, I was advised to, and did, attend the Naval Academy Preparatory School at the Old Tome School for Boys in Harve de Gras, Maryland. Having passed all of the entrance examinations, I was sworn in as a Midshipman at the U. S. Naval Academy in the summer of 1945 and graduated with the Class of 1949. I know of no other graduate of Horn Lake School to attend any of the Service Academies. Upon graduation, I married Mary Edwards Miller of Louisville, Kentucky on June 11, 1949 and we have one daughter, Jean Dahms of North Little Rock, Arkansas. |
| As a Midshipman, I had the opportunity to parade in: the funeral of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the inaugural parade for Harry S. Truman and Alvin Barkley; the 'Return of the War Dead Parade' in New York where the selection of the individual who is buried today in Arlington Cemetary as the "Unknown" of World War II; and to walk with President Truman when the Presidential yacht was in Annapolis. While a Midshipman, I served in-doctrination cruises aboard the USS North Carolina, USS Kearsage, and the USS Missouri. This afforded me the opportunity to visit many countries from North Africa through Europe to the Scandinavian countries. As a result of this, I was able to ride a camel in the Sahara Desert, be invited to a garden party given by the King of Sweden, where we had to answer our invitation with our age and height, take a swim in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and go through the Panama Canal. |
| I was the Officer of the Deck that took the third ship...the USS Lyman K. Swenson DD729..up the Flying Fish Channel during the Inchon Invasion in Korea. As a result of this battle, the six Destroyers became known as the 'Sitting Ducks', and I was awarded the Bronze Star. |
| After the Navy, I became employed by Ford Motor Company at the World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan where I held management positions in Product Planning, Truck Service, the development of the 'People Mover' and as a Safety Engineer. My wife and I have visited over 220 countries and islands and have been around the world. |
| There have been many individuals involved in my life, but probably the four most influential were my uncle Aubrey Dickson, Mr. C. T. Wallace, Dr. Pease, a professor at the Academy, and Captain R. A. Schelling, my first Commanding Officer....and probably the four most important people that I have met were: Mother Teresa, Pele, Dr. Sabin, and Thomas Hart Benton. |
| This in a nutshell covers basically my accomplishments and I consider myself very fortunate to have had such fantastic opportunities for a little boy from Horn Lake." (Copied from the Horn Lake Eagle News, May - June 2004 Issue) |
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