(I sent this to Pastor Ray and he spoke on my behalf) Served on the USS LST 711 (this was the type of boat that came up on the beach and open the hatch and the cargo came out). He was in WW11, and was in Boreno, Phillipines, Leyte. He had a wonderful military career at a critical time in our country. Molly is the Jack Russel who belong to Lee and Susan, you would find them on the couch watching wrestling together and fighting for the covers and at night, J.C. would open the blanket and tell Molly, “It’s time to come to bed”. And she jumped up in the bed and made her bed at his feet and we saw that when we went over to visit them. The family and I was so proud of this, the family kept a vigil, the five days prior with all the family around and that was very, very special to me to see how the family did that, cause you don’t see that often and I was very proud of how ya’ll were able to be there. Up until the day before he passed away, the girls would say, “Hi Daddy, and he would say “Hi Darlin, Hi Darlin”. The girls said, “he was always Daddy to us, they let me know this, don’t say Dad, he was Daddy”. Susan said this: The most vivid memories of her Daddy was when he moved in with her in January 2006. She said this,”he loved biscuits and gravy, he loved chicken, he loved coconut cake, he loved sweet tea and loved banana pudding. I didn’t know this but I used to call him a “Mountain Man, cause in my mind he was just like a mountain man, you could just tell he was an outdoorsmen. But he wouldn’t a mountain men. Susan told me he didn’t like it when I called him that he was a man from the swamps of Shuqualak, MS. So when I see him next time, I gonna say “I’m sorry J.C. I know you are a swampman”. I was so proud of the book that Susan has worked on with her Daddy, 400 page, a memoir of life with J.C., kind of his memories titled "Sittin On The Porch" 400 pages. I know that it blessed him so very much and I know that will be a blessing to your family. She said J.C. loved to paint birdhouses, she hated it, cause the detail work that was involved in it, but he loved it. She said reconnecting him with the remaining shipmates and putting out a monthly newsletter for them, all the Navy guy he was with in WWII, Susan located them and put them all together and put a newsletter together and that blessed J.C., I would see him light up when he would talk about that and that meant the world to him. He was 30 years as a carpenter and he retired on Janurary 14, 1990 when he had a major heart attack. She said she use to love to drive on a Saturday and take Daddy to get an ice cream in Monticello and a fish fillet in Jackson. And she said “she loved to see her Daddy smile because his eyes twinkle”. I think we all saw that in J.C.’s twinkle in his eye, beautiful.