Larry Hopkins:  

I joined the Naval Air Reserve in 1963, after attending Weatherford College one semester. I reported for duty at the Naval Air Station, New Orleans on November 22nd and heard the news of the JFK assassination.. In New Orleans, I was amazed at the amount of hatred for JFK. Federal troops had enforced school integration. there. I became friends with a black sailor named George Washington (!) and we enjoyed playing golf at the base course. Later, he and I would be members of the base golf team with two other white sailors. I'll always remember how nervous we were traveling through Lousiana in 1964-66. We flew to most tournaments, but had to drive to get to the district golf tourney in Corpus Christi. Wisely, we traveled in uniform to ensure we were not mistaken for civil rights workers. I wanted to be a pro golfer, but never achieved that dream. I was the pro at our base golf course, for a short stint before discharge. I enjoyed working in the Personnel Dept for 2 years and a year in the Aircraft Training office. To provide for my wife and baby daughter, I had to work various PT jobs in the Navy. The most fun were bartending at base clubs, running the base 35MM movie projector weekly, and picking up and escorting military prisoners in Lo...Expand for more