William Duke:  

Best story: I bought out my business partner in 2007. He retired to Wales in the United Kingdom. This year (2013) was his 65th birthday. We went to his house in Wales for his birthday in July. The first year of our business we ran out of money before we could sell any of our equipment. Dave, my business partner, had a 911 Porsche in Wales. He sold it and invested the money in our company. Shortly thereafter I sold some of our equipment and paid Dave back. He tried to find his Porsche but was not able to locate it. That was almost 20 years ago. This year I had three friends in the UK get on all the Porsche forums to find the car. We found the car outside of London. I purchased the Porsche and gave it to Dave on his 65th birthday. This "stiff upper lip" unemotional Brit cried like a baby when he realized what was going on. It was one of the best days of my life. Update: This story made the British press in several papers. Dave was driving his Porsche a few months later and was pulled over by a traffic officer not too far from his house in Wales. The officer asked Dave if he knew how fast he was going. Dave responded that he was just going through the gears and did not know how fast he was going. As the officer was writing the ticket he told Dave that he really admired the wheels on the Porsche and asked Dave where they came from. Dave answered that he did not know. The officer replied "wait a minute. You are the Brit that the American gave the car as a gift and this is that car." Dave responded "that's right." The officer said "bugger off" and went back to his car. Another "Dave" contacted me out of nowhere. I served in Southeast Asia with a man named Dave Sutphin. He caught up with me after more than 40 years. His big question was what was I currently doing? I told him about my wife of almost 40 years, my business success, my family and my life in general. His comment stopped me in my tracks. He said, you know Bill, it's amazing. I said what's amazing Dave? He said, People I thought were going to be successful didn't accomplish anything, and people I thought would never do anything are very successful. Thanks Dave! I have had and continue to have a great life. I have 4 wonderful children and as of now 5 grandchildren with 1 on the way. I feel blessed to have been raised in Blanchard, LA. The pace was a little slower and the people were a little nicer. I had many friends in Blanchard. Sports tied many of us together. Greg , Gary , Dickie , Douglas, Joe ,Mike, Corky, Hal, Bruce, Gerald, Steve and many, many more. We competed well in all sports and fortunately had parents like Mr. Snell, Mr. Hart, Mr. Morehead, Mr. Brantly and others who were willing to give so much of their time and energy to all of us. I left Blanchard when I was 20 years old. By that time I had blown my academic scholarship to Northeastern State University. I did not handle the lack of structure very well. Besides I already knew everything so what could I possibly learn at college. Right? I went to Lackland Air Force Base, then Lowery AFB in Denver, George AFB in Victorville, CA, Eg...Expand for more