usadeepsouth.com
~a memoir~
by Billy Tom (Bubba) Lusk
I was saved at about age sixteen at the Linn Baptist Church at a revival led by Dr. Chester Swor, who stayed at our house during the revival. I was baptized by Walter Price, pastor at Linn Baptist. The baptism was done at the Ruleville Baptist church. (Although the Linn church was on the banks of Jones Bayou, the bayou wasn't fit for getting into ‘cause of the mud, snakes, and thorns.
What I'm about to tell really happened: I finished basic training at Camp Hood, Texas. I was in an ASTP program which would've sent me back to college. 'Cause I didn't want to do that, I volunteered for the Air Corp and was sent to Amarillo Air Base.
One morning a soldier awakened me and said the chaplain wanted to see me. I smartly said that I'd already had my card punched but that I'd go anyway. Turned out the chaplain was Walter Price and the message was that my Daddy had passed away. Price had already arranged for my emergency furlough and had also arranged for train tickets – and he accompanied me to Memphis.
You've got to realize that at this point the Armed Forces of the U.S. had about fifteen million people in it. So for the chaplain to happen to be my childhood pastor, to me, was a miracle.
The saddest part of the story is that I fell out with God for taking my Daddy, and it was a very long time before I went back to church – but "Praise The Lord," God was patient with me. I graduated from Mississippi State in January of '49. It was after that that Buster Lindsey met Barbara and told me I oughta meet her – which I arranged to do. We didn't get along at all 'cause at that time I drank some. She was going to the First Baptist Church in Cleveland, so I started going there and sitting up front so I could see her in the choir.
Long story, but I finally got her to begin dating me. There's quite a bit more to this story. Eventually I should tell about my Presbyterian connections and my Methodist Mother . . .
Billy Tom’s memoirs are full of Mississippi Delta history:
Part I: Early memories
Part II: Stories from my youth
Part III: Influences on my life
Part IV: College days and WWII enlistment
Part V: Thoughts on religion
Part VI: On fishing
BIO: A Mississippi Delta native, Billy Tom "Bubba" Lusk has resided in Texas since 1961. He's a graduate of Mississippi State University ('49), and has worked in agriculture and insurance. During WWII, he served with the 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment, but saw no combat. He and his wife, Barbara, have 4 children and 7 grandchildren.
Read many more great stories listed on our USADS memoir pages.
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