Smoke Signals and other news

As a child, I was always ready for school to start. We never started this early, and some classmates couldn’t come to school until the fall crops were gathered, usually after Labor Day. Our supply lists were much shorter, and we rarely knew what supplies we needed until after our first day of school. Most of us shopped in Byhalia as there were no Walmarts, Targets, or Amazons. I don’t remember anyone having a “backpack,” but a few had what was known as book satchels. If you had one, lockers were shelves with dividers in junior high, and high school, you had the traditional metal lockers. School buses and classrooms were not air-conditioned. Windows were opened and if you were lucky, you might sit near enough to the teacher to catch a bit of a breeze from the only fan in the room. All playground equipment would be considered unsafe by today’s standards, but we couldn’t wait to play on it every chance we got.

This week has been quite interesting. One trip to the emergency room by ambulance was not enough. We had to go on two trips in less than 24 hours. After the previous ER visit, where they found the broken rib, Doug, my husband, continued deteriorating with extreme swelling and pain in the right arm. I packed everything to go to the hospital Monday night, and he decided he did not want to go. Tuesday, he couldn’t walk to the truck. I called the ambulance, and with the help of two paramedics and Cody Garrison, Byhalia Fire Captain, he was loaded and taken to Olive Branch Methodist Hospital. We usually use Germantown Methodist because his doctors are mostly there. However, that hospital was not accepting ambulance patients since Germantown had no water. All the x-rays and ultrasounds from the week before were repeated with the same results. He was given some IV antibiotics and prescriptions and sent home, although I felt strongly that he should have been admitted. Fast forward to 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning when he fell again. Neighbors came to try and help me get him up but to no avail. The fire department came to the rescue again with the same EMTS, and this time a sheriff’s officer helped to roll him onto a blanket and lift him onto the stretcher for a second trip to the ER, where he was quickly admitted. Our days have been filled with physical therapy, IV antibiotics, pain meds, little sleep, and being cared for by a wonderful staff. We will be here until Monday, when he will transfer to a rehab facility.

Our spoiled little dog has once again been in the care of our daughter Emily’s family. He makes himself right at home and bosses them around just like he does me. He loves to run and play with her much bigger dogs.

Byhalia History Review – Lieutenant O. F. Eddins, Corporal R. J. Howard and the Walker Reserves no doubt enjoyed the festive attitude of this heroic sendoff.

When the reality of war was finally over four years later, Lieutenant Eddins had personally fought at Fort Donelson, Fort Hudson, and Vicksburg. He had been captured twice and was a prisoner of war on Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie. Corporal Howard became a Second Lieutenant, fought in numerous battles (including Vicksburg), and was captured. He was sent to Morris Island, South Carolina, where he involuntarily became one of the “Immortal Six Hundred.” This dubious honor was earned when the Union garrison at Morris Island gathered the Confederate prisoners of war and placed them between the line of fire from opposing armies. R. J. Howard survived and returned to Byhalia after the war, where he became a successful merchant for many years. Due to transportation problems and frequent lack of time to gather the dead, many of the young men from both sides were buried in the field of battle where they lay. Some were shipped home to be buried, but many did return alive after the war, enabling us to know other veterans’ names from Byhalia and the surrounding vicinity

Please share your news with me at [email protected] or text or call 901 246-8843. You can message me on Facebook as Clair Wagg.