May 17, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, you've heard that you "Don't Mess With Texas." This story from our regular listener/contributor Roger Latham, from Fort Worth, Texas, exemplifies that statement.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Search for the Our American Stories podcast go to the
iHeartRadio app or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Now it's time for another story from our regular listener
and contributor Roger Latham from Fort Worth, Texas.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
John Steinbeck once wrote, the Texas is a state of mind.
I have come to understand that in more ways than
one and agree with it in this story. I've got
to have a little preface, that being that I'm rather
(01:00):
slight individual. In my youth, I'm probably five foot nine
inches tall and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds. I
wasn't much of a Texan, but I was one. In
nineteen sixty seven, I joined the United States Army, and
later after my joining day in basic training, I was
(01:20):
sent to Keesler Air Force Base to undergo air traffic
control training. I successfully got through most of that until
the very end. At the very end, I was at
a lunch line one day when I overheard another friend
of mine from Texas named Lewis, and he was talking
to another private about a situation, and he said, Jackson's
(01:45):
been picking on me and I don't know why. I said, boys,
let me jake myself here for a second. Why don't
you just take and slap upside the head that big
boy and explain to him in that way that you're
going to take any more of his gough And Lewis
said to me, well, he's six foot two and I'm
(02:07):
five nine and a half and I.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Don't want to get killed.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And I said, well, you're not going to get killed
because of bully.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And that's what he is. A bully.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
They don't want to fight. They want to just humiliate
smaller individuals, and you're a smaller individual like me, and
he doesn't want to fight. So the other guy, the
other private, said to me, He said, well, Lathan, why
don't you go over and slap him outside the head yourself?
You're so tough, And I said, well, he ain't picking
on me, so I see no reason to go start something.
(02:37):
But it's not my style, but you know, I think
that Lewis here ought to go take a shot. About
that time, we went through the lunch line and that
big Jackson boy about six foot two and two hundred
and twenty pounds standing next to me, and I told him, Jackson,
I hear you're trying to pick a fight with old
Lewis over there. I just think i'll give you a
(03:00):
little warning. He said a warning? What are you talking about?
And I said, whether there's something about him you don't know?
He said, yeah, what's that? I said, well, he's from Texas.
He said, what's so big about that? I said, well
you're not. Well he saw my comment on that, and
he said, how do you know so much about it?
And I said, well, I'm from Texas too.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
He pushed me real hard and I pushed him back,
and we split off, and he went one way and
I went to the other and went through lunch line.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And then later in the evening he went to dinner
and I didn't.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I was ready to take a shower and go to bed.
So I went back to the barracks and took a
shower and was standing by my locker and maskivies when
this big guy Jackson walked by me, having finished his dinner,
and he'd gave me a real hard look. Well, I
reciprocated in kind, and he said, who are you looking at?
And I said, well, I guess I'm looking at you.
He said, you think you so tough.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I know.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
We step outside teach me all about Texas, and I said, well,
I can't right now. All I have own was myskins.
I said, we go upstairs if you want to scuffle,
and he said, all right, I'll go upstairs. So we
climbed the stairs, and the old army style barracks and
all the rest of the crew, the soldiers had heard
that followed us. And he squared off and I squared off,
(04:16):
and he punched me and knocked me down. Well, he
could hit pretty hard, and so but I jumped up
and I squared off again, and I threw a punch
and miss, and he con hit me and knocked me
down again.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I jumped up, and I'm determined and I'm going to
go back at him.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And he hit me again, knocked me down, and this
time I kind of stunned, and I'm kind of shook
up a little bit, and I noticed his two feet
were on either side of me, and I glanced up
and he had his hands drawn back like he was
going to hit me in a face while I was down.
So I darted between his legs and popped up on
the other side and turned around to face him.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
When he turned around to face me, I.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Did the most beautiful kick I've ever kicked, and I
kicked him right in the testosterone generators. And he fell
on top of me, and he said in a very
odd way, in a kind of a gasping way, you.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Want to quit?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And I said, hell, no, I ain't quitting, and you started.
You have to quit, he said, I quit. So I
crawled off under him and I'm walking back downstairs and
all the rest of the soldiers are patting me on
the back, saying, wait to go, Latham.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He's been picking on all of us, and you straightened
him out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And so we went downstairs and the big boy had
to go take a shower, and I laid down in
my bunk. I'm going to bed, and the lights are
starting to turn out, and this big boy, Jackson's walking
by me and real loud so everybody can hear it.
He says, yeah, Latham, we'd like to put a picture
of your eye on the bulletin board tomorrow. And I said,
(05:47):
an equally loud tone, yeah, we can put next to
a picture of your testosterone generators. They're all flatten down now.
And the whole barracks busted out and laughter. I mean
it was like I was doing a stand up routine
and everybody loved it. He was slinked off in there
and took a shower, went to bit. I never heard
for him again. He never wanted to fight again. Well,
(06:11):
that was the end of that story, except henceforth and forever.
I always thought about the fact that every time, because
a bully is always a bully. Bully is a state
of mind, just like Texas is a state of mind.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And he's going to pick on somebody else.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
But I guarantee you sometime in some air traffic control tower,
he's going to be bullying somebody else. But before he
does it, he's going to say to that individual, are
you from Texas? Because if he is, he's going to
leave him alone.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's a true story nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And we'd love to tell listeners stories here on the show.
If you have a story, any story, send them to
Ouramerican Stories dot com. You were listening to one of
our listeners and regularly contributors, Roger Latham, telling a Texas story,
a Texas state of mind story, and a good job
on the storytelling. In production and editing by Greg Hangler,
(07:07):
and again, send your stories listeners stories to our American
stories dot com. They are indeed some of our favorites.
The story of a Texas boy versus the air traffic
controlled bully. Here on our American Stories. Here are our
(07:31):
American Stories. We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business,
faith and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country
that need to be told. But we can't do it
without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but
they're not free to make. If you love our stories
in America like we do, please go to our American
Stories dot com and click the donate button. Give a little,
(07:53):
give a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot com.
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Search for the Our American Stories podcast go to the
iHeartRadio app or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Now it's time for another story from our regular listener
and contributor Roger Latham from Fort Worth, Texas.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
John Steinbeck once wrote, the Texas is a state of mind.
I have come to understand that in more ways than
one and agree with it in this story. I've got
to have a little preface, that being that I'm rather
(01:00):
slight individual. In my youth, I'm probably five foot nine
inches tall and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds. I
wasn't much of a Texan, but I was one. In
nineteen sixty seven, I joined the United States Army, and
later after my joining day in basic training, I was
(01:20):
sent to Keesler Air Force Base to undergo air traffic
control training. I successfully got through most of that until
the very end. At the very end, I was at
a lunch line one day when I overheard another friend
of mine from Texas named Lewis, and he was talking
to another private about a situation, and he said, Jackson's
(01:45):
been picking on me and I don't know why. I said, boys,
let me jake myself here for a second. Why don't
you just take and slap upside the head that big
boy and explain to him in that way that you're
going to take any more of his gough And Lewis
said to me, well, he's six foot two and I'm
(02:07):
five nine and a half and I.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Don't want to get killed.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And I said, well, you're not going to get killed
because of bully.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And that's what he is. A bully.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
They don't want to fight. They want to just humiliate
smaller individuals, and you're a smaller individual like me, and
he doesn't want to fight. So the other guy, the
other private, said to me, He said, well, Lathan, why
don't you go over and slap him outside the head yourself?
You're so tough, And I said, well, he ain't picking
on me, so I see no reason to go start something.
(02:37):
But it's not my style, but you know, I think
that Lewis here ought to go take a shot. About
that time, we went through the lunch line and that
big Jackson boy about six foot two and two hundred
and twenty pounds standing next to me, and I told him, Jackson,
I hear you're trying to pick a fight with old
Lewis over there. I just think i'll give you a
(03:00):
little warning. He said a warning? What are you talking about?
And I said, whether there's something about him you don't know?
He said, yeah, what's that? I said, well, he's from Texas.
He said, what's so big about that? I said, well
you're not. Well he saw my comment on that, and
he said, how do you know so much about it?
And I said, well, I'm from Texas too.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
He pushed me real hard and I pushed him back,
and we split off, and he went one way and
I went to the other and went through lunch line.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And then later in the evening he went to dinner
and I didn't.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I was ready to take a shower and go to bed.
So I went back to the barracks and took a
shower and was standing by my locker and maskivies when
this big guy Jackson walked by me, having finished his dinner,
and he'd gave me a real hard look. Well, I
reciprocated in kind, and he said, who are you looking at?
And I said, well, I guess I'm looking at you.
He said, you think you so tough.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I know.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
We step outside teach me all about Texas, and I said, well,
I can't right now. All I have own was myskins.
I said, we go upstairs if you want to scuffle,
and he said, all right, I'll go upstairs. So we
climbed the stairs, and the old army style barracks and
all the rest of the crew, the soldiers had heard
that followed us. And he squared off and I squared off,
(04:16):
and he punched me and knocked me down. Well, he
could hit pretty hard, and so but I jumped up
and I squared off again, and I threw a punch
and miss, and he con hit me and knocked me
down again.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I jumped up, and I'm determined and I'm going to
go back at him.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And he hit me again, knocked me down, and this
time I kind of stunned, and I'm kind of shook
up a little bit, and I noticed his two feet
were on either side of me, and I glanced up
and he had his hands drawn back like he was
going to hit me in a face while I was down.
So I darted between his legs and popped up on
the other side and turned around to face him.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
When he turned around to face me, I.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Did the most beautiful kick I've ever kicked, and I
kicked him right in the testosterone generators. And he fell
on top of me, and he said in a very
odd way, in a kind of a gasping way, you.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Want to quit?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And I said, hell, no, I ain't quitting, and you started.
You have to quit, he said, I quit. So I
crawled off under him and I'm walking back downstairs and
all the rest of the soldiers are patting me on
the back, saying, wait to go, Latham.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He's been picking on all of us, and you straightened
him out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And so we went downstairs and the big boy had
to go take a shower, and I laid down in
my bunk. I'm going to bed, and the lights are
starting to turn out, and this big boy, Jackson's walking
by me and real loud so everybody can hear it.
He says, yeah, Latham, we'd like to put a picture
of your eye on the bulletin board tomorrow. And I said,
(05:47):
an equally loud tone, yeah, we can put next to
a picture of your testosterone generators. They're all flatten down now.
And the whole barracks busted out and laughter. I mean
it was like I was doing a stand up routine
and everybody loved it. He was slinked off in there
and took a shower, went to bit. I never heard
for him again. He never wanted to fight again. Well,
(06:11):
that was the end of that story, except henceforth and forever.
I always thought about the fact that every time, because
a bully is always a bully. Bully is a state
of mind, just like Texas is a state of mind.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And he's going to pick on somebody else.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
But I guarantee you sometime in some air traffic control tower,
he's going to be bullying somebody else. But before he
does it, he's going to say to that individual, are
you from Texas? Because if he is, he's going to
leave him alone.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's a true story nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And we'd love to tell listeners stories here on the show.
If you have a story, any story, send them to
Ouramerican Stories dot com. You were listening to one of
our listeners and regularly contributors, Roger Latham, telling a Texas story,
a Texas state of mind story, and a good job
on the storytelling. In production and editing by Greg Hangler,
(07:07):
and again, send your stories listeners stories to our American
stories dot com. They are indeed some of our favorites.
The story of a Texas boy versus the air traffic
controlled bully. Here on our American Stories. Here are our
(07:31):
American Stories. We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business,
faith and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country
that need to be told. But we can't do it
without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but
they're not free to make. If you love our stories
in America like we do, please go to our American
Stories dot com and click the donate button. Give a little,
(07:53):
give a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot com.
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