Sunday, November 14, 2004

"Operation on my Nose" by Wiley B. Hill, Jr.
In 1933, I was fighting for the light-weight amateur championship of Fort Benning, Georgia*. My opponent was Al Schneider. I had successively been the runner-up and winner in 1931/32. After a lop-sided fight against an octapus-fisted, supposedly amateur pug that emerged as a runner-up at the National Tournament at St. Louis. Joe Lewis won the light-heavy division, the same night.
Nevertheless, my battered beak didn't resemble a nose; it looked like a squashed tomato. Later investigation proved that Schneider had fought pro, prior to his army enlistment. That didn't rectify my demolished beak.
Eleven years, after consultation with New York's renown plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, shook this head ruefully. Jack Dempsey had his nose fixed, successfully.
Dr. Maltz finally consented, for a $400 fee, to try. During the two hour operation, Dr. M.M. muttered profanely as he probed about my probscis with his razor edge scapel:
"&%*#, scar tissue....scar tissue...nothing but scar tissue!" Profanity every other word, "Nothing but scar tissue. Piles and piles of it...Have you ever seen the like?", he questioned his cutting crew. "I've had a lot of pugs and thugs on this table, but this is the worst of the lot!"
Though sedatives deadened the pain....the insults didn't! I grimly thought of the fat fee I paid. In a brief second, the humor of the hour overcame offense, and I weakly croaked, "What did you find up there?...Gold?"
Written by Wiley Benjamin Hill, Jr., 905A Cloverdale Court, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. 32547
*Other Fort Benning links:
From a diary note of Wiley Benjamin Hill, Jr., my dad:

8 May 1984: Our home teachers are coming. They gave a beautiful message to us. How to have love and harmony in the home. The message "Cornerstones to a Happy Home." Have:
  1. Mutual Respect
  2. The Soft Answer
  3. Financial Honesty

with the Lord, with your companion, with your neighbors. Have Family Prayer. The Lord will bless you as you do these things.

I'm so grateful for my home teachers. Bro. Grant Adams & John Barrow. For 36 years I lived with a wonderful woman who is worth a dozen like me, but she wasn't a member of my church. I gave her back parsimonious love. Because of my dear home teachers, who taught her the gospel, she announced quite unexpectedly one day that if I still had my white baptism clothes handy, I could lead her into the baptismal font. You could have knowcked me over with a turkey feather. [Some miscellaneous names follow this entry, I know not why! They are Brother Ira Thompson, Bro. Joel and his father, _____Harmon].

10 Feb 1985: I have been reading in D&C. My soul is filled with joy reading of the organization of the church. I found in my sister's Latin book, "Latin is a dead language and now it's killing me". [miscellaneous remark--"Some people, like turkeys, gobble up gossip, just because it's dirt cheap".]

From the files of Wiley Benjamin Hill, Jr., my father, b. 1913 in Hattiesburg, Miss.:

Dad was a realtor by occupation, but he was also involved and interested in politics. The following is "stuff" I found in the papers and files from his estate.

* A Quit-Claim Deed, executed on the 26th day of April, 1960 by Howard A. Parker and wife, Margaret R. Parker, first party, TO Trammel Settles and wife, Irene Settles, second party. For the sum of 1.00, the following described lot in the county of Okaloosa, State of Florida, to-wit:

Commencing at the Southeast corner of the Southwest Quarter of Section 34, Township 1 South, Range 24 West, thence North along the quarter section line a distance of 1840.5 feet to a point, thence West and parallel to the South line of Section 34 to the West right of way of Wright Road, thence West 118.5 feet to a point of beginnning of the land being conveyed: Thence West and parallel to the South line of Section 34 a distance of 188 feet, thence North 168.5 feet more or less to the half section line, thence West along the half section line a distance of 65 feet, thence South 200 feet, thence East 65 feet, thence in a straight line to the point of beginning.

Two documentary stamps (tax) are affixed, each being for 10 cents, with a Florida kind of seal (blue). The document continues, "To Have and to Hold...."; "in Withness Whereof....". This document was signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Erwin Fleet, Leila N. Gartner, Howard A. Parker, and Margaret R. Parker. Leila N. Gartner is the notary and affixed her seal on 17th day of February 1961. The deed was filed in Okaloosa County Court on July 29th, 1961.

A little more about Howard A. Parker: He was a doctor, had his office in Shalimar, Florida and before that, believe he was in Valparaiso, Florida. My dad used his services often. The above link will take you to a page on which his obit is included. Trammel Settles was my mother's uncle. This link will take you to a Niceville City Directory, where Trammel worked in 1966. His son, David, also worked there. The file indicates that Trammel was residing in the Wright community at this time, probably on the very piece of land referenced in the deed described above. Aunt Irene was a hairdresser in Fort Walton, I believe, at about the same time.