Places Along the Way----Super Bowl 4

I was privileged to have attended Enterprise Jr High during my 7th grade year. My dad was in Vietnam and we were made to leave Ft. Rucker (families couldn’t stay in Post housing if the service member was in a war zone, imagine that) and moved to Enterprise. EJHS is lovingly remembered as ‘Old Junior’ after the emergence of a newer Jr High across town, Dauphin Jr High.
I remember that Christmas I received a bugle as a gift. My best friend in 7th grade, Mike Tindol lived about a 3/4 mile away, up College St. I remember calling him on the phone, asking him to go out in his front yard and listen for my bugle. I blew, he heard, he called me on the phone and told me. Life was good.
Pop served his second tour in Vietnam, came home, and as Army life would have it, orders came. Ft Leavenworth, KS was his next assignment, Command and General Staff College, a one year assignment. So off we went, again I would adjust to a new environment, new school, but adjust I would. 8th Grade would be an inner city school in 1969.
Army families also adjust to the place that Uncle Sam places them. We were not far from Kansas City, MO, home of the KC Chiefs. So we became instant Chiefs fans as they completed an 11-3 season, beating the hated Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship. The Chiefs, earning a spot in Super Bowl IV, were 13 points underdogs to the mighty 12-2 Minnesota Vikings. KC surprised the Vikings and America by defeating the Vikes 23-7.
I still remember the names: Coach Hank Stram, QB Lennie Dawson, Kicker Jan Stenerud, Mike Garett, Buck Buchanan, Curly Culp---every time things went the Chiefs way, I blew the bugle. We lived in an Army issue duplex, with another family living on top of us. I blew the bugle; they banged on their floor (our ceiling) with broom/mop handles. They were instant Chief fans too. It was all great fun. Cinder block living at its best.
We were fortunate to return to Ft Rucker and Enterprise schools after that year. I was even more fortunate to be able to attend a great school system for my 9-12 grade years in a community that I love to this day. The teachers, students, always made me feel welcome---I never recall being looked down for being an ‘army brat’.
During my year as a Kansas City Chiefs fan, ‘Old Junior’ burned to the ground. The local folks said the flames could be seen from miles away. I have read accounts of many citizens of Enterprise standing silently, watching the flames and crying; ‘Old Junior’ was formerly Coffee County/Enterprise High School and it seems everyone in the small southern community had a connection to that building.
Being an ‘Army kid’, I picked up where I left off. Classes were held in the National Guard Armory, The Boy Scout Hut, wherever we could assemble until a new building could be completed. I’m sure some kids never even realized I was gone for a year.
The bugle was relegated to a closet for many years. Tarnished and old, I pulled it out from time to time and blew it until my lips puckered. It still sounded great. I always thought about my ‘experiment’ with Mike Tindol, Christmas, 1968. The air was right, the humidity was low, the sound of the bugle traveled well. Much like the bugles over the years at Ft. Rucker, AL and Ft. Leavenworth, KS.