Elton Andrew and Joseph Conrad Watlington were the ``little boys'' and stayed with school and farm life. The State of Tennessee was now without a National Guard contingent on which to call for emergencies, and therefore organized a ``Tennessee State Guard,'' a voluntary militia. At first it was a ragtail group formed by men deferred or exonerated from the Selective Service by reason of their health, dependent status, or their essential war related jobs, and from sixteen to nineteen year old boys (men?) We were issued one Khaki uniform of used military clothing and one or two sets of fatigue work clothes and shoes. Army rifles were hard to come by, so single-barrel, single-shot hunting guns were used for drill purposes. The older Army rifles were available for target practice in summer camp experiences which we enjoyed. The Guard did get good instructions for helping in riot control and emergency situations.
Joe and I joined up when I graduated from High School and accepted a year's draft deferment to farm with Papa. We went for drill and instruction one night a week, and tried to make the Summer Training Camp at Camp Forrest, Tullahoma, Tenn. In the spring flood of 1945 along the Mississippi River, volunteers went for a week to patrol the levees north of Dyersburg and Joe and I were both there. We were to patrol and advise (by walkie-talkie radios) of any eminent break in the levee so families could be evacuated. And the levee did break. We were at Tenemo school house inside the levee a few miles west of Bogota, which was on Highway 78. The levee broke north of us and one patrolman was on the north side of the break and had to find another exit. The river was fearsome, and the rain was still coming down. It was not a war zone, but sleeping on the floor and sharing rough meals made it a real adventure for teenagers.
Learning the marching commands and some military discipline made me a squad leader in IRTC and kept me off the kitchen and latrine duty, as well as opened other doors to learning as a squad leader.