Arlee Mccracken News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

NOLANVILLE — James Wilkins grew up dirt-poor during the Great Depression of the 1920s and ‘30s, quitting school after sixth grade to go to work and help his parents support his seven brothers and sisters.
When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, the young man from West Texas who was picking cotton and beans as he approached his 21st birthday knew immediately what he had to do.
He enlisted in the Army and was soon on his way to basic training at Fort Sill, Okla.
“My country was in the war, and they needed me,” Wilkins said recently from his home in Nolanville, where he has lived since 1980. “Back then, you had to be 21 to enlist, so I had to get a telegram sent from Mom to allow me to go in. ....

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