The Voice of Southwest Louisiana June 2019 Issue

My Senior Moment 2.0
Living life to
By Joyce R. Kebodeaux
the fullest
Rufus Myers celebrated his 95th
birthday last month. He was
born in Estherwood, La, a little
community near the Mermentau River in
Acadia Parish. Beginning school in Egan
he spoke no English. Many times, he was
sent to the principal’s office and was
punished for speaking Cajun French.
“Times were hard back then but we
managed.” For school or work Mama put
our lunch in a pail. We shared that at
noon.”
Rufus goes on to explain “I left school in
the seventh grade to work for farmers in
their rice fields. The pay was $1.00 a day
for grown men but only 50 cents for boys.
After work in the fields all day, I learned
to repair machines at night. Me and my
three brothers hunted and fished, not
for sports but for survival. We hunted in
the woods and fished in the river for any
kind of animals or fish. Mama and my four
sisters cooked everything we brought
home,” Rufus remembers.
“Times were hard, but we found ways to
enjoy life. There were the house dances.
The homeowners moved the furniture
out of the house to make room for
dancing. If they had a porch people
danced there too. Some of the men in the
family played the fiddle, accordion, guitar,
wash board or spoons. I didn’t play music,
but I loved to dance with the girls.”
Rufus tells about when he worked for
enough money to buy food for two
weeks. Instead of buying food he got
a pair of boxing gloves. He roped off a
square in their yard and invited folks to
watch as the men took
turns boxing in his
homemade boxing
ring. Many came from
miles away to join in
the fun.
“When I was older,
I went to the dance hall in Iota.” He
reminiscences.” The shutters were open
to cool the dance hall but that didn’t help
much. No alcohol was sold in the dance
hall in those days. Women sat inside and
waited to be asked to dance. They went
in for free. The men had to buy a ticket to
go inside. The ticket was pinned to the
man’s shirt to show he had paid a dollar
to go inside and dance.”
When World War II broke out Rufus was
drafted. After he served his time, he
re-enlisted. He was in the U.S. Army for
eight and a half years. His Cajun French
served Rufus well. He was one of seven
soldiers picked to be an interpreter for his
commanders and high-ranking officials.
He was assigned a car and he chauffeured
generals and movie stars like Bob Hope
and Doris Day.
While Rufus was on a train sight-seeing,
he met the beautiful German girl who
would later become his bride. Rufus
didn’t make a good first impression
on Erika Liebl, but they resolved their
differences and began dating. Erika
moved into a rented room close to where
Rufus was assigned. When the war ended
Rufus went AWOL [Away with Out Leave]
for a month. He and Erika vacationed and
went sightseeing. He was reprimanded,
Rufus Myers, US Army WWII
lost one of his stripes and ordered to stay
in the barracks. He sneaked out at night
and continued dating Erika.
It was while training for his next
assignment in Korea that he was in
a horrible accident. The jeep he was
repairing caught on fire. He had third
degree burns over much of his body.
During the nine months spent in the
hospital he couldn’t have visitors for fear
of infection. When he was well again
Rufus received a medical retirement from
the army.
After a short courtship the couple had
been married by a German Justice of the
Peace. Their first born, a boy was born in
Germany. They named him after Rufus
[RJ], They lived there until RJ was three
years old. When they came to Southwest
Louisiana, he spoke English, French and
German. Back in the states, they were
blessed with a baby girl, they named
Tanya. [ Tanya Eubanks]. The family was
complete.
Rufus having learned to operate a
bulldozer while he was overseas put his
knowledge to the test. He was good at
operating and repairing other heavy
equipment too.
After a while he started his own company.
12
June 2019 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 6 • Number 11