Archive Record
Metadata
Accession number |
2015.019 |
Catalog Number |
2015.019.003 |
Object Name |
Transcript |
Date |
09 Sep 2009 |
Scope & Content |
Transcript of an oral history interview with Wesley Burdine on 09 September 2009 at his home at 4503 Palmetto Road, Benton, Louisiana. Ann Middleton is the interviewer. Billy Thorn is also present. Oral History Interview with Mr. Wes Burdin Mr. Wes Burdine on the behalf of the Oral History Project for the Bossier Parish Historical Center. It took place on September 9th 2009 at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Burdine; 4503 Palmetto Rd, Benton, Louisiana. The interviewer is Ann Middleton with assistance from Mr. Billy Thorn a long time friend and associate of Mr. Burdine. Mr. Burdine was a member of the Bossier Parish Police Jury for a number of years. He has been active in Bossier Parish politics and projects for a long time as well. Ms. Middleton- First I have to say this on tape, do we have permission to use your oral history interview? Mr. Burdine- Oh sure Mr. Middleton- Good lets begin by having you tell us where you came from and when you got here. Mr. Burdine- I will tell you whenever you're ready. I'm ready. Ms. Middleton- Were ready, it's rolling Mr. Burdine- I was a senior salesman for the National Cash Register Company and I trained with them five years to get my senior designation and they had given me quite an education and in business and how to do things and so forth and a great deal of what salesmanship is. Anyway, I worked with them for a while and I had always wanted to get into real estate business so I did. I moved over here to Shreveport and got my brokers license and that's where it started. Ms. Middleton- Where did you move from? Mr. Burdine- From Monroe Ms. Middleton- Really? (Slight chuckle) Mr. Burdine- Hold on I gotta cough here. (Clears his throat) Ms. Middleton- That's very interesting that's originally where I'm from. Mr. Burdine- From Monroe? Ms. Middleton- From Rayville Mr. Burdine- Did you know Sam Estes in Rayville? Mr. Middleton- I don't believe so Mr. Burdine- He was Industrial Southern Construction Company Ms. Mi- I don't believe so, sounds a little familiar not too much Mr. Burdine- They got a big contract and we were trying to sell some dirt to them but they lost the contract and the state's going to have to re-bid it, but anyway. I used to travel through Rayville when I was with National Cash. (Clears his throat again) I'm being treated for bronchitis. Ms. Mi- Oh my Mr. Burdine- And I have to take some pills and everything and I hate to start coughing like this, but it will settle down. Ms. Mi- It's alright Mr. Burdine- But anyway I came over here and got into real estate business in 1957 and I bumped into Jim Larkin and he had at the time was running a subdivision for blacks in Shreveport. He said, man you are just in time I need you to run a Meadowview Park Subdivision for me, new construction. So I got involved with that and that's where we… one thing leads to another. That's where we were doing so much business back in those days when sergeants would start buying FHA houses, and we were doing a world of business with them. I got to thinking; you know there is no connection between Barksdale and the community. So I started out and I had made so many friends we were selling to and I started out at the NCO club trying to form military affairs. It worked and I made a lot of friends and got a program going and it went on up to where I got it to dealing with the Generals and so forth over a long period of time. I did a lot of things at the air base we will talk about that later. Larkin and I did, we did Meadowview Park subdivision, Swan Lake subdivision, Tall Timbers subdivision out towards Haughton and Wafer Forest out in Haughton and came back in and I got involved with him at the country club and then he went one direction. He went to Colorado to go into business with the Ambers Williamson big time realtors in Colorado and I went on and developed Green Acres not Greenacres Place I did with my partners. Get up there cat. Mr. Thorn- That was Green Acres? Mr. Burdine- Yeah the old Green Acres Mr. Thorn- The old Green Acres Ms. Mi- Is that adjacent to Greenacres Place? Mr. Burdine- Right, well you got Greenacres and between that you got a couple of other developments Mr. Thorn- Brownlee Estates I think Mr. Burdine- Brownlee Estates and it picks up from there Ms. Mi- Oh yes Mr. Burdine- Picks up from there and comes on north Ms. Mi- I see Mr. Burdine- Anyway he went out and he called me one day and said "we want you to come out here and take an exam to see if you can join the Ambers Williams firm" so Peggy and I packed up and went out there. Ms. Mi- To Colorado? Mr. Burdine- Yeah, to Denver and I took test and I did quite well on it and I came back and they decided they wanted me to come back. I just decided I didn't want to do it. Anyway I stayed in construction, real estate business, developing and Jim finally came back and we got back together in the construction business and then we separated again all of this… and he wanted to do big subdivision-- the big subdivision... Greenacres Place. He did quite well, 1,000 lots in that place and they were in construction and his son got in with him. I finally, I owned this land through here and my wife, I sold off these waterfront lots and I kept this one. I finally didn't want to live up there, Bossier City can't do without me. I was involved in everything and we sold it and this guy built this house. He stayed here very short time and then he moved back to Florida, Ocala, Florida he was a horse man and my wife insisted we buy and I did and we have been up here in real estate ever since and that was back in 25 years ago. But in the meantime we, I was involved in a lot of different things as you can see by that. Ms. Mi- Well yes, I'm impressed Mr. Burdine- Well Mr. Thorn- How long were you on the police jury? Mr. Burdine- Police jury? Mr. Thorn- Uh huh Mr. Burdine- 2 turns, but my police jury experience was very chaotic. We were trying to pass the bond issue to build the court house. Well there was a group that wanted to move it to Bossier City and maybe that's the place it should have been, I don't know; anyway I stuck with the people of Benton and I was president of the jury and you talk about getting some criticism--man I got threats. Every time my old buddies would get a call Wes is the president, call him. Mr. Thorn/Ms. Middleton- Both laughing Mr. Burdine- I took a lot of abuse on that but anyway we stood fast and built the first court house up here. The first new one and now they have added on to it. Ms. Mi- Oh yes Mr. Burdine- They added on to it in the last couple, three years ago Ms. Mi- Just since I've been here myself Ms. Mi- What are some of the projects you worked on while you were with the police jury? Mr. Burdine- Well court house was the big deal, but the police jury is ah we worked on road expansions, black toppings, it was all nothing spectacular just the normal business of the jury back in those days that was big issues. Other than that it was just normal business taking care of business for the parish. Ms. Mi- Do you recall any business about the Library? Mr. Burdine- The new library? Ms. Mi- Just the library--what was going on at the library? Mr. Burdine- No that wasn't my bailiwick, we were in the old courthouse of course, and the Benton library was at its old location. I never had much interaction with the library. Ms. Mi- The reason I ask is because we work for the police jury as you no doubt know. Mr. Burdine- Well the police jury really is responsible for so many things you know, all the sheriffs business and the clerk of courts and everything it does in that courthouse police jury is really in charge of it. Ms. Mi- Where did you go to school? Mr. Burdine- I went to A.L. Smith at Sterlington. That was where I grew up. My daddy was an engineer at Louisiana Power and Light. Ms. Mi- In Ouachita Parish Mr. Burdine- And we lived in a village in Sterlington and I went to grammar school I graduated Ouachita Parish High School and then I went into the military and when I came back I was just tootling around and I went with Sears. I was kind of working in the receiving and shipping department. A guy came by one day and he said he lived out in Shreveport out where I lived and he said "have you ever thought about getting into sales? And I said "man what are you talking about?" But I took an exam with National and did quite well on it and I went and started in as a junior salesman with them and went to senior salesman, I mean it was three steps in the training program over a period of three or four years. Then I went to Dayton to finish up my education with them and got my senior designation up there. From there I knew so much I thought that I just had to get into the real estate business and that's what I did. Ms. Mi- How long where you with the National Cash Register? Mr. Burdine- 5 years Ms. Mi- 5 years? And you were located in Monroe? Mr. Burdine- Yes Ms. Mi- With them? Mr. Burdine- Their headquarters was Shreveport and that's how I got familiar with Shreveport. I liked what I saw over this way and the big headquarters for us was in Dallas, but it was our division headquarters. When I was a junior salesman that's when I was missing after being a student, junior, then senior that's the one I was missing. When I went to Dayton as a junior salesman I led the entire United States in sales, as a junior salesman. Ms. Mi- That's amazing Mr. Burdine- Yeah, I didn't even know I could do it. (Laughs as he says it) Ms. Mi- But you still were lured by the real estate business? Mr. Burdine- I was just attracted to construction and things like that. Ms. Mi- You said you did not build this home another gentlemen did. Mr. Burdine- No we sold it to guy name, we sold the land and a guy named J. J. Fletcher built this house on it, horseman and he didn't stay here long he went back and I bought it. Ms. Mi- Its lovely Mr. Burdine- And Bossier did get along without me by the way. (Chuckles) Ms. Mi- Laughs Mr. Thorn- Didn't you build a subdivision up here on Palmetto? Mr. Burdine- Well I developed, we got kinda interested in the lake coming in and I did Black Bayou Lake Acres and Cypress East subdivision and about 3 or 4 around the lakes and Mr. Jacobs was going to put one in north of country club and we did it for him. He knew I was a developer and all that back in 1980 we started that for him and it's still going over there. But I've been involved in a lot of it, but that would be Black Bayou Lake Acres it was 100 acre development on the water and the other 3 or 4 were smaller out in the country. Mr. Thorn- Wes I was thinking about the park out there. Talk about because you were out there for quite a while Mr. Burdine- Yeah I was on the board we decided we wanted to build a zoo. I got interested in it and I was on the board and we moved right along and we got a beautiful nature center out there have you seen it? Ms. Mi- I haven't I should go there Mr. Burdine- You should go. Anyway we were going to build the zoo around the nature center and that was to me the proper place, because we would go over to Tyler and go through that zoo over there which is fantastic. If you have never been you need to go, my gracious they have everything. So we were getting information on how to do and so forth, we pretty well had it laid out we would invite the different entities at a point and I represented at the time the police jury; the five elements at the time were: the school board, police jury, levee board, town of Benton and somebody else. Ms. Mi- I read the article but I don't think I brought it with me. Mr. Burdine- I represented, but anyway we had all these entities out and we fixed BBQ for them and showed them exactly what were doing had plans and then a guy…well anyway I had raised I was on the Convention Tourists Bureau at that time also. I raised $500,000 to build that zoo myself. I was good friends in the military. I was always involved in military affairs and so forth and I talked to General Landerno and got him to agree and they used as a training session they came out and built a big barn for us, we furnished the materials and everything. The National Guard has built every building in that park out there over the years. Ms. Mi- How interesting Mr. Burdine- And they use if for training programs that's how they justify it and Billy you know what I'm talking about. Mr. Thorn- Right, right Mr. Burdine- Clears throat again, but we did the zoo and during that period of time there was a dude come along named Murray Lloyd I don't know if you have ever heard his name. Ms. Mi- It was in the article Mr. Burdine- Yeah, and he decided to take us on. I took him on and he came out making demands and I'd kinda run him off. I think I called him something one day and I didn't know who he was I was just mad at him. If he could figure out what I called him and he went on crying to John Whittington "I couldn't help it that my momma and daddy didn't get married" I better not say that on tape. We battled before the jury and everybody he tried to put us down everyway he could. He had Channel 3 they would come out and make bad stuff, Channel 12 would come out and support us on what we were trying to do. It was quite a battle. Anyway, we moved it away from the Nature Center, which to me it would have been like Tyler Zoo. They had just a similar arrangement and that's where it should have been, but my granddaddy gave me all that land and everything and they got, they had a woman and a man out there that we eventually had to ask to leave. They were running the Nature Center in a way we didn't think was proper. They said there is exotic flowers out there and we could never find them. Anyway the jury never told me what I need to, but anyway I had gotten so involved with this guy and put him down and we decided to move it out there where it is now, it's quite a little zoo. Ms. Mi- Was the Mr. Lloyd related to someone on the city counsel or a Mrs. Rawls? Mr. Burdine- I don't know much about his prior--I think he was adopted into the Jacobs family, but he is one of these tree lovers and he had…what is guys name that wrote all the newspapers and he died, lived out in South Bossier? His son always ran around with Murry and they were always against everything that's green. Oh man he wrote about everybody in that little newspaper never made the big one. But that was very interesting and we got a nice zoo out there now and its expansion program and we got Dr. Morgan the vet lady down here. She works out there three days a week. Ms. Mi- At the Benton Animal Hospital? Mr. Burdine- Yeah she runs it and boy she is doing a great job! Mr. Thorn- Aren't you still on that board? Mr. Burdine- Yeah, I'm president of the board this year and by the way we are dropping the lakes. We opened the gates yesterday on this little lake behind me and we are going to draw it down; wildlife is in charge of the draw down, We will drop it maybe, Black Bayou is shallow maybe its four feet and about two weeks ago we were going to open up Cypress at the same time. Well we got a call from the Dept of Transportation they wanted their contractors that are working behind the dam and there is water underneath where they are going to be working. They wanted a couple of months delay over here at the last minute and people around here making their plans to dig out around the shore line and boat docks. We were all prepared to do inspections on all the things under the water and the piers, all the things we're responsible for and that part where somebody collapse and hurt somebody which is going to be done. Bruce Easterly is our advisor he is an engineer he used to be with the department of transportation. I went to the meeting with him and Dickey Walden who's our executive director. They were using terms that even though I was in construction I didn't understand what they were talking about. Bruce cut it down to two weeks, that's all you boys are going to get. So we were gonna open Cypress on the 22nd we will draw it down probably five feet five to eight feet. But the purpose is not only that people work around the boat docks and piers and so forth, see these lakes silt in so bad. I've had my boat dock dug out it's about eight feet deep now its about a foot and half its silt in that bad. There is a huge problem on the north end of the lake where up in there it's so shallow they can hardly get in and out. Mr. Thorn- I see what you're saying Mr. Burdine- So that's being done, but we have to watch and we are watching very closely is salvinia, do you know what that is. Ms. Mi- I do Mr. Burdine- Its taking over Bistineau and a lot of lakes in this state. We are checking it on a daily basis and ever so often you find a big pad of it and Wildlife comes and sprays it for us. What you have got is there is no way you can ever control it or stop it because the birds do their droppings, people come in fishing from another lake Bistineau and they have those seeds on their motors and so forth. So, it would be an ever-going deal from now on, but those lakes will be well protected. The sheriff helped us not long ago to get $40,000 earmarked for us from the Legislature for chemicals through the government. So, we have that and when we spot things like, we ask people to… you see that green stuff, take it out of the lake, throw it on the ground and it will die. But this drawdown will go through the end of January, and kind of like Bistineau, it us just hopeful, all the lily pads and alligator grass or whatever that slime stuff that grows up. Hopefully it will die in the winter, if we will get cold weather. We will close the gates January 31. [Mr. Thorn] I noticed at the north end, up there by??? There are a lot of those??? [Mr. Burdine] Yeah [Ms. Middleton] But that is different, isn't it? [Mr. Thorn] Yeah [Ms. Middleton} I just asked salvinia? [Mr. Burdine] It will grow and double itself in two days. It just keeps on, keeps on. At the extreme north end of the lake, we found a huge pad of it up there. Couldn't believe it, several acres. It just came, you would think, from nowhere, but it gets back in these areas where you have cattails and all that, and that is where it starts and it grows so fast. So this will be an ongoing project forever. [Mr. Thorn] They have that boat launch out there too. Is that the area you are talking about, that boat launch area off of 162? [Mr. Burdine] No, that is Cypress. At Black Bayou we got a launch right over here and we have got one in the park for Cypress Lake. Coughs [Ms. Middleton] It is too bad that something couldn't be found that is natural that would take care of this. [Mr. Burdine] Well, they are trying now at Lake Bistineau the Wildlife just poured in thousands of weevils that eats that stuff. They are trying that. There is a fish that they can buy out of Arkansas that will eat and gets up to 65 or 70 pounds, but they do not reproduce. [Mr. Thorn] Good [Ms. Peggy] That is great. It is not very clean. I don't think, I didn't have time. [Ms. Middleton] Believe me, I am right at home. I am glad to meet you. I am Ann Middleton. [Ms. Peggy] Ann, how are you? [Ms. Middleton] I am fine, thank you. I work at the library. [Mr. Burdine] You know Billie. [Ms. Peggy] Down here? [Ms. Middleton] No in Bossier. Actually I am from the History Center. [Ms. Peggy] Okay. He is old enough to do anything. [Mr. Burdine] That is alright. You okay with your stress? [Ms. Peggy] The last test was fine. If I knew you were tied up I would be shopping. [Ms. Middleton} Laughs [Mr. Burdine} These lakes were designed years ago for lack of water supply, primarily Bossier City. [Ms. Middleton] They are manmade lakes. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah, but over a period of time people began to build around the lakes. It is natural they would do that. I talked to Mayor Dement one day and said "What is your opinion on the backup of water." He said "Well, we don't need it anymore, we take it out of the Red River." So it became a recreational lake, fishing, boating. Boy, there are some fine places built around these lakes. [Ms. Middleton] Yes, there are. [Mr. Burdine] The little lake is 750 acres, land it is five or six feet higher than Cypress. It is 1,500 acres or 2,500 acres, whatever. But you can't go from one to the other because Cypress is lower than the Black. Black was lifted up so they could dig down and make some canals and channels up here. [Ms. Middleton] The bayou that runs behind my house, is it Benoit Bayou? [Mr. Burdine] Benoit (different pronounciation) [Ms. Middleton] Oh, I thought it was Benoit, how do you say it? [Mr. Burdine] Benoit [Ms. Middleton] Benoist? Is that right. [Mr. Burdine] Benoit or something like that. [Mr. Thorn] Something like that. [Ms. Middleton] I guess I was in South Louisiana too long. That is a natural bayou. That was not actually created like you were speaking about. [Mr. Burdine] Cypress and Black Bayou were both streams coming out of the north and came on running through here into Red Chute and the creeks going through Bossier Parish. Kind of dammed them up, took all the trees out and made nice lakes out of them. [Ms. Middleton] What other projects are you currently involved in? You are a really busy man. [Mr. Burdine] I do the Cypress Commission and I think that is all that I am involved in now. [Ms. Middleton] Sounds like that keeps you really busy. [Mr. Burdine] Well it does. It doesn't keep me that busy. We have an executive director that represents the Board. We had our meeting yesterday. We had the normal people coming out. We had a builder who wants to expand the lake so he can make waterfront lots. Well, you can expand them with our and the Corps of Engineers authority, but you can't put any dirt in the lakes. You can make them larger, but you can't put anything in it. If you make it larger you have to redefine the shorelines with an engineer and send it back so we will have the official lines of the lake. We have what we call flowage easement that was established by the Corps of Engineers in the beginning. We don't let anybody violate that. No building under that at all. On Cypress you lease anything up to 100 feet or 2 feet arise on the shoreline, and Black Bayou we own to the edge of the water. They are different. [Ms. Middleton] Sounds a little bit different from some other explanation I have heard from other places. A little bit different. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah. This lake was created by the Legislature and funded by the taxpayers in Bossier Parish, in the water district only. People in Ivan or people somewhere else don't participate in the tax base of this Cypress Watershed and Recreation Commission. I can go over each project you have listed there and tell you what I think I know. [Ms. Middleton] Do that and also you mentioned earlier something about Barksdale. Your connection with the community at Barksdale. [Mr. Burdine] I created the Military Affairs, and I did it and as it progressed I began to move in and I began to kind of associate with the junior officers and then I began to get on up making friends with the Wing Commander and the Base Commander. I mean I made some friends out there from privates to Four-Star Generals. But anyway, it got to be quite an affair and I was active in it as an almost second career for almost 25 years. Then I began to back off a little bit, I was getting older and at Barksdale you are short-time friends. They are here and then they are gone, you know. But it was noncompetitive, that is what I liked about it so much. At one time, the north gate was a pig trail, just a little old trail. There were horse stalls along the edge of the road. I was talking to General Kegg at the time and I said, "How about me setting up a program where we can do something about that?" He said, "Go with it." So that was it. Just go with it. So what I did, I got a deal at the time with Governor Edwards to come to Barksdale with his two sons and he brought a couple of legislators. He came in, red carpet out, everybody was there. I got pictures of all that so you can see. We went in and they have a simulator out there in the B52s. You know what that is? [Ms. Middleton] No [Mr. Burdine] It is like being in an airplane flying. [Ms. Middleton] Oh, I do know what that is. [Mr. Burdine] Edwards and his sons stayed in that thing for hours. They really enjoyed it. Then we had the luncheon and this and that. Roemer was with him at the time, his administrative guy at the time. So we had General Kegg, Roemer, the Governor and me. We got in the Base car and drove around and went to the West Gate and they needed some turn lanes. The Governor said "Alright." We went to the other Gate and I told him I think what we talked about and the General can confirm this is that we need a five-lane expansion. "Well, I knew I was up here for something." (laughter in background) "So you go ahead and we will give you the West Gate expansion and we will do the roads for you." And they did. [Ms. Middleton] That was a big project. [Mr. Burdine] Big project, good project. [Ms. Middleton] Yes [Mr. Burdine} You bet. But on the Air Base I did so many things, the Avenue of Flags which is now written into the Regulations. I did that. General Lawson called me one day and he had something in Ohio sort of like that, he asked me could I pull it off for 100 flags. I said sure. So I called Ed Powell. Shreveport did not have a Military Affairs for a long time. Ed Powell had come in later to the deal to represent Shreveport, I call him and said this is what we need to do and we did it in three days. Every flag out there is dedicated to someone at the Base in front of Headquarters. There is a big monument down there with everyone's name on it. A lot of guys do not know that, but you will see that in the pictures. They had a big deal and we went through the Air Force Academy swords, Ed and I did. They gave us a lot of recognition. I thought they were going to cut my head off. Swish. (laughter in background) We got up on a platform and we unveiled the monument and it was a big deal. [Ms. Middleton] Were you actually in the Air Force? [Mr. Burdine] I was in the Army Air Corps, years ago. [Ms. Middleton] Were you ever stationed here? [Mr. Burdine] Been in the Military Affairs since my time and as many things as we did out there is now Barksdale Forward. [Mr. Thorn] Yes it is, that or Eagles or something. [Mr. Burdine] Something. Well it started out the Eagles and I joined the Eagles and then I had done it so long myself I just couldn't let someone tell me what I needed to do. So I did not stay in the Eagles and Barksdale Forward came along. [Mr. Thorn] And didn't the Chamber of Commerce get involved? [Mr. Burdine} From what I think is General Harris came along and I think I was up in Headquarters one day talking and he said all I see is one person out there doing these things. I said, "General, you know what I did, you have a file on me up here. I tell you what I will do, I will write you up another one." I took it to him (I lost my train of thought) oh, anyway I think that was his baby. He formed it and that boy (what is that boy's name?) [Mr. Thorn] Mervin? [Mr. Burdine] No, No. Anyway, he has a young man and they have the organization called Barksdale Forward. I never could get any help from some of those people from years ago. I give you an example. [Mr. Thorn] Visor. [Mr. Burdine] Visor, yes. Anyway. [Ms. Middleton] His name is Murray Visor? [Mr. Burdine] As the Military Affairs grew, I got to be friends with everybody. We would throw parties for the troops called Nosedop. You know what that is? Hangars where they put the B52s in. We would get kegs of beer and all kind of stuff and the community was pretty good in helping us with those things. I could always go to the local banks and get things from them. General Dority called me one day and he said "Wes I want you to redecorate the TV lounge on the flight line." So I went out and looked. It was really a nothing deal and he said here is what I want. I want sawtooth wallpaper, a secretary type desk, and I am going to fly you boys out to Arizona and show you what I want in this little jet. We came back and I had the money right here. A big thing. You will see us, the dedication of that thing. I was speaking with a person that has their place for sale now, a super sergeant is retiring, and she said they are redoing it again. But any time I did something and the people helped me raise money I always had a plaque done and put on the wall to say these people did this thing. That way I could always go back and ask for something else. [Mr. Thorn] Yes [Ms. Middleton} They are dedicating a lot of the buildings at Barksdale. Fortunately we have, the History Center staff, has been invited to some of them. So we can go and get pictures. Do you know Lane Calloway? [Mr. Burdine} Who? [Ms. Middleton] Lane Calloway. He is the Historian for the Eighth Air Force, I think. He is involved with a lot of the restorations as well. [Mr. Thorn] You were not there during the Historian deal. You were retired, that is why you were not there. [Ms. Middleton] Oh, okay, I don't know how long Lane has been there. [Mr. Burdine] I don't know him. I don't go out anymore. [Ms. Middleton] Oh, you don't? [Mr. Burdine] No. You know, I am a "has been" now. That is the way it goes. [Ms. Middleton] Oh, laughs [Ms. Peggy] Laughs. Is it a restaurant? I'll go. Laugh. I am going up to Vicky's a minute. Did you call and change your appointment. [Mr. Burdine] No, will you do that for me? [Ms. Peggy] When do you want to go? [Mr. Burdine] This afternoon sometime. [Ms. Peggy] I have got to go. [Mr. Burdine] Rigg called me one day and he said, "Wes, I sure would like to create a museum out here." So I got involved with him and we got it done, the Eighth Air Force Museum. I was cofounder of that. It is quite a show. [Ms. Middleton] It is, I have been there. [Mr. Thorn] They were not keeping them up. [Mr. Burdine] Well, that is right. [Mr. Thorn] They were deteriorating and the museum in Ohio had come down here and done an inspection and they failed it. [Mr. Burdine] That is right. I went up to Ohio to their big museum one time and looked at airplanes that had flat tires. So same thing. Someone is always stirring it up. So we did that and we created the Eighth Air Force Museum. [Ms. Middleton] I have been there and it is very interesting. There was some talk about another building. [Mr. Burdine] Yes, here is the deal. They are going to buy some land to move it off that location. It was going to be, if you were going down Industrial Drive and take a loop out by the Bowling alley where you go across a railroad track, I think the old Maggio farms out there. So I went out with Butch Ford not too long ago with the Air Force people and they asked me to go along. We met in the museum briefing room and they started saying this and that and Butch said "What is the tire pressure on a B52? They told him and he said these roads are only designed for 90 pounds per square inch pressure. So there is no way in the world you can put these heavy airplanes on the highways or roads. It will break them up." So I think, if I am not mistaken, now that they have relocated, the deal was getting there and getting across that ditch and the railroad track. It was a big deal to do that with the big airplanes. I was trying to get an airplane off of Mansfield, you know, they had one out in the park and I was trying to get it out here in the museum years ago. The guard agreed that if they would take the wings off they would get a helicopter to pick it up and bring it here, but they never did take that airplane. [Mr. Thorne] They never did. [Mr.Burdine] They never did. It is still down there. It is a shame, it is just sitting out in the field. [Ms. Middleton] It really is. You worked with Buck Rigg. He is a nice man. [Mr. Burdine] Oh yeah. We worked together to put that deal on. We were out there not long ago. I was involved ??? We did the Berlin airlifts and the Air Force had the Germans in here and they were doing that Seaport Seven out there. The Loony Bird, they are making it look like new. The Germans were. We had a program and presented them with parachutes, and that is another story. So many stories. [Ms. Middleton] Tell us some. [Mr. Burdine] Well anyway they always have people in here doing things we don't want to think about. The Germans are here for training programs. The British are here a lot times. A lot of different ones. I remember the Berlin Air Force Veterans Association. We did that thing when I was still in. I had been overseas 2.5 years and we did that. That was when the Russians blocked the Autoban. Well General Clay wanted to go to war. They would run over us, we did not have anything left over there. They had either blown it up or moved it back. But anyway it was decided to do what they called the "Lift" in the beginning. Operation Vittles was the first part and they shipped me in the Weather Service. We had an eight-man training program to handle things in conjunction with the communication people and they sent things to us and we encoded them and sent it back to them and they sent it to wherever they wanted to send it. Weather and what was going on. That was a remarkable operation. [Ms. Middleton] Operation Vittles? [Mr. Burdine] Operation Vittles and then it got to be the Lift and then it got to be the Berlin Air Lift. That went on until 1948 and I had left before that. We were flying in to feed them from the air. [Ms. Middleton] Amazing [Mr. Burdine] It was amazing. We had three destinations. We had Fasburg, Sellig and Rinemay. (spelling???) I was at Rinemay. The British, the French and the Americans. Flying in these corridors into Berlin and in the beginning it was kind of testy, because if you went in and couldn't land, you know it was a mess. So they figured out, if you go in and can not land you just go into a pattern and come back and you get back in and go back again. It got to be well organized. We had a plane from Rinemay landing and taking off every three minutes. If they could see the sky, they took off. Very seldom did they not fly. I never saw so much food in my life. [Ms. Middleton] Operation Vittles, now I see the connections. [Mr. Thorn] Wasn't that a C124? [Mr. Burdine] C54s and C47s and that was what we were involved with. Those two airplanes. What the French and the ???? I think they had cleaned up around the flag over there. Not too reliable. (laughs in background. But the British did a great job too. They were fed and the Russians knew (airplanes coming from everywhere, you had to stack them to get them in these different places, C54s and C47s and then they brought in the B29s and the Russians got a little message.) I was not in the echelon to know this, but I think they flew in a wing of B29s with material on it and told the Russians to back off, and they did. So they lifted that. Let me see if I can put my hands on something "Airlift and World War II Aftermath. It says Wes Burdine, thank you for your part in keeping me alive during the Berlin Airlift 48/49" dated. I never forgot Engrid Lewis. These are two books that she sent. This is remarkable right here. I got this and the other guys that were in the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association. This all came in to me No. 142. In Berlin 2006. The history of it and so forth. She sent us this, has all the markings and stuff on it. [Ms. Middleton] Did she make it? [Mr. Burdine] Yeah Berlin Airlift 48/49. Berlin Airlift probably started in early 1947 because that is when they called it Vittles and so forth. Yeah, she has got things on it, but this is what the Colonels flying at the time. Flying one of the B54s when he would fly over, they would call him the candyman, Haverston was his name. He would put candy in a parachute in a handkerchief and put strings on it and when he would go over he would dip his wings at the kids on the rocks down there and he would throw this parachute out with candy in it. [Mr. Thorn] I have heard that before. [Ms. Middleton] I heard something about that. [Mr. Burdine] At first he got criticized. The Air Force criticized him, but before it was over, all of them were doing it. [Ms. Middleton] Well, that is a lovely handkerchief. Look at the embroidery on it. [Mr. Burdine} It is just something to cherish, you know. Oh gosh. [Ms. Middleton] And who is this lady, Joanna Oop??? [Mr. Burdine] Is this the girl that wrote the book? [Ms. Middleton] This is the name I see here. [Mr. Burdine] Oh, well she is just someone that was in Berlin that was a recipient of what we did. We lost several airplanes and 61 men in crashes. The Russians, they would buzz the airplanes and all that and they got buzzed back. So they never did get too close. This is nice stuff. [Ms. Middleton] It is. [Mr. Burdine] And they listed some of the guys that got killed. [Ms. Middleton] She was a recipient also? [Mr. Burdine] Umhum, yes. You can certainly read those books if you want to. [Ms. Middleton] I want to take a look at them. SIDE B OF TAPE [Mr. Burdine] We got to do a bridge that goes to what they call the Bossier Base at that time. And he said we just don't have the equipment so I got the Police Jury and we went out there and furnished the equipment and they furnished the fire and everything, and we built a bridge for them going from Barksdale to the Bossier Base. They wanted a gate to get out to go out toward Haughton and all that so we raised the money and did everything for that and made a gate so they could get out. At that time I ran into a guy named Ross Stamp, and he was a carpenter, and we got to be friends. Bossier Base its own world. [Ms. Middleton] Tell us about that, we have questions about that. [Mr. Burdine] And I got real friendly, and they made me a member of their Officers Club. I got a book on it, I'll show you. That was a swell bunch of guys, and they were all… man you talk about security! Holy mackerel. I think there were three fences, and there was no way you could get through them without getting electrocuted. [Mr. Thorn] They had that concertina wire around the top of all of them. [Ms. Middleton] What was is it called? [Mr. Thorne] Concertina. I don't know how to spell it. [Mr. Burdine] But we would go out there and we would have dining ins and all that. It was a lot of fun. In fact, I guess I got to know as much about that Base was about as much as anybody. [Ms. Middleton] How large an area was the Bossier Base? [Mr. Burdine] It really was not determined to me. But it was quite large. They had their own housing for the people. They had an Officers Club, NCO Club. They had all the dining rooms and everything. It was self-contained. All the good stuff was out there. [Ms. Middleton] And the purpose for the Bossier Base was? [Mr. Burdine] Nuclear bombs. That is the simplest way to put it. Isn't it? [Mr. Thorn] Yeah, Yeah. That was the MO. All that it was. [Mr. Burdine] I really enjoyed that. We couldn't do too much for them, but we did some things that (I always say 'we' to involve someone else with me when I could) and finally they shut her down, as it was. It is still there. Those B52s are not out there playing games you know. They have to have supplies and if they need them they are there. [Ms. Middleton] Right. When did they actually shut down the Bossier Base? [Mr. Burdine] Oh, goodness, it was quite a while ago. Probably in the early 70s. [Ms. Middleton] The people who work there. Did they? [Mr. Burdine] They just intermixed with what was going on. [Ms. Middleton] Oh, I see. [Mr. Burdine] What they were doing is still out there, you know. And then I got to be friends with Colonel Sam Dyce. He was the Wing Commander, and he was very good to them. They played a lot of golf and all that. He said,"Wes, I want you to do something." That was in 1957. I said, "Alright, what?" He said, "I am going to send you to McCoy Air Force Base in Florida, and what I want you to do is I want you to observe what they are going to do to that air base." I went down there, and man they had civilians here and military here, houses all choked to death, and they closed it. I got enough information to be able to talk to whomever I needed to talk to if we could close Barksdale. See, people think Barksdale can't be closed. They can close it tomorrow if they want to. You know that is just the way they do things. But we set up, gosh it used to be called decibel and now it is aicuz, I think is now the terminology, is a strip coming off the north and south runways where nothing can be built. It goes about a mile, I think, on each end. [Ms. Middleton] It is called aicuz? [Mr. Burdine] It is aicuz is the latest terminology I had when I left out there. It is a mile wide and a mile long, I think, on each end of the runway. Long silence on the tape. [Mr. Thorn] About 10 or 12 thousand acres. [Mr. Burdine] 28,000 [Ms. Middleton] Barksdale is [Ms. Burdine] Barksdale is 28,000 acres. Anyway, we did a lot of things. I set up Airman of the Month, and they would select Airman of the Month and we would send him and his wife or friend or whomever down to New Orleans by air and give them $500 and a place to stay. That was a good program. [Ms. Middleton] Certainly [Mr. Burdine] Lot of those boys were working for that program. [Ms. Middleton] Do they still do Airman of the Month? [Mr. Burdine] Yes, uh I don't know if they still do. [Mr. Thorn] Yes. They still have some type of thing like that for airman and officer. I think they have NCO. I don't know if they send them anywhere. They give them a plaque. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah, but we made a big deal out of it. One time General Lawson called and said I am going to get KCS to paint up a train engine (this was during what do you call it ever year, my mind don't work sometimes). Ever year they have the big air show and all that [Mr. Thorn] The Holiday in Dixie. [Mr. Burdine] We went over on the platform, a train platform, Ed Powell and his wife, my wife and some VIPs they called them and we rode on that train. It had flags on it. KCS had painted it white. We came all through Bossier and into the Air Base. It was a lot of fun. We did so much. They wanted to make Hoban Hall and we would get the Chamber of Commerce here and we wanted them to sponsor a room and I would get the wives involved and all the different Air Force people from the different Bases and would do a room. The British did a room, and they would feature their products. I will never forget, we were doing one and we had girls out there in short dresses and garters on and gambling. No gambling, but a big gambling table, cards and all that. That was our deal and we would pass out trinkets and all that. They had Minot, they were giving away fish, salmon. The British were doing a pub. Everybody was doing something different. At that time, and it is in all that stuff over there, there was a Congressman who fought with the Air Force just gambling away, (I can't think of his name now) and of all things General Hogan preached on was (he was Air Force Commander) he came in, he was down with the girls playing cards and they sent that thing over the wire (Les Aspin was the Congressman that was critical of the Air Force). We used to do those things, they don't do them anymore. They don't have the things that we did. They just have people come out and look at the airplanes. They have air shows. [Ms. Middleton} And the museum, of course, which is a real draw, I think. [Mr. Burdine] Oh yeah, you bet. [Mr. Thorn] One of the problems in the museum is they will a commander, like you said they will come and go, they will have a commander that is real interested in it; and then they will have a commander who can care less bout it; and then you have flip flops one way or the other. So there is no consistency. [Mr. Burdine] No. Out of sight, out of mind is the way it was. I flew everywhere with the Air Force. I remember one time we were at Langley and they had those little Quick Response guys that reposed and on the day of 9/11 did not have any weapons on the airplane. You knew that? Isn't that terrible? [Mr. Thorn] Yeah [Ms. Middleton] That is awful. Say that again. [Mr. Burdine] The response fighter planes that went up during 9/11 did not have any weapons on them. I don't know how that happened. I am sure some heads rolled there. [Ms. Middleton] Oh for goodness sakes. [Mr. Thorn] But then they sent a B52 from Minot down here with the nukes on the, [Mr. Burdine] With nukes under the wings man. But they do it every day. They fly them out of here all the time, you know. But you don't do it unless you are supposed to be doing it. Man they cashiered the Secretary of the Air Force, all the generals involved at Minot and everywhere else. [Ms. Middleton] They did what to the generals did you say? [Mr. Burdine] Reprimanded them, demoted them, fired them, whatever. Oh that was a big deal. What did they have-five or six pods? [Mr. Thorn] Something like that. The weapons came to Barksdale from Minot. [Ms. Middleton] How did that happen? [Mr. Burdine] Well, if they had dropped one we would have had a real blast, wouldn't we? [Mr. Thorn] They just had some heads roll over that. You know I think that was a lot just for show. Like you say they … [Mr. Burdine] Well, yeah, it was a mistake; and they had to make a big deal out of it. So many times you have to have a scapegoat. [Ms. Middleton] Always. [Mr. Burdine] And I had a part in the North Gate entrance that you see going in. It was one of my projects. It turned out real good. [Mr. Thorn] When you did that, if I am not mistaken, there was only one way to get in and one way to get out, and that was the West Gate, wasn't it? [Mr. Burdine] No, they always had the North Gate. That was where the pig trail was and we got the Governor to put up the money to buy that. It was about two or three years ago I got a call from Colonel Arran's secretary in the Wing. He said, "How about having lunch with me." I said, "Alright." I went out and he said we can't get anything done about those turn lanes again at the West Gate, we can't get anything done and I said I will get it done for you. I called Ron Beam, Senator and good friend of mine who would help me. He died you know. He took care of it and a couple of days later I called him and said just tell us what you want. What you see now is what they did. Yes, Ron was a pilot on the President's helicopter. It went down, the President was not on it, but it went down in the Gulf, I believe it was. Ron was a real hero. He went down and got those guys out, but what he did was he destroyed his lungs from the oil and fumes. All that was relative you know. [Ms. Middleton] Now this is the Bean from Beene Boulevard? [Mr. Burdine] No, No. That is Loy Beene. That is Haynesville Mercantile that owned all this big place. [Ms. Middleton] So it is a different family? [Mr. Thorn] Ron is Beam [Ms. Middleton] Oh, I see. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah. He was a good guy, a good Senator. [Mr. Thorn] He was from Shreveport. The other is Beene. [Ms. Middleton] Yes, Yes. [Mr. Thorn] Wes, tell about the Military Advisory Commission, the Governor's Military Advisory Commission. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah, I was on that …her daddy was a Two-Star General in National Guard.. He was a Congressman at the time, state; and I was on the Governor's Military Affairs and we would meet in the Senate building. They had some pretty high powered people on it. We would meet and discuss things that needed to be considered, we would meet at Fort Polk and different places. When I got off of it, I don't know what happened to it. It went away. Foster was governor. I was on the committee for the Medal of Honor that we had here. Did you know that? [Ms. Middleton] No [Mr. Burdine] Yeah, we had a big convention here in Shreveport. Had them all here. My job was to get the Governor here. Well I was working with Hunt who is a One-Star General at the time in the Guards, and Mike Foster was not responsive to up here at all. He was a lousy governor, even though he is a Republican, so am I. But anyway, we had it all set and man everything and he decided he had something better-fishing. But I have got letters in my office where Hunt had written, maybe some of them are in those things, and said I will drive you up here Governor. I will do anything you want, this is a big deal, all these Medal of Honor people being in one room at one time, see; and he refused to come. Ideplizer got mad at me about. Do you know Ideplizer? {Ms. Middleton] No, no I don't. What is his name? [Mr. Thorn] Ideplizer. Steve Ideplizer. [Mr. Burdine] He does a good job on what he always does, but he always likes to have his recognition for it. [Mr. Thorn] I remember Hunt was going to set in for the Governor. [Mr. Burdine] Oh yeah. He wouldn't let him set at the head table. So, at that time I had a back problem. I had to go have a back operation, and I missed it. But Steve got mad at me. I said let me tell you something son, you brag that you never had to work in a civilian community ever in his life, but you don't go around kicking the Governor and people like that around. If he does not want to do something, he is not going to do it. I couldn't do anything about it. We thought we had it lined up and it fell to pieces. [Ms. Middleton] I would have thought he would have ridden his motorcycle up here. [Mr. Thorn] Hunt could have set in for him, but the Colonel wouldn't let him. Hunt is the kind of guy that it does not matter where he sat. He sat at the table with me or anyone else. [Ms. Middleton] He would be fine. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah, I was in Baton Rouge one time with market. I got Jim on the Governor's Committee also, we were down there coming out of the hotel and Hunt was out there washing my windshield. He is just a crazy guy. [Ms. Middleton] Laughs, and his last name was Downer. [Mr. Burdine] Downer. He is now a Two Star General in the Guard. [Mr. Thorn] He was a Representative. [Mr. Burdine] Yeah I represented Edwards for several years and Roemer and I represented to Barksdale and four or five different governors and I get invited all around. I tell you one thing I learned, you cannot drink with everybody in the Air Force. They would invite me out to all these DV things. [Ms. Middleton] DV? [Mr. Burdine] Distinguished Vistors. They fly them in from all over the country, you know. Well, they want Wes out there; and man I had to be careful. Everyone had martinis flying around. [Mt. Thorn] I don't think that is as much today as it used to be. [Mr. Burdine] No, No. [Mr. Thorne] They used to….you couldn't have a meeting without having drinks. [Mr. Burdine] Oh yeah, I mean to tell you. We had a thing during one of the air shows, they had the Red Horse group in. That is the construction group, that is what they are, construction people. [Ms. Middleton] They are military? [Mr. Burdine] Oh yeah. Tommy Thompson was the Base Commander then and he said Wes do you think you can scrape up a keg of beer on Friday afternoon for them? I said, "Yeah man." It was a lot of fun. It was one keg and then it got to be two kegs. It was four before it was over. They were out there with bulldozers on the north end. They had dug them out a deal there, had a tent over it, had the girls out there. Laughs. Like someone told me over in Arabia, ah they will never be able to drink over there. I say anytime you put three GIs together, you will have alcohol. [Ms. Middleton] Laughs, my goodness. I know you mentioned you have an appointment. [Mr. Burdine] I do and we probably can't do all this in one session. [Ms. Middleton] No. I was just thinking that. I brought two tapes, but we will come back or you can pass by the History Center. Whatever works. [Mr. Burdine] I will be glad to see it. You have all this stuff and I will be glad to talk with you. You will see a lot of pictures. [Ms. Middleton] Well, if you will entrust us with those, we will photocopy them and then…. [Mr. Burdine] All we are going to do is someday when I die, they will be thrown away. [Ms. Middleton] No! Don't say 'throw away' to a historian. [Mr. Burdine] When I first came to Bossier there were two real estate people. There was Arthur Ray Teague and Red Montgomery. Well over the years Red never had anything to do with me, but Arthur took me under his wing. He brought me into deals where I could make an investment with him. They were always good ones, and he was a good guy. At one time as they got older and as I had gotten a contract with the federal government when the Wing moved out of here the old KC7 Wing pulled out, Tennessee Gas moved out, Texas Eastern moved out and there were just houses everywhere. I bid a contract with FHA out of Washington and got it to manage all these hundreds and hundreds of houses and do all the things we did to get them on the market and get them sold. I had beat Mr. Montgomery. I did not know he bid it, but boy wow, wow. Mr. Teague was always good to me and he was on the Police Jury when I was. We used to go out to Lake Bistineau to his camp. He had a martin box and he loved to shoot the old cow birds that would land on that thing. I can tell you a million stories about that scenario. {Mr. Thorn] When I worked at the newspaper I used to call on him for his classified advertising. I very seldom talked to him, I talked to his secretary. [Ms. Middleton] Mr. Teague? [Mr.Burdine] Ms. Teague was always around and she had her license. She smoked one cigarette after another. Never put one down. Chain smoker. [Ms. Middleton]] Well, we will get together. [Mr. Burdine] I became a Master Mason, one of the youngest in the state. Then did the upper degrees the 32 degrees and then I joined the Shrine a long time ago and during that time there was a potent named Reggie Poe, an insurance man, and I was kind of active in Shrine out there doing things, all the things we do, cut up and carry on; but the real purpose is the Shriners Hospitals. He made me First Ambassador of the Temple. Boy does that tell you something. Boy, got my name in it and presented it to me before the whole crowd. I was real pleased with it. Over the years you do and you do and you get into something else and I have gotten away from it now. [Mr. Thorn} What lodge were you in? [Mr. Burdine] Robert Kritney 460 out of Sterlington. [Mr. Thorn] Are you a member of a lodge here? [Mr. Burdine] No. I am a member of my Sterlington lodge. Bruce Easterly, engineer up here, he was Grand Master last year. [Mr. Thorn] Yeah, I don't know him. Did you ever have any dealing with Mr. Lewis, he was the Grand Master for the State of Louisiana. [Mr. Burdine] No. [Mr. Thorne] I forgot his first name. He was one that lived in the Hoyer House. [Ms. Middleton] I don't know his first name either. I just remember that that house was called the Lewis house for a while. [Mr. Thorn] He lived on Riverside Drive over there. You know when they cleaned all that out they just tore that old house down. The first mayor. [Mr. Burdine] I came in 1957 and they had Burgess McCranie, Alden Reeves. I tell you they ran that little town the way they wanted to. [Ms. Middleton] Is that right? [Mr. Burdine] They did not worry about anybody. That is all. |
People |
Arran, (Col.) Beam, Ron Burdine, Wesley Darius Dority, (Gen.) Downer, Hunt Downs, Noah Dunn Dyce, Sam (Col.) Easterly, Bruce Edwards, Edwin Washington (Gov.) Fenton, Jefferson Davis "Dutch", Jr. Fletcher, J.J. Ford, Butch Foster, Murphy James "Mike", Jr. (Gov.) Harris, (Gen.) Ideplizer, Steve Kegg, (Gen.) Knight, George, Jr. Landerno, (Gen.) Larkin, Jim Lawson, (Gen.) Lay, (Col.) Lloyd, Murray McCranie, Burgess Edmond, Sr. Montgomery, Red Morgan, (Dr.) Nattin, George Leon, Jr. Poe, Reggie Powell, Ed Reeves, Alden Rigg, Harold D. "Buck" Roemer, Charles Elson "Buddy" III (Gov.) Stamp, Ross Stroud, Andrew (Gen.) Teagle Teague, Arthur Ray Teague, Foster Schuler "Tooter" (Capt.) Thompson, Tommy Thorn, Billy Ray Treen, David C. (Gov.) Walden, Dickey Whittington |
Search Terms |
8th Air Force Museum Albertson's Shopping Center Barksdale Air Force Base Barksdale Drug Store Berlin Airlift Black Bayou Lake Acres Black Bayou Petting Zoo Bossier Bank and Trust Bossier Base Burnt Match Bar Cypress East Subdivision Cypress Lake Cypress Watershed and Recreation Commission East Shreveport Governor's Military Advisory Commission Greenacres Subdivision Holiday in Dixie Lake Bistineau Le Bossier Hotel Little Banker Cafe Meadowview Park Subdivision National Bank of Bossier North Gate Road Operation Vittles Palmetto Country Club Swan Lake Subdivision YMCA |
Interview date |
2009-09-09 |
Interview place |
Palmetto Road, Benton, Louisiana |
Interviewer |
Middleton, Ann |
Recording media |
Cassette Tape |
Inventoried date |
2024-04-22 |