by Norma Moore
|
I want to
recognize an outstanding gentleman and a military hero of our Davis
Branch, Buffalo communities. Winfred Horn, the son of Oliver and
Callie (White) Horn, learned many valuable lessons of the country, farm
life. He says he was raised in a cotton field, his family
being cotton farmers. He was picking cotton nearly by the time he
learned to walk. The family would also go to other cotton farms of
Leon County and other parts of Texas, especially in west Texas, to pick
cotton. The last place Winfred picked cotton was Edmonson, Texas
when he was 17 years old. He went to his dad and told him that kind
of life was not for him and begged his dad to let him join the military.
His dad agreed and signed for Winfred to join the Army. Winfred was also raised with Christian moral standards and family values. He was taught to go by God's rule and be honest, decent and to have respect for all people. He was from a large family and they with a close relationship have always been there for each other. Winfred attended Buffalo school. He rode the school bus and the bus drivers were Ralph Recknor, Claude Stone, his dad Oliver Horn and Joe Carr. He has many cherished memories of the school bus days. He sat behind Maybelle Lathrop and thought she was the prettiest girl of all the girls and wanted to claim her as his girlfriend. Winfred will tell you that his education was just to get by. Winfred loved the military and was proud to serve his country. He was an honorable soldier and soon became 1st Sergeant. His military duty mostly consisted of the tank company. He served at many places. He was sent to Ft. Knox, Ft. Polk, Ft. Hood and three overseas tours. These included European commands. He served ten years in Germany Berlin Cresse. Winfred was awarded many medals of honor. He is one of the most dedicated military gentlemen you could meet. He says that the moment he entered into the military force, he knew this was his calling. He felt great pride and honor in performing his duty for his country. After twenty years, Winfred was given a most honorable discharge, I was told by another military soldier who served with him. Winfred was a tough Sergeant, he expected your best in performance and as long as you carried on your duties with the best of our ability, he had patience. Yet, he had no patience with a half done job. Winfred never expected any more out of you than what he could do himself, and he is a best friend for life and will be there for you whenever you need him. Winfred received his discharge in 1970. He was proud to return to the Davis Branch community. He will tell you he misses the military life and if he was in better health, he would be right there in Iraq with the soldiers, fighting the terrorists, helping them win this terrible war. Winfred helped his dad with his brick laying business. His dad was highly qualified in this profession. He laid brick for many people in Leon County and other places in Texas. He laid the brick for our Flo Baptist Church. Later, Winfred went to Houston where he worked at security. This job was more his lifestyle. He became an employee with the prison system and worked at the Ferguson Unit in Madisonville for 17½ years before retiring from this service. He then lived in Madisonville for a while. Gardening became his passion. He is one of the best gardeners you can know. Everything is grown and raised in the old fashioned way, in an organized basis. Winfred now lives in Flo on FM 831, near the Flo store. He has continued with his gardening and raises the best vegetables around. He keeps the Flo people supplied with produce the year round. He loves gardening and growing vegetables and plants. He also makes regular trips to Madisonville gathering produce and sharing with everyone. We appreciate Winfred's generosity very much. He is a favorite Flo citizen. He joins in on community programs. Being a leader, he started a neighborhood watch program. He is an outstanding member of our Flo Lone Star Community Center and gives of himself and his funds to get the job done. He especially likes the Turkey Shoot and is sponsor of this project. He is always busy getting more people interested in our Flo Community Center and other affairs. Winfred has deep love for his family members. He is proud of them all and has great pleasure in visiting them. He loves to entertain them at his home, cooking and grilling hamburgers, steaks and preparing his wonderful vegetables for them. Winfred is also a great historian, having interest in ancestry and genealogy. His family are first time settlers of the Davis Branch and Buffalo Communities. They helped to establish a unique Texas County that we all have pride and joy in being part of, with God loving people, who love their families, are hard workers, neighborly, giving a helping hand whenever needed and sharing their good fortune with others. This has been a special quality of the Oliver Horn family since the pioneer days, as well as today. Winfred carries on with the same generous missions as his ancestors. The Oliver Horn family has a reunion every year. They all cherish their Leon County heritage. Winfred is proud to be home and we are very glad he is ours |