Bud retired after a successful 34 year career in the securities business. Clarksvillians may remember him as the one time manager of the J.C. Bradford Company in Downtown Clarksville.

In 2008 Bud appeared as a guest in the “Everyone Has a Story” series hosted by the NBC Today show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. There he related the heartwarming story of a life changing experience he had as a Marine medivac helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.

You can pick up a copy of the book at Dunn Insurance located at 409 Madison Street, or purchase one at the book signing. The book costs $16 each, you can also pick up a package of 10 for $140. Profits from this event will benefit the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Foundation.

Our review of Bluestocking

One of nine children, Bud Willis was raised in a simple time with simple values. The story of the Willis clan is a classic tale of southern life. Common sense, Hard work, and Thrift were central parts of his life from a young age, as his mother had limited resources available to support her large family. Falling prey to alcoholism and the associated issues that problem brings with it,  Pete left the family early in 1947 following a intervention by his son Horace. As a single mother, Margret personally instilled in each of her children the tools they needed to succeed in life.

Raised in Tullahoma Tennessee the family consisted of Father Pete, Mother Margaret, Son Horace born in April 1930, Daughter Martha born in January 1932, Daughter Virginia born in October 1933, Son Tommy born in 1936, Daughter Sara born in June 1938, Son Beasley “Bud” born in September 1941, Son Paschal “Tykie” born in September 1943, Son James “Beau”  January 1945, and Daughter Linda born in February 1947.

In the book Bud divides the brothers and sisters into three distinct era’s:

• The Depression Era (Horace, Martha, & Ann)
• The Fifties Era (Tommy, Sara, and Bud)
• The Boomer Era (Tykie, Beau, & Linda).

In spite of the poverty brought on by the Great Depression and losing the financial support from their father, thanks to Horace’s and Margret’s hard work the children’s childhood years were almost idyllic. Oh sure there were problems to deal with but using her philosophy of “No sense of crying over spilled milk” they were handled as they arose.

Bud mixes tales of his childhood in the south with observations about the events of the period. The conflict of the Happy Days lifestyle of the 1950’s contrasted with the paranoia of the Cold war, Truman and MacArthur, The Korean and Vietnam wars, and much more. For those who did not live through this tough time for our nation Bud gives you a glimpse at what it was like.

China had cut a deal with North Vietnam to raid the rice farmers in South Vietnam and confiscate their surplus rice…

…Not many people are aware, then or now, that the Vietnam war was fought over rice.

Bud entered the U.S. Marine Corps after going to college at Tennessee Tech. Deciding that he didn’t want to be a foot soldier, he entered flight school.

All the pilots knew there was a one hundred percent chance that we would all be sent to Vietnam. The only question is whether it was low and slow in a helicopter, or high and fast in a fixed wing jet.

It ended up being low and slow in a helicopter as a medevac pilot.

Medevac is the most dangerous, but also the most rewarding of all combat missions. Mostly because where you find a wounded soldier, you usually run into the people that wounded him.

This is where he encountered the soldier that would change his life, one of his severly wounded passengers, whom after being unloaded he insisted that the helicopter’s crew chief thank the pilot for the ride. According to Bud, there wasn’t a dry eye on the copter during the flight back.

I have told this story many times to teary eyed audiences with the message that we should always show gratitude and thank people every day, and to thank God for heroes like that young Marine.

Bud eventually appeared in the Today Show interview shown above to relate his story about this incident.

After he left the Marines, Bud became a broker. His observations on the events leading up to the financial crisis are refreshingly blunt.

When Wall Street sneezes, the whole world catches a cold. The bloodletting was relentless. Our own investment bankers had done what Bin Laden could not, they brought down the world economy. It was crashing down around our necks. Wall Street had securitized everything that wasn’t nailed down; and packed it in bales of greed so large that, when the end came, the losses were monumentally catastrophic.

The writing in the book is clear, and to my delight was written with a smooth word flow in mind. That is quite refreshing, because that is how I try to write when doing an article. It makes for a very easy and enjoyable read. You will laugh, and you may even cry. The book is more than worth the time it takes to read it. The only critique I would offer is to suggest the addition of an keyword index otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing! If you are able to, you should come to see Bud tell his story live at the Blackhorse Pub & Brewery at 3:00pm on Tuesday!

Tim Cash

For the record I am conservative in my thinking but try hard to keep an open mind and give all an opportunity to voice their opinions. Many of my friends have differing views than mine when it comes to politics, but very few who disagree that much of what our Country was founded on is disintegrating before our very eyes. In the end, whether of liberal beliefs or conservative – we are ALL AMERICANS.

This did not just start yesterday, there has been an eroding of America for many years now. Those of you who are 30 or older need only look back to your years as a child, when we all said the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom. Many of our children have never pledged allegiance to our Flag:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Many of our children are not learning values in the classroom or at home – the days of going to the principle’s office for a smack on the rear are gone and ‘just wait till your father gets home’ means nothing. For me, either of those options merely needed to be mentioned to keep me on the straight and narrow growing up. There is almost a twisted sense that each person is owed something from those who have been successful in life instead of getting up off the couch and finding a job. What’s that you say? There are no jobs out there? Unemployment is at 9 percent? HOGWASH!

The problem with Americans is that we feel that the jobs that are available are beneath us. We are quick to complain about the immigrants who are moving into our country – guess what folks – they are here because there is WORK. Work, that is right, I said it! They are doing the manual labor or menial jobs that many of us would not even consider as a viable option. They are here because of the promise for a better life! One free from persecution where the sky is the limit. I hate to say it, but these same immigrants place more value of being in America than many of those who were born in America.

Whoa is me! Whoa is me! Folks we have not seen bad. Bad is the Great Depression. Bad is persecution of women and children living under Taliban law years ago in Afghanistan. Bad is being of Jewish decent in Germany during Hilter’s brutal reign. Bad is being one of the victims of 9/11. Bad is the Widow and Children of one of our Fallen Heroes. Need I say more?

We have many issues in our Country in this day and age. No one person can be blamed for the financial crisis that hit us. We probably will never know how many or even who was to blame as the powerful in our country seem to protect their own – from corporate America to our elected leaders. You only need to look at the billions of YOUR tax dollars that have been given to numerous corporations that were deemed ‘Too Big To Fail’ to realize this. There have not been, nor will there be any accountability – let alone any repayment (well, unless you consider repayment by you, me and our children as repayment).

Only today I received an email from a lady who wanted to let me know that I should refrain from supporting a group of mothers who cared about their children in the Armed Forces. She was polite in her dissent, but wanted to state her dissatisfaction with me publicly supporting them as this was viewed as a group that was partisan. Partisan? REALLY? Mothers fearing for their children’s safe return is now partisan? COME ON!

This last week saw closed door meetings with political leaders and the attack on a news organization by our very own administration. All the while, our Generals charged with carrying out combat operations in Afghanistan are desperately awaiting a decision from our government. I got it that there are those of you who disagree with our presence in Afghanistan but this is a battle we must fight there and that we must win. If we do not, we will only see more tragedy on our own soil.

If you really want to participate in the direction of this great country, I strongly suggest you do so by exercising the rights that our founding fathers gave us (and no I am not talking about the right to bear arms):

• The right of free speech
• The right to vote

These two PEACEFUL means granted to all Americans by our Founding Fathers are so very powerful. They have been there since day one but sadly many choose not to exercise either right. Rather, the remain silent in terms of speech and vote. Only after the fact to they choose to cry foul – knowing all along that they were simply too busy or afraid to speak out or stand in line at the polls to cast their ballot. Those who fill the halls of our local, state and federal capital buildings are there because those who believed they could make a difference went to the polling stations and voted them in.

It is time for everyday Americans to wake up, to give notice of their displeasure or support of the direction that our elected leaders are taking this Great Country. Being an elected leader means that you are prone to having people who both support you and oppose you – it comes with the job! At no time should they be calling for the banishment of free speech or free press.

I will leave you with the words of The Star Spangled Banner which was composed by Francis Scott Key in 1814:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

NASHVILLE – On Monday, State Representative Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville) and members of the House and Senate were presented with Governor Phil Bredesen’s seventh State of the State Address.

“These economic times are tough on everyone, especially working families,” said Pitts (D-Clarksville). “Governor Bredesen made it clear in his speech that while we need to make some tough cuts to our budget, laying off workers and cutting education funding is not the way to bring us through this financial crisis.”

During his speech, Governor Bredesen announced his desire to maintain our education funding for K-12 and Pre-K classrooms, as well as challenged the Board of Regents, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to “step outside the box” in trying to find ways to make higher education more affordable.

“Now, more than ever, is the time that Tennesseans need to be able to afford a college education, said Pitts. “When the economy begins to turn around, our citizens need to have the skills and resources necessary to earn those new jobs that will be created.”

Finally, the governor spoke about working to make Tennessee the home of green technology research, specifically in the area of solar energy. With the recent announcement of Hemlock Semiconductor investing over $1.2 billion into a new solar panel plant in Clarksville, as well as the continuing development of cellulosic ethanol plants throughout the state, Tennessee has the potential to become the national leader in green technology.

“Like Michigan and the automobile industry in the early 20th Century, Tennessee could become the home for green technology manufacturing in the United States for the 21st Century,” said Pitts.

Governor Bredesen will again come before a joint session of the House and Senate later next month to present his budget.

House Members Begin Adjustment to New Bipartisan Committees

This week House Democrats and Republicans met for the first time to begin committee meetings under the new leadership announced by Speaker Kent Williams.

“As with any new experience, these split committees will take some getting used to,” said Pitts (pictured at right). “However, I am confident that we can put the people of Tennessee first and leave the partisan politics at the door.”

Of the thirteen standing committees, seven have Republican chairs while six are Democrats and all but two committees have evenly split memberships. The Government Operations Committee has a one-vote majority for the Democrats, and the Calendar Committee has the same split for the Republicans.

“These new bipartisan committees will give us the chance to really hone our skills as legislators and find ways to compromise and cooperate with each other so that we can do what’s best for Tennesseans,” said Pitts.

The schedules for all committee meetings and floor sessions can be found on the Tennessee Legislature’s website at www.capitol.tn.gov.