BILL NEINAST neins1@aol.com THE MOSTLY TRUE AND UNABRIDGED HISTORY OF WILLIAM H. “BILL” NEINAST Some people believe I caused the Great Depression. There is a basis for that belief. I was born in Somerville, Texas, on August 26, 1929, in my parent’s home; a house without electricity or plumbing. A mere 59 days later, the banks failed and the stock markets crashed on Black Friday, October 24. Those two dates are too close to be a mere coincidence. Being a man of conscience, however, I helped start the long road to recovery. My friend, Cotton Malkey, and I kept construction of the stone gymnasium and football field in Somerville moving. Ensconced in Cotton’s front yard, we would ping with a BB gun any man working on the WPA project who would bend over too long to pick up a stone with his butt pointed toward us. When not supervising the WPA, there were no TVs, video games, IPhones, or air conditioning to keep me inside, so I mowed lawns, sanded floors, worked the projectors at the Lyon theatre, and cut meat in my Dad’s market and grocery. For a break from that tedium, I graduated as valedictorian of the Somerville High class of 1946. Then it was off to the real world of my mother’s alma mater, Texas Lutheran College (now Texas Lutheran University) in Sequin. I graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in the last class as a junior college. Next, was a migration north to THE university--The University of Texas in Austin. There, I was fortunate enough to help my future wife earn the degree she was seeking. Jeannine Pearce left her home in Marlin to get an Mrs degree. Being a good Methodist, she joined the Methodist Student Association, but found nothing there that met her standards. So she transferred to the Lutheran Student Association, where we found each other. The rest is history. The 60 year old trial marriage has worked so well, we are considering making it permanent. In 1952, we left Austin with degrees in hand. Jeannine had earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics and I was carrying a Bachelor of Arts and a Doctor of Jurisprudence. We moved to Caldwell where I practiced law for a short while in a two-man firm that was first established in 1911. The late Hays Bowers, my mentor and the namesake of our oldest son, taught me more law in three months than I learned in three years of law school. The Korean War was claiming American lives across the Pacific at the time. So, to dodge the draft, I got a commission in The Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army. I began my military career with a belief that no one who could make a living on the outside would ever undertake a military career. My contact with senior career officers and enlisted personnel quickly disabused me of that idea. So I became one of them and the Army then tried for 27 years to educate me at taxpayers expense. On the military side of the ledger, I graduated from both the basic and career courses of The Judge Advocate General’s School at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and The Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. On the civilian side, I did a year’s graduate work in international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague Holland, and the Management School for Executives of Pittsburgh University. In 27 years of active duty, I had two tours of duty in the Pentagon and three overseas tours in Germany and Vietnam. I performed various periods of duty in eight foreign countries. Along the way, Jeannine and I reared four Army brats into productive citizens. Steven Hays is the Assistant General Counsel for Entergy Corporation. Mark is the American Sales Director for ESP Corp., a GE subsidiary in the oil patch. Bill, Jr., or Will, is a Senior Vice President of Bank of America. Anita, the Chief of Staff of the family, is a CPA/CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) with her own consulting firm. I am published in Military Law Review, Army Lawyer, Army, Progressive Farmer, Gulf Coast Cattleman, The Lion, and Country (where I was a “country editor” for ten years). Currently, I pen a weekly political op-ed piece for the Brenham Banner Press. Jeannine and I are now enjoying our golden years on property in Washington County, Texas, that has been in my family since the Civil War. My grandfather and father were born here, so here is where it started and where it will will end. enough MY ESSAYS 1 In Perspective 2 Dear Mr. Congressman 3 Enough Already! 4 Hunker Down! 5 WWDD 6 The RNC: a Treat 7 A Sitcom in Charlotte 8 Get Serious about the War 9 Spokesperson: Most Difficult Job 10 Singing Cathy’s Song 11 What If It Had Been George? 11 Desperate Men Do Desperate Things 12 Class Warrior in Chief 13 What Did He Know and When... 14 We Need a Graveyard for Sacred Cows 15 GOP Swan Song? 16 Class Warriors: the Truth Hurts 17 The Dust Bowl and the Role of Government 18 There Are Many Cliffs 19 The Death Penalty 20 We Lost the War on Poverty 21 More Gun Laws a Folly 22 To Sue or Not to Sue 23 The Wording Says It All 24 Culture of Dependence 25 Trip to the Watermelon Patch 26 Knee Jerk Reaction 27 Defense Department Two-Step 28 Saving the Military 29 Economically Illiterate 30 Charity and the Work Ethic 31 Where Is the Sequester Disaster? 32 Reviving Monsters 33 The Cost of Medical Care 34 A History Lesson: English Only 35 Slackers and Your Money 36 The Mouse That Roared 37 A Day of Infamy 38 One More Law 39 The Key Word Is Terrorist 40 Mission Accomplished 41 The Buck Stops Here 42 Hear No Evil, Etc. 43 CSOPE 44 Drip, Drip, Drip 45 Sleep Well 46 Lie Redefined 47 PC and History 48 Joe and Jose 49 Foreign Policy Mush 50 Why? Not Who? 51 Coherent Policy...I Think Not 52 From Liebenau to Detroit 53 Hog Killing Time 54 Blind Hog Finds Acorn 55 The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure 56 Red Line Rewrite 57 Where’s Waldo? 58 Looming Danger 59 Alcohol and Drugs: History Repeated 60 Voting Hypocracy 61 Our Henny Penny Congress 62 Affordable Healthcare? 63 Look Over There 64 Advertising Pays 65 Kicking the Can Down the Road and the Texas Model 66 A Little Good News 67 Silver Alerts and Pinocchios 68 I Know Nothing 69 Viva Independence and Self-Reliance 70 Perspective on bin Laden’s War 71 Fewer Toys for the Pentagon 72 Obamacare Flight 73 Radical? 74 Fair? 75 Republican New Year’s Resolution 76 Now You’re Concerned? 77 Unemployment the Texas Way 78 Beware Solicitation Letters 79 We Must Not Forget 80 Political Lies 81 Dangit! 82 Let’s Not Make Anyone Uncomfortable 83 Dropouts and Graduates 84 The Ditherer 85 Illegal Aliens 86 Top Secret 87 Larry, Moe, and Curley 88 Charity Starts at Home 89 Declare Peace in the War on Drugs 90 Stop Knee Jerk Reactions 91 Sensible Military Reductions 92 If It’s Not Broke 93 What Difference Does It Make 94 Education: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It 95 Order More Stop Signs 96 Back to the Issues That Matter 97 Fairness: Here We Go Again 98 Less Sports and Entertainment: More Hard News 99 Uncle Sugar 100 The Veterans Administration’s Mess 101 The Last Chivalry 102 Rights to Entitlements 103 Workers’ Paradise 104 United? Nations 105 An Outstanding President: Obama 106 Double Agent? 107 Deja-vu, All Over Again 108 A Little Middle East History 109 Surviving the Hydra 110 Only the Facts M’am 111 Tomlinson Hill and the Democrats 112 Both Parties Hypocrites 113 We’re Already at War 114 I Know Nothing 115 Alarm Bells 116 Radical Change 117 Ebola: an Imagined Epidemic 118 It’s Better to... 119 Make Schools Independent 120 RRR 121 Changing Neighborhoods 122 We’ll Survive 123 Just the Facts 124 What Do They Want? 225 Affordable Care Act? 226 Been There, Done That 227 My Chystal Ball 228 Kudos to President Obama 229 The Keystone XL Pipeline 230 Voting Reform Important 231 Time Marches On 232 Narcissist-in-Chief 233 Mideast Treaty Organization 234 Give Common Core a Chance 235 War and Luck 236 Nobody Else Is Doing It? 237 What If Obama Were President in 1941 238 Bernie Madoff: Barrack Obama 239 Global Warming Nuts 240 Scams 241 Welcome Back to Munich 242 A President from the Business World? 243 Blunderbuss Foreign Policy 244 The Inheritance Tax 245 Fair Trial in Baltimore 246 The Governor and the Military 247 From General to Personal Welfare 248 From Independence to Dependency 249 Finally Some Good News 250 December 7 251 When Did Policemen Become the Bad Guys? 252 This Ain’t Crystal Night 253 Bingo, Hillary 254 The Trump Card 255 Goodbye Old Flag 256 Obeying the Law 257 The Tax Collector or Karl Marx 258 Good News, Bad News 259 The Cream Rises to the Top 260 Kept in the Closet 261 From Baitzemt to the US 262 Seig Heil Again? 263 Abortions Many Aspects 264 Sauce for the Goose Is Sauce for the Gander 265 Perspective from Dr. Ben Carson 266 Modest Proposals for a Conundrum 267 Snake Oil 268 The Log in Your Own Eye 269 Chaos, Dysfunction, Frustration 270 How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked 271 Foreign Policy Seek and Fink 272 A Radical by Any Other Name Is Still a Radical 273 War Requires a Strategy 274 War Requires a Strategy...Still 275 Tread Lightly, Voters 276 Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor... 277 President Clueless about the Misuse of Firearms 278 Immigration Solved: Enforce Laws on Books 279 I, Uncle Sam, Resolve... 280 Tears and Fiddling 281 Political But Not Correct 282 Same Tune---Different Verse 283 A Wake for the Two Parties 284 A Generational Difference 285 County Commissioners’ Court Accessible 286 Do You Want This Thing to Be President? 287 LaBahia/Washington 288 Clarification: Supreme Court 289 Today Is 1984 290 Be Careful What You Ask For 291 World War III 292 Time for a Tune Up 293 Is “Hello” PC? 294 Trump on Abortion 295 Supreme Court Up for Grabs 296 Keep Your Fingers Crossed 297 Hobson’s Choice 2016 298 Get Out of Panic Mode 299 New Models for Elections 300 A Country of Immigrants 301 Nothing to Fear 302 There Is an Alternative 303 Texas Needs a Death with Dignity Law 304 Stupid Response to Orlando 305 The Worst Commander-in-Chief 306 The U.S. Army War College 307 BLM Mirrors KKK 308 Wars’s Many Faces 309 Ma and Pa Clinton 310 Chameleon Trump 311 SNAFU 312 Autographed Copy of Jesus Christ 313 No Best Out There 314 A New Draft 315 Hard Decisions 316 It Must Be True 317 Federal Government Dysfunctional 318 Vote for Supremes and Congress 319 The Republican Party and Silk Purses 320 Mission Impossible 321 Enough Already 322 Ma and Pa Going to the White House? 323 Henny Penny Democrats 324 Politically Correct=Political Idiocy 325 Newton’s Third Law and Politics 326 Miracles Do Happen 327 The Business of Government 328 The Russians Are Coming 329 What Will Happen in 2017? 330 Driving Nails into Coffins 331 Pass in Review! 332 Will Trump Be Presidential? 333 A Glimmer of Hope 334 Flabbergasted Democrats 335 Part of Our Heritage 336 DeVos Right Secretary of Education 337 Rethinking Education 338 Abortion and Sex Education 339 The Russians Did It? 340 Free Speech Not Free 341 Shaky Standing 342 Flailing Chickens 343 Operation Papyrus 344 And the Winner Is 345 A New Man in Town 346 Too Soon Old, too Late Smart 347 The Land of Oz, USA 348 News and Facts 349 Washington County EMS: the Best 450 Memorial Day---Every Day 451 Prejudice a Learned Behavior 452 Emoluments? 453 Give Henny Penny a Rest 454 Too Much Trivia 455 Nuclear North Korea 456 Fair Taxes 457 Ignoring Facts 458 Starving Departments 459 Time for Another Hoover Commission? 460 Hate and the KKK 461 Bad Language: Bad Choice 462 Waiting with Baited Breath 463 Hate Knows No Bounds 464 A Step too Far 465 The Law Is the Law 466 Honest Trump 467 Stuck in the Swamp 468 Why? 469 The NFL, Racism, and the President 470 Politics and Monuments 471 Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How 472 Guns Don’t Kill People... 473 Yesterday Not All Bad 474 Racism and the National Anthem 475 Dear Kneeling Brothers 476 Sex Will Win 477 Apples and Oranges 478 Truth in Advertising 479 A Better Way 480 White Privilege to the Trash 481 Taxes---Same Old Story 482 County Governance 483 From the Farms to the Cyberworld 484 The Scoundrels! 485 Whistler’s Mother 486 Pot, Bowl, or Magnet 487 State Level Term Limits 488 Murder Is Already Illegal 489 Truth in Advertising 490 The National Debt 491 Brenham, Texas, Has a Professional Theatre 492 The Train to Crystal City 493 Paying for Panic 494 Time’s Up 495 Trouble 496 Pro-Lifers or Anti-Abortionists? 497 Deal Not Bonded 498 Laws Punish---Not Prevent 499 Republicans---Don’t Be Hypocrites 500 Immigration

BILL NEINAST

THE MOSTLY TRUE AND UNABRIDGED HISTORY OF WILLIAM H. “BILL” NEINAST

Some people believe I caused the Great Depression. There is a basis for that belief. I was born in Somerville, Texas, on August 26, 1929, in my parent’s home; a house without electricity or plumbing. A mere 59 days later, the banks failed and the stock markets crashed on Black Friday, October 24. Those two dates are too close to be a mere coincidence.

Being a man of conscience, however, I helped start the long road to recovery. My friend, Cotton Malkey, and I kept construction of the stone gymnasium and football field in Somerville moving. Ensconced in Cotton’s front yard, we would ping with a BB gun any man working on the WPA project who would bend over too long to pick up a stone with his butt pointed toward us.

When not supervising the WPA, there were no TVs, video games, IPhones, or air conditioning to keep me inside, so I mowed lawns, sanded floors, worked the projectors at the Lyon theatre, and cut meat in my Dad’s market and grocery. For a break from that tedium, I graduated as valedictorian of the Somerville High class of 1946.

Then it was off to the real world of my mother’s alma mater, Texas Lutheran College (now Texas Lutheran University) in Sequin. I graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in the last class as a junior college.

Next, was a migration north to THE university--The University of Texas in Austin. There, I was fortunate enough to help my future wife earn the degree she was seeking.

Jeannine Pearce left her home in Marlin to get an Mrs degree. Being a good Methodist, she joined the Methodist Student Association, but found nothing there that met her standards. So she transferred to the Lutheran Student Association, where we found each other. The rest is history. The 60 year old trial marriage has worked so well, we are considering making it permanent.

In 1952, we left Austin with degrees in hand. Jeannine had earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics and I was carrying a Bachelor of Arts and a Doctor of Jurisprudence. We moved to Caldwell where I practiced law for a short while in a two-man firm that was first established in 1911. The late Hays Bowers, my mentor and the namesake of our oldest son, taught me more law in three months than I learned in three years of law school.

The Korean War was claiming American lives across the Pacific at the time. So, to dodge the draft, I got a commission in The Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army.

I began my military career with a belief that no one who could make a living on the outside would ever undertake a military career. My contact with senior career officers and enlisted personnel quickly disabused me of that idea. So I became one of them and the Army then tried for 27 years to educate me at taxpayers expense.

On the military side of the ledger, I graduated from both the basic and career courses of The Judge Advocate General’s School at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and The Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. On the civilian side, I did a year’s graduate work in international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague Holland, and the Management School for Executives of Pittsburgh University.

In 27 years of active duty, I had two tours of duty in the Pentagon and three overseas tours in Germany and Vietnam. I performed various periods of duty in eight foreign countries.

Along the way, Jeannine and I reared four Army brats into productive citizens. Steven Hays is the Assistant General Counsel for Entergy Corporation. Mark is the American Sales Director for ESP Corp., a GE subsidiary in the oil patch. Bill, Jr., or Will, is a Senior Vice President of Bank of America. Anita, the Chief of Staff of the family, is a CPA/CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) with her own consulting firm.

I am published in Military Law Review, Army Lawyer, Army, Progressive Farmer, Gulf Coast Cattleman, The Lion, and Country (where I was a “country editor” for ten years). Currently, I pen a weekly political op-ed piece for the Brenham Banner Press.

Jeannine and I are now enjoying our golden years on property in Washington County, Texas, that has been in my family since the Civil War. My grandfather and father were born here, so here is where it started and where it will will end.