johnny wilson - 15. 1978

by bofa xesjum

part fifteen of 52

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on february 15, 1978, serial killer ted bundy, who had escaped from jail in colorado, was captured in pensacola, florida. on april 4, johnny wilson stayed home from school because he was sick , the only time he did so in his three years in junior high school. despite his hatred of school, johnny took pride in the fact that he almost never missed or was late for school. the perfect attendance certificates he received in the seventh and ninth grades remained among his most valued possessions for many years. on april 11, president jimmy carter decided to postpone production of a neutron bomb. production of the bomb would later proceed under president ronald reagan. on august 6, marianne capps, a neighbor of the wilsons, had a yard sale on her front lawn. joe wilson purchased a paperback book, gods of aquarius: ufo’s and the transformation of man, by brad steiger, for ten cents. it renewed his interest in the subject of unidentified flying objects. in the years to follow, he would go on to spend what jenny wilson considered an inordinate amount of money on books, magazines, and later, videos and dvd’s, on the subject. on december 22, serial killer john wayne gacy was arrested in chicago. 16. 1979

johnny wilson - 14. 1977

by bofa xesjum

part fourteen of 52

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on the morning of april 23, 1977, johnny wilson flunked his math test, and barely passed his english test. his lunch of spaghetti-o’s, diet coke, and a ring ding, which he ate alone in the school cafeteria, was even less satisfying than usual. johnny could hardly wait to grow up. and he was not even in high school yet! on may 25, star wars was released in american movie theaters. on july 13 and 14, new york city suffered a city-wide power blackout. widespread looting was reported, and some arson. 15. 1978

johnny wilson - 13. 1976

by bofa xesjum

part thirteen of 52

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on february 6, 1976, eight months after losing his job at the gas station, joe wilson was hired at a small kentucky fried chicken location. he told jenny he was the “assistant manager”. he did not actually hold this title, but was often “in charge” when he was the only adult working on the premises. the kfc was two blocks from the junior high school which johnny wilson, now twelve years old, entered for the first time in september. johnny found it somewhat humiliating that joe stood behind the counter, doing basically the same job as teenage girls who worked there after school. he had much preferred it when joe had been engaged in the manly arts of the gas station. however, johnny never voiced this concern to anybody. on seotember 5, dean martin and jerry lewis reunited for the first time in 20 years, on the stage of the jerry lewis 1976 telethon at the sands hotel in las vegas. 14. 1977

johnny wilson - 12. 1975

by bofa xesjum

part twelve of 52

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on april 30, 1975, north vietnamese troops entered saigon, effectively ending “the vietnam war”, at least so far as americans were concerned. on may 2, joe wilson got into a shouting match with a “long haired hippie” who had come into the gas station to have his oil checked. brad jackson, the owner of the station, seized joe by both arms and pulled him away from the hippie. brad apologized to the hippie and did not charge him for the oil change. after the hippie left, joe assured brad that he would never have actually punched him. but brad shook his head. “i am sorry, joe,” he said. “but i can not have this. i am going to have to let you go. i don’t know what has happened to you. you used to be my best tire guy, and always had a smile on your face.” joe was tempted to stop into a bar on his way home. but he was not really a drinking man, and he went home cold sober to face the music from jenny. 13. 1976

johnny wilson - 11. 1974

by bofa xesjum

part eleven of 52

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on may 18, 1974, india successfully tested a nuclear bomb, becoming the sixth country to do so, joining the united states, the soviet union, the united kingdom, france, and china. on june 6, the school year ended for johnny wilson’s fifth grade class. walking home alone from school, with the prospect of three month’s freedom ahead of him, johnny felt happier than he had ever felt before, or that he would ever feel again. it was a bright cloudless day with a temperature of 72 degrees. 12. 1975

johnny wilson - 10. 1973

by bofa xesjum

part ten of 52

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in 1973, the designated hitter rule went into effect in the american league. on april 11, the first game with the new rule was played between the new york yankees and the boston red sox in boston’s fenway park. ron blomberg of the yankees became the first designated hitter to bat in an official game, and drew a walk from red sox ace luis tiant, forcing in the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. however, the red sox went on to win the game, 15 - 5. johnny wilson was now nine years old. he had trouble reading in school, and it was determined that he needed glasses. the term “four eyes” had mostly gone out of style, and johnny only heard it a few times when he first got the glasses. 11. 1974

johnny wilson - 9. 1972

by bofa xesjum

part nine of 52

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on march 8, 1972, a young man named bill donaldson was hired by the gas station where joe wilson worked. he told joe he had returned a month earlier from a year’s tour of duty in vietnam. in response to joe’s questions, he said the only american casualties he had seen were the results of drug dealing among the troops. joe did not want to believe this, and though he did not challenge bill donaldson, decided not to. on may 6, johnny wilson first learned about sex, though in a somewhat imperfect manner, by being allowed to hear a conversation between earl norris and jerry jaspers, two of the higher ranking third grade boys. in july, jane fonda toured north vietnam and was widely photographed doing so. joe wilson could not stop talking about this, but jenny hardly made a pretense of listening to him, busy as she was with johnny’s little sister daisy, who was approaching her second birthday. 10. 1973

johnny wilson - 8. 1971

by bofa xesjum

part eight of 52

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on january 25, 1971, idi amin sized power in uganda. on april 6 chairman mao zedog of the people’s republic of china invited the united states ping pong team to visit beijing. joe wilson, who ordinarily did not find much humor in the news, thought that was hilarious! ping pong! on september 6, johnny entered third grade. mrs waters was his teacher. johnny still ranked second from the bottom in the boys’ pecking order, above only billy nickerson, whom he was sort of friends with. on october 7, billy nickerson got in a fight with a girl named betty mitchell, one of only three black children in mrs waters’s class, and got his ass kicked. johnny refused to associate with billy for almost three weeks after the incident. 9. 1972

johnny wilson - 7. 1970

by bofa xesjum

part seven of 52

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on april 10, 1970, the beatles broke up, only 6 years, 2 months, and 3 days after their triumphant arrival in america. but though they no longer play together, their music will live forever, and soar through and past the universe long after this universe and all universes are gone. joe wilson grew angry and agitated seeing stories in the newspapers and on the nightly news about the organized protests against the vietnam war. his comments on the situation were met with shrugs and indifference by his fellow workers at the garage, including a couple of young fellows who had actually spent time in southeast asia. joe never pressed the issue, as he was not naturally argumentative or a troublemaker. one day joe read that a protest was going to be held only about thirty miles from the wilson home, and that a patriotic counterprotest was also expected. he longed to go and join the counterprotest but he did not know how to go about it. if he just showed up, would he just be accepted by the counterprotesters? would he know how or where to find them? he brought up the subject at the dinner table, saying that he would like to “teach a lesson” to the protestors. he was careful not to use a phrase like “kick their asses” in front of his wife and child. jenny, who was pregnant with their second child, just said, ”oh joe, you know you are not going to do any such thing”, and the conversation ended. 8. 1971

johnny wilson - 6. 1969

by bofa xesjum

part six of 52

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on september 8, 1969, johnny began first grade. mrs johnson was the teacher. the class was composed of the same group of children as miss foster’s kindergarten class, except that carl gray was gone, and a girl named mary ellen francisco was added. with carl gray gone, johnny now ranked second from the bottom in the boys’ pecking order. but martin dolan was not a harsh alpha boy, and johnny and william nickerson, who was now the bottom boy, were mostly just ignored. after some thought, johnny decided to be friends with william nickerson. later that year, the united states officially closed its “blue book” investigation into unidentified flying objects, concluding that they did not present evidence of extraterrestial life or technology. joe wilson thought this was suspicious, but jenny did not share his concerns. 7. 1970

johnny wilson - 5. 1968

by bofa xesjum

part five of 52

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on september 9, 1968, johnny wilson went to school for the first time, in miss gloria foster’s kindergarten class at the travis d chase elementary school. there were 11 girls and 8 boys in the class. pecking orders were quickly established among both groups of children. johnny ranked 6th among the boys, ahead of only william nickerson and carl gray. martin dolan was clearly established as number one, and would remain so in every group he was in until his sophomore year of high school. later that year the beatles issued “the white album” and the rolling stones issued the album “beggars banquet”. both of these albums would remain favorites with their loyal fans through the decades. 6. 1969

johnny wilson - 4. 1967

by bofa xesjum

part four of 52

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on january 8, 1967, the american and south vietnamese armies launched “operation cedar falls” in vietnam. joe wilson had become fascinated by the vietnam war, and read everything he could about it in the newspaper. joe had enlisted in the army in 1960 at the age of 18, and spent a little less than three years in uniform, mostly as a mechanic in the headquarters company of a transportation battalion in fort ord, california. now, reading the accounts of american g i’s battling in the jungles of asia, he dreamed of leaviing his wife and child and rejoining the army and becoming a war hero like sergeant york or john wayne or audie murphy. he would never share these fantasies with anyone. 5. 1968

johnny wilson - 3. 1966

by bofa xesjum

part three of 52

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on july 13, 1966, a. c. bhaktivedanta swami prabhupada founded the hare krishna movement in new york city. on october 3, jenny wilson was reading her favorite passage in the bible, about the parting of the red sea, when a violent thunderstorm erupted outside the wilson’s little house, knocking a branch off a tree and causing it to crash sgainst the house and break a window in the upstairs room where little johnny was sleeping. 4. 1967

johnny wilson - 2. 1965

by bofa xesjum

part two of 52

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on april 8, 1965, jenny wilson was working at woolworth’s and thought she saw a respectable looking gentleman put a pocket mirror into his pocket without paying for it. she told the manager, fred balsam, and he looked at the man and thought for a few seconds and said, forget it, its not worth the trouble. jenny told joe about the incident at the dinner table that night but joe just said “mmmm”. on july 30, president lyndon johnson signed the social security act of 1965, establishing medicare and medicaid. 3. 1966

johnny wilson - 1. 1964

by bofa xesjum

part one of 52

johnny wilson was born on february 7, 1964, the day the beatles arrived in america. his mother’s name was jenny wilson. she was 21 years old and she worked at woolworth’s and read the bible every day. his father’s name was joe wilson. he was 24 years old and he worked at a medium sized gas station, where he pumped gas and changed tires. he was very fast and efficient at changing tires. he always had a smile and a good word for everybody. on october 14, nikita khruschev was deposed as first scecretary of the communist party of the soviet union, and replaced by leonid brezhnev. 2. 1965