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