Wes Poindexter User Profile

I thoroughly enjoyed the article about the USO. I was in the U. S. Army during peacetime for our county which was from 6/30/58 to 6/29/60. I was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri & have two USO experiences that still remain in my memory nearly 50 years later.

I had been at Ft. Leonard Wood only a month prior to Christmas of 1958 & had been in the Army for les than 6 months. I obtained a 3 day pass & decided that since I was born & raised in Virginia & had never been to the mid-west that I would use the 3 day pass to go to St. Louis. This was my first Christmas away from home & while at the USO in downtown St. Louis I was approached by 2 guys & asked if I would like to go home with them for Christmas dinner. I was leary of doing this but one of the USO workers assured me that it was okay as they were brothers who came to the USO every Christmas & took a serviceman home with them.

They were from an Italian family & I enjoyed my first & only Christmas dinner Italian style & remember it as being delicious. After dinner they took me to the local bowling alley & treated me to a few lines of bowling which I also enjoyed.

I will always regret not getting their full names & addresses so that I thank them for the kindness they extended to me. I always said that when I got out of the service that I would do the same thing for a serviceman but I am ashamed to admit that to this day, I have never done so. I have not lived near a USO for most of my life which is the main reason for me not doing so.

The second USO event in my life came a week later at New Years when I had another 3 day pass. This time I decided to catch the first bus that arrived at the bus station regardless where it was headed, St. Louis, Kansas City, or Tulsa, OK. The first one to arrive was to KC so I made my first trip to that city. On Saturday night I attended a dance that was held at the downtown USO/Catholic Youth Center combined & saw a young lady come in that I eventually got enough nerve to ask to dance. That was the start of a long distance courtship & about every two weeks I made a trip to KC to see her. We were married the following July & have 3 children together. Unfortunately we are no longer married but I will always remember that I met the mother of my 3 wonderful children thanks partially to the USO.


Wesley L. Poindexter
Orange Beach, Alabama