 |
| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The news story below, which was titled “Guardsmen honor retiring ‘teddy
bear’ Singleton” was written by Steve Stewart at the time of Singleton’s
retirement from the Alabama Army National Guard and was originally published in
the Dec. 10, 1987 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
George Buster Singleton’s stern military bearing masks a “teddy
bear” with a big heart, his friends and colleagues said Sunday at the Monroeville
National Guard Armory when they honored him on his retirement.
Singleton, who has been administrator of the Guard’s
Monroeville unit since June 28, 1964, will retire officially Dec. 14, his 60th
birthday. An ex-Marine who was a unit administrator in Linden for three years
before coming here, he also is well known as a student of Monroe County’s
history and natural resources. He writes a column for The Monroe Journal, “Somewhere
in Time.”
Guardsmen and family members attended the unit’s annual
Christmas luncheon Sunday in the armory, where Singleton’s promotion to Chief
Warrant Officer 4 (from Chief Warrant Officer 3) was announced, and he was
given a plaque and birthday present. They reminisced and poked fun at him, and
he poked some back.
‘Standing tall’
Staff Sgt. Jim Rowell of Monroeville, the unit’s
noncommissioned officer for training, praised Singleton’s service to his unit,
community, state and nation and his high moral standards, character and
compassion. He said Singleton is always “looking good and standing tall.”
“Mr. Singleton comes on with a big macho image,” Rowell
said. “…but if you’ve got a problem, I’ll guarantee you Mr. Singleton will help
you solve it.”
Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Booker of Evergreen said, “Mr.
Singleton has helped a great deal of us. He has led us through some times of
uncertainty… We were scared to death when we first got in, but after we found
out that he wasn’t more than a teddy bear, we relaxed a little bit and went on
about our mission.”
He told stories about “the troops getting into devilment,”
and said that at least once, Singleton “had to join us to keep his sanity.”
Guidance and counseling
“Mr. Singleton always tried to keep us out of trouble,” Booker
said. “He always tried to give us that guidance and good counseling to not do certain
things.” He said Singleton had “a father image” to Guardsmen and to their own
sons.
Specialist 4 Elmer Womack III of Monroeville did a comic
imitation of Singleton giving what Booker called a “motivating speech”
exhorting certain of the men to get to work. The Womack’s father, Sgt. 1st
Class Elmer Womack Jr. of Monroeville (a National Guard recruiter), described
Singleton as “full of wisdom – he has the answers.”
“He and I have had some words at times, but we’ve never lost
our friendship,” said Womack.
Similarly, Staff Sgt. Willie Williams of Monroeville, who
was the third black to join the unit, observed that “it’s a bad friendship when
you can’t have a disagreement and then make up… He did not tote a grudge with
me.”
Williams said Singleton would help him get out of trouble,
telling him whom to see and “tell him I sent you.”
Helped many people
Staff Sgt. Clint Ryland of Monroeville said Singleton had
helped many people find jobs.
“Mr. Singleton seems like he’s been here all of his life,”
said Ryland. “He hasn’t, but he has helped a number of people. There’s a lot of
people sitting right here today who owe a lot to George B. Singleton… He’s got
his fingers in a lot of pies around here. He is probably one of the best
authorities on the natural resources and history of Monroe County.”
Although Singleton is not a Monroe County native,
archeologists who visit here “end up talking to Mr. Singleton” sooner or later,
Ryland said. He said Singleton has a metal detector and predicted he’d be
digging for buried treasure.
Singleton himself was emotional and relatively speechless
when he stood up to respond. He told a story about a formation where something
didn’t look just right, and he finally realized that “one of my star pupils”
was wearing “two left boots.”
“I want to thank you for what you’ve done, and God bless you
all,” he said.
Confessions and excuses
Later, he stood again to say that he was leaving his home
telephone number and “priest’s collar” to Rowell because “from now on, he’ll
handle all the confessions.” He said Rowell could field the excuses for missing
drills – such as broken-down cars, deaths in the distant family and pants that
don’t fit.
Staff Sgt. George “Sonny” Cobb presented the plaque to Singleton
on behalf of present and past members of the Monroeville unit – Detachment 1,
778th Maintenance Co., Alabama Army National Guard. Cobb has worked
closely with Singleton since he first came to Monroeville.
“Thank you for your faithful service and loyalty to the
National Guard and your fellow soldiers,” said the plaque. “Your tireless
efforts, outstanding leadership, and high moral values have been an inspiration
to all. We will always remember your influence on our lives.”
Singleton will be succeeded as unit administrator by Sgt.
Marylyn Boutwell of Uriah, whose first day on the job was to be this past Monday.
(This story was also accompanied by a photo, and the caption
beneath that photo read as follows: Singleton, right, with wife Jean and George
Cobb, who presented plaque.)
Elsewhere in that week’s paper, readers saw the following
short news item, under the headline “New unit chief named.”
Uriah resident Marylyn Boutwell has been named to replace
retiring National Guard unit administrator George Singleton.
Ms. Boutwell will be the support services specialist for the
unit and will provide administrative and supply support for all of its members.
Some of her responsibilities will include keeping physicals and records updated,
as well as overseeing the safekeeping of uniforms and equipment.
Having served in the Indiana National Guard while attending
the University of Indiana, Ms. Boutwell has completed the primary leadership development
course, as well as the basic non-commissioned officer’s course.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born during a late-night
thunderstorm on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water
High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine in the Korean War, worked as a
riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe
County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville
National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. For years, Singleton’s
columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time”
appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about
Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his
first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He
is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The news story above and all of
Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm
records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns
are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part
of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)
No comments:
Post a Comment