Editor’s Note: If you’ve lived in Northeast Georgia long enough, the name Bob Justus rings very familiar. His poetic prose, deep knowledge of local history and insightful political commentary gave plenty of people plenty to think and talk about. Bob’s God-given gift for writing and his unquenchable thirst for adventure continue to delight friends through social media and, now, here on Now Habersham. Welcome to the family, Bob!
Allow me to re-introduce myself
Having been invited to write for Now Habersham, I feel led to write an introduction although I am not a newcomer to this area as my ancestors were pioneers who came into Northeast Georgia in the early 1830s.
My forebears gave me a blend of Scots and Cherokee blood. I am a drop from the great melting pot of Justice/Justus, Dickerson, Keener, Welborn, and other pioneer families who made the long treks in wagons seeking a better life than the one they left. After retirement from the Air Force I also wrote columns for The Northeast Georgian for about 20 years.
Rooted in Rabun
One stormy night on April 10, 1932, in the farm home of my grandparents, Isaac Monroe (Dock) and Effie Welborn Dickerson, Durell, their daughter, gave birth to me, her first born child. My father, Neal Justus, and others who were standing on the porch waiting for the great event got a little damp from a thunderstorm that released heavy rain along with lightning and thunder. Their fear was heightened because a destructive tornado had swept through Rabun County, Georgia, three weeks before. Thus began a life I feel was one of great adventure.
Reared by farm folks, I became enamored with the great outdoors early in life. Naturally I was attracted to the soil, the streams and fields, and the mountains rising on every side of our lovely Germany Valley of Rabun County, Georgia. Mother loved reading and I could read before I went to school. I learned of the wide world and became an avid reader of history, explorations and travel.
When I left home to attend Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Georgia, I realized then I was not destined to be a farmer in Germany Valley. It made me sad as I truly loved farming and if I had inherited a sizeable tract of land I might have become a farmer. But a life of adventure lay ahead.
A life of adventure
Growing up was an adventure on the farm with the great outdoors on every hand but I was destined to leave this home amid lovely Blue Ridge Mountains. A larger world lay ahead for me. As I was getting ready to graduate from TMC war guns began to rumble in Korea. I was short of money and needed to go to work but the fear of the draft caused me to go to Fort Macpherson in Atlanta and there join the Air Force.
I traveled by train to basic training, military schools and various assignments; thus began my love for trains and seeing America the beautiful! Florine Kelley, a lovely lass from Banks County, Georgia and I had dated at TMC, and continued the relationship. We knew we were in love and decided to get married. Another military snafu suddenly disrupted our idyllic situation because shortly after marriage I received orders for Korea. Soon by train to San Francisco and then troop ship, I began a long journey to war torn Korea.
My Air Force career included two more overseas tours: Clark Air Force Base, Luzon Island, Philippines, where Florine joined me for three years, and then the Vietnam War. In that war although in the Air Force I served on detached duty with II Corps Hqs in the Central Highlands. While serving with the HQs USAF Transport Command, Scott AFB, Illinois I had passed 20 years of service when I received an alert to return to Vietnam, news I didn’t like! As we had also just received news that Florine’s dad had become terminally ill – her mother already deceased – I decided to retire.
More might be said about my adventures in those years in between but that must come at another time.
Retired in Habersham
Back in Georgia we decided on settling down in Habersham County which put us between my parents’ home in Rabun County and her parents’ home in Banks County. Florine was also near her father and relatives. We have spent more happy years here than anywhere else in our lifetime.
Life indeed has strange twists and is full of adventures.
