Watt Espy, Navy Days!

Sept. 28, 1950

Dec. 1950

April 1951

This ship took him to Italy.  That's Watty's signature.

April 1952

April 1952

July 1952

Oct. 16, 1952

Oct. 23, 1952

This is Watty at a hotel cafe in Rabat, French Morocco. The boy next to him is Jerry Quinn.

This is Watty at Port Lyautey, French Morocco. The boy on the left is Lester Axley.  Watty could not remember the name of the boy in the center.

Here's a letter Watty wrote requesting a change of duty. Not sure if it was granted.

Below is a letter written by Uncle Watty when he was on his "tour of duty" with the US Navy. He was a mere 19-years-old.  Take note of the paragraph where he expresses his concern over his aunt's upcoming trip to Europe.  After reading Watty's entire letter, come back and click here to find out more about Aunt Frances' journey.

1955

To read of Watty's encounter with Lucky Luciano while on this stint in the Navy, click here.  

I have several of Uncle Watty's books.  One is a Lucky Luciano biography.  The other day, while thumbing through it, I made a big discovery:  On a few pages, in the margins, Watty made some notes that support his story of meeting the mobster Lucky Luciano.  

Awakening

Watch Full Program on PBS. See more from The Buddha.

Long before I traveled to Asia (at least Southeast Asia), I remember hearing from my then brother-in-law and sister that a relative of his had "gone off and done something crazy."  This family member had gone traveling for an extended period and apparently had come back a Buddhist.  Many, many years later, I did some traveling and simply came back married to a Buddhist.  To think, for someone like me, raised Southern Baptist in a predominantly fundamentalist family and community, then diving head first into the evangelical culture at my university, and later going on mission trips and outreaches to Tennessee, Canada, Florida and Central Asia, simply winding up married to a Buddhist is not only shocking, but it's immeasurably intriguing and most certainly a story well worth telling.  This journey of mine - and ours together - is one I have already been writing about - mainly in notes, a bit on my blogs and in journals.  My ultimate goal, though, is to get a book published.  The book's purpose would be to share how this amazing and unlikely connection happened, and what implications resulted from it.  From my vantage point:  How did my parents view this?  What did people say to me?  How did I rationalize everything?  What books did I read?  What advice could I give others in this situation?  What did I learn about my spiritual roots and upbringing?  How did Buddhism influence me?  What were the costs of going against the norm?  How did I grow from this?  What did I learn about myself?  How did my wife influence my family?  I can see this being written like a testimonial, in the truest Baptist sense, sharing how I came to know the truth, as I see it.  Through the years, in a very gradual way, I journeyed from a sincere, disciplined, heartfelt fundamentalist mindset and belief system to being just as sincere, just as disciplined and just as heartfelt today, but in a very different kind of way.  I was always big on giving my Christian testimony and demanding it of others. This book will be my revised testimony, and more.  

Mark Espy & His Horses

It's been a month since Dad passed away. Certainly, when we think of him, one of the things that will be prominent in our minds is his love of horses. As you can see in the first video (a new "old" creation!), this passion didn't happen by accident. Granddad Major had several horses - some that were on the farm and others behind their house in town. In video two, in his horse barn office, Dad talks about those early years. Finally, there's video three, which is my favorite.  It shows Dad enjoying an early morning ride, one of his greatest pleasures.  But, as the video reveals, the means to that end was the feeding, and grooming, and all the other behind-the-scenes work - daily, essential work - needed to keep his horses and farm in optimum shape.  Luckily, he had lots of help. 

Thanks to my stepmom for this photo