The Journey continued

Many years later, in the 1950's, he went on to work as a cook at the Smyrna Air Force Base, in Smyrna, Tennessee, earning the name of "Big Shot" by his friends. This was due to the high wages of $11.50 a week that he would earn there. This job was very different from his others. Each day began at 5:00 a.m. getting checked by a nurse from the base, to ensure he was healthy. It was crucial for anyone employed in food services to be in excellent health, since they would be cooking for the pilot trainees who would ultimately be sent to serve overseas.   

This job allowed Mr. Brandon to move ahead and comfortably purchase a house, truck and a car. A year later, however, recruits replaced him and he found himself without a job. Undiscouraged by this turn of events, he immediately found work as a cook at Lamb's Grill. He was back to the same grueling schedule…seven days a week, twelve hours a day, with Christmas as his only day off. In his spare time, if there was such a thing, he picked blackberries and sold them to the ladies in the "big houses" in town for 15 cents a gallon, to continue providing for his family. In fact, he worked so much Martha had to attend church each Sunday, by herself. It was a bit unsettling to him to find out one Sunday, the ladies at the church had asked Martha, "so how long has your husband been dead?”

For twenty years Mr. Brandon worked for Lamb's Grill. He was sixty-two years old and had been working since he was eight. It was time to retire. Two months into his retirement, tragedy struck. Martha became seriously ill and they need money to pay her medical bills. Again, he sought employment. Although he found work, again as a cook, at Po Folks on Broad Street, it wasn't enough to pay the rapidly mounting medical bills. Mr. Brandon and Martha lost all the vehicles he had worked so hard for. For the next two years, Mr. Brandon walked to work and back home again.

The Journey continues