From Milking Cows to Field Artillery
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96-year-old Leeroy Tucker of Madera, CA appears on episode #662 of Hometown Heroes, airing January 9-11, 2021. A native of Bluejacket, OK, Tucker served with the 332nd Field Artillery Battalion, 86th Infantry Division during World War II.
Leeroy Tucker during World War II. For more photos, visit the Hometown Heroes facebook page.
His father was a blacksmith in that small “rail town” of Bluejacket in northeastern Oklahoma, where Leeroy grew up as the ninth of eleven children. One photograph he has hung onto for 90 years reveals a taste of his father’s creativity. Walnut wood and iron were among the materials from which a custom wagon was crafted for the Tucker kids.
Leeroy and his brother riding the goat-pulled wagon their blacksmith father made.
“He built this wagon then went and bought us two billy goats,” you’ll hear Tucker explain. “We learned them to drive just like a team of mules.”
The harsh realities of the Great Depression forced the family to leave the Sooner state behind and move to New Mexico when Leeroy was five years old. When they sold their belongings to help pay for their move, a winning bid of five dollars took home “the wagon, the goats, and all.”
Their new home in New Mexico was 30 miles from the nearest post office. It was about fifteen miles from the “Trinity Test” site, where in July, 1945, the first ever detonation of a nuclear device would occur. By that time the Tuckers had moved to California, but you’ll hear Leeroy mention relatives who were still living in the area when the test occurred, and what they experienced at the time.
