Conard Barnes
Conard Barnes, the son of James and Margaret Helen Barnes, is a lifelong resident
of Rockport. Conard was born and raised in the Rockport area and when it came
time to retire, he and his wife selected Rockport. As retirees, they have a nice
view of Rockport and can look out in the evening and watch the sun sitting just
over the horizon of the Green River. They are content. Like most families, in
Conard's early years, his parents had to go North to try Louisville or other more
Northern cities for a few months or years due to the scarcity of jobs in the Rockport
area. The Louisville move did not work out for James and Margaret Barnes and it was
back to Rockport and try to survive on what jobs were available.
Conard started grade school at Rockport and was able to finish eight years and
was then bussed to Beaver Dam to complete his education. After entering the
eleventh grade and before graduation, Conard quit school and joined the Navy.
He was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for "Boot Camp". From there he was sent to
Norfolk, Virginia and assigned to a ship. I think that most "Seaman", sooner or
later, spend some time in Norfolk. His new ship was quite a ship in 1968 when
he reported for sea duty. At that time, it was named USS Independence CVA 62. In
later years, and before being decommissioned, this wonderful old ship was given
less responsibility and renamed USS Independence CV 62. The "A" in the original
name meant that it was an "Assault Aircraft Carrier" and it certainly was a
warrior that was staffed with 5,000 able seamen. One of Conard's responsibility
was the loading of the ten inch guns. Conard served on this Carrier, in the
Atlantic Ocean, and made "Ports Of Call" in Florida, Cuba, and in England. While
offshore in England, the flag was being raised and as Conard turned to salute, a
2x6 board fell from some scaffolding, hitting Conard in the head. He was severely
injured and spent time in a hospital. His head injury caused "Brain Seizures",
and eventually led to a "Medical Discharge" under "Honorable Conditions". After
serving only one year and eight days, Conard was send back home with a small
pension and a condition of one hundred percent disabled.
After years of treatment, under care of the VA Hospital, Conard improved enough,
in later years, to be able to work on a limited basis. At the time, the area
mines were building "Draglines" to work in the big strip-mines and he became
a construction worker and help build several local draglines. After the big
dragline was build at Pyramid Mines, Conard got a permanent job with Pyramid and
worked, until the mine shut down. By now Conard had ten years as a miner. Then,
he went to work on a construction project at the big Tennessee Valley Authority
Steam Power Plant, later became a permanent heavy equipment operator and worked
from 1991 until 2003.
Conard was not through. He received a "Calling To Preach" and with the help of
some local pastors and a lot of self training and study, he became a "Lay Preacher"
In 1996, he received a certificate denoting him as a "Lay Preacher. As a
Missionary Baptist Layman Preacher, Conard did some missionary work in India and
in Israel.
After getting his honorable discharge, and returning to Rockport, Conard found
the love of his life and married Linda Wallace. This marriage produced two
girls and at this date, there are five grandchildren. Life is good at the
Barnes' place.
Thanks Conard. Thanks for your service to our country. We all seem to sleep a
little better knowing that we still have young men and women that volunteer to
serve in the military to keep us safe. Military people everywhere-You are the
greatest.
: ~ )
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Click on following to e-mail me.
dd
See you....
jrd
: <)
