Corinth, Mississippi is a far cry from New York City, but we had our version of gangs, as well...enter the Rat Patrol....
The Rat Patrol (Circa 1983)
Back Row: Brett "Flounder" Butler, Weston "Festus" White, Bobby "Side" Burns
Front Row: Jeff "Slim" Williams, Jake "The Snake" Laughlin, Michael "Shady" Lee, Greg "Tree" Moss
Named after the 1960's TV show of the same name, The Rat Patrol was the most infamous and notorious gang in Corinth history. Our headquarters was the Hobo Cave, as seen in this JRLaughlin3 story from November of 2004. We'd meet here in the afternoons after school, and our fearless leader, Weston "Festus" White would lead us through various training exercises that usually centered around hopping trains, swinging across creeks on vines, crawling on top of the First United Methodist Church, climbing up and walking across the goal posts on the football field at the Corinth YMCA, and most importantly, playing COMMANDO by dressing up in camo- gear and shooting at each other in the woods with pellet guns. We acquired our gear by running up Michael "Shady" Lee's dad's account at Lonnie's Sporting Goods. We'd go in there once a week and charge all kinds of stuff to his account. I'm sure he's always wondering about that...but hey...we were mercenaries...what did you expect??!!
The Rat Patrol's membership rotated through a good number of soldiers over the course of 3 or 4 years. The above picture was taken in 1983, and there were a few members not present in the picture. It was taken at Weston's cabin at Pickwick. Since we were in the 6th grade, we unfortunately had to rely on Dr. & Mrs. White for transportation purposes when we had gang meetings at Pickwick, but when we were around the Corinth area, bicycles and skateboards were the preferred mode of transportation. And please keep in mind, because this was an "underground" operation, there was no need to be ashamed of no "mature" modes of transportation. We were nocternal, moving and operating at night...behind the scenes...in the woods...where most forms of transportation couldn't go in the first place. But we were also foot soldiers...it was necessary, most of the time, to travel on foot....
Most gangs always have enemy or rival gangs, and ours was called The Rebels. They were lead by a fearless leader by the name of Richie Essary. He had an older brother named Dale "Spider With His Ears" Essary, but he was much older and spent most of his days at the YMCA playing basketball. The Rat Patrol and The Rebels were constantly in turf wars at the YMCA. Sometimes it was over the deep end of the indoor swimming pool; sometimes it was over the high dive at the indoor swimming pool; sometimes it was over something that happened on Bus #10 that dropped us off at the YMCA; sometimes it was over "turf" in general. Whatever the reasons, we usually found a reason to go to war. Fists, rocks, sticks....whatever we could throw at any point in time...we threw. And we won, too....
There was a significant day in the history of The Rat Patrol, and that was when we were completely exposed to the rest of the world. Whereas we had tried to be a part of the "underworld," operating at night or in the depths of the woods surrounding Corinth, one cloudy day in 1983 (sixth grade), we had an unexpected war with The Rebels on the playground at South Corinth Elementary School. It was a fierce battle, and one in which we recruited the help of non-Rat Patrol members to overpower The Rebels. Given the excitement and attention our gang war generated, we knew our days of the underworld were over....
After recess, we were all back in our respective classes....I was back in Mr. Calvery's room along with Brett "Flounder" Butler and a few others. The intercom suddenly came on, and our horrific principal Mr. Davis (who walked around with a fiberglass paddle in his back pocket) made the announcement, "I will be in the 6th grade building in 5 mintutes....I want all members of "The Rat Patrol" and "The Rebels" to be outside their classrooms and up against the lockers by the time I get there." Those of us that were proud members of The Rat Patrol, got up from our desks and slowly, proudly and fearlessly walked out into the halls. We walked with our heads held high, our chests puffed out (although at that point in time, before puberty, they were shaped like wet towels), and pure badassness...until we got out into the halls and out of the view of girls like Tess Gurley, Stacy Carson, Jennifer Pace, and a few others. Once out of their view, we hit those lockers and feared for our lives....
Mr. Davis (who was about 6'5" and bald) blasted through the double doors of the 6th grade building, and walked down the hall between all us that were lined up against the lockers. He didn't say anything for about the first 10 minutes. All he did was pace back and forth and look each one of us in the eyes. When he finally spoke, we each jumped and then sank a few inches. All I could think about was that paddle in his back pocket...
He lectured us for a few minutes and warned us that if there was ever another peep out of The Rat Patrol or The Rebels, each and every one of us would be personally introduced to his paddle (he had a name for it, but I can't remember it...). He said a few more words and then disappeared through the double doors again. I think we all ran into the bathroom to relieve ourselves, before heading back into our classrooms. Of course, once that classroom door opened, we held our heads high again, puffed those sizzle chests out, and strutted back to our desks....still the bad-asses we were 15 minutes before. The Rat Patrol had secretly won again...as far as we were concerned.
After that episode, The Rat Patrol avoided trouble during school hours. We stuck to the YMCA, and once we entered the 8th grade, we traded in our rock and bb gun skills for toilet paper. That is, we embarked on a streak of rolling yards that Corinth had never seen before, nailing Britain Snow's yard in 1985 with 118 rolls of toilet paper. The school superintendent, Dr. Gann, got hit that same year with about 83 rolls. Most of our efforts were spent on Britain's yard, however. That's when our headquarters shifted from the Hobo Cave to Taylor Archer's carport/game room....stories from that era are to follow...
Anyway, The Rat Patrol will certainly go down in Corinth history. I'm not sure exactly where we'd fit, but I know we'll be there somewhere. So for those of you still in Corinth.....if you hear strange noises at night or during the day when you're out and about for a nature stroll, you never know who's watching....
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