By Jack M. Willis
Journal Correspondent

When driving through the hamlet of Dodson, LA, if you look to the west from U.S. Highway 167 on the south side of town, you may note a neat residence nestled across the block-wide grass meadow which faces the village baseball field. You would also note a high-flying pair of flags close by the front gate. One you would immediately spot as the Stars and Stripes, the proud colors of the United States of America. The other you might not recognize immediately, but it's the banner of the United States Marine Corps. That would be the home of James "Andy" Anderson, the founder, owner, and operator of Anderson's Corner Quick Stop convenience store--and, not incidentally, a proud former U.S. Marine who continues to believe in patriotism and love of country in a quiet way on the 229th birthday of the nation.

Andy chose Dodson as his new base upon retirement from the Marine Corps. It's not that Dodson is a one-horse town; far from it. It's just one of the former sawmill towns that suffered "cut out and get out pains", so prevalent with so many like-towns in Louisiana in the early 20th Century.

Upon first meeting Andy Anderson (who is known as "Bud" to friends and family where he grew up, in the Quitman community of Jackson Parish to the north) the impression is that he is quiet and unassuming, which he is, but the fiery red cap he wears proudly bespeaks a hidden contrasting personality. The gold letters on the front of the cap state quite distinctly "U.S. Marine Corps, Camp Lejeune" which refers to the site of one of the foremost Marine Corps Basic Training Centers, located in North Carolina, where he spent a part of his Marine Corps service.

James (Andy/Bud) Anderson was born and reared on a farm just outside Quitman Louisiana, another dot north of Dodson on the US Highway 167 roadmap. His father operated a small farm and infused his meager cash flow by harvesting and hauling pulpwood and logs. In recollection, Andy said, "I know all about using a buck saw and a choppin' axe."

Graduating Quitman High School when he was 17 years old, he piddled around working in a grocery store, and doing odd jobs until he turned 18. He already had his mind made up that when he came of age he was going to join the United States Marine Corps, and in January of 1953 he did just that.

He took basic training at the Marine Corps Depot in San Diego, California and A.I.T. at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, CA.

Upon completion of these phases of training, he was stationed at the Marine Corps Supply Depot at Barstow, CA where he served out his first four-year hitch in 1956. He got out at the end of the hitch and about all he can say about the next two years is that he just "bummed around", and then in 1958 he rejoined the Marine Corps.

He was then stationed at various bases until 1968 when he made a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Upon returning to the states he was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina until 1973, and transferred to Shreveport, LA. There he held the post of Inspector and Instructor and trained U.S. Marine Reserve members at a Reserve Unit on weekends for a year.

Upon completing his 20-years, and then some, he mustered out of the Corps for the last time. Andy is an easy-going person, but appropriate to his Marine Corps training, he says and does what needs to be said and done, carrying none of the emotional baggage which affected some parts of the country during the Viet Nam era. If you talk to him long enough, he may tell you a story about his re-entry into civilian life after Viet Nam. On his way home after discharge in California, Andy, still in uniform, passed through Shreveport where he stopped at a roadside establishment for a refreshing bottled drink. As he was finishing and about to leave, a man whose drink had got a little bit of the best of him accosted Andy at the counter and began haranguing him about wearing the uniform. The obnoxious dude climaxed his oration by spitting in Andy's face. As Andy relates it, he took a napkin and wiped his face, then smashed the dude on the head with his drink bottle, putting him down, cold on the floor. He looked around at the dude's companions, who waved Andy off, saying, "Don't worry about him. We'll take care of him."

Nothing daunted, Andy walked out, came home, and went to work for Harrell Builders Supply in Winnfield as a warehouse manager, and there he stayed until 1988.

Meanwhile in 1984 he had built and opened a convenience store in Dodson which he now opens at 5 o'clock in the morning featuring fresh coffee. He sells gasoline, and stocks all kinds of sack lunch fixings and snacks, and in his miniature meat market he has a complete line of meats for sandwiches, with these conveniences serving to make his store an ideal early morning stop for loggers, truck drivers and hunters.

In reflecting over his time spent in the Marine Corps, Andy said, "All in all, I enjoyed my career in the service, and during that time I literally 'grew up'".

And the beat goes on. Andy and his wife Margaret live comfortably at their Dodson home, while keeping in touch with children and grandchildren. Grandson Randall Anderson is in the U.S. Air Force, serving now in Korea after a tour in Iraq. Grandson Jason Boyette is with the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf. And granddaughter Amanda Boyette, who helps out afternoons and weekends at Papaw's Dodson store while attending Louisiana Tech in Ruston, keeps in touch with boyfriend Seth Cox, who is with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq.

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