Our graduation season is about to be over. Names have been honored, stages have been crossed, tassels have been turned to the grad side of the flat-top hats. All graduates are important. We celebrate their accomplishment and respect the perseverance that got them to the finish line. They stand out as having achieved skills the School Board believes will help them with whatever is next.
That abstract concept, of “whatever is next,” often leads to amazing outcomes. It is likely to lead them in directions no one can fathom at this moment. It’s a source of interest and then pride.
Even though we are not related, we have a connection. The graduates started from here. Some notable examples of unimagined results from following “whatever is next” are: Dan Dobson, Marcus Bryant, Major Byron Bennett, Dr. Jabez Galt, and Billy Jack Meredith.
Dan Dobson is an example. A sharecropper’s son, Dan grew up working in sunbaked fields near the present-day Lake Chapel Church on highway 37 just north of White Oak creek. Dan graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in 1925. Eventually, he became a major influence in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. A defining moment came in the spring of 1945. He worked with Branch Richey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, to bring onto the field a new player by the name of Jackie Robinson. Jackie helped the Dodgers win six World Series, winning the pennant in 1955.
Marcus P. Bryant graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1919. Next, he joined the Navy at the age of 17. Military service provided training in submarine engineering. In the 1950s, he was selected by President Harry S. Truman for a special submarine design and construction group. In In June 1952, he was present with President Truman when the keel was laid for the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus. Marcus had worked on the project since the beginning. Major Byron Bennett, a Mt. Vernon graduate of 1920, served a distinctive service in the military medical service. He was recruited by Dr. Jonas Salk to begin research to cure the dreaded Polio disease in children. He became the leader of Dr. Salk’s research team. An effective vaccine was found and distributed worldwide.
Dr. Jabez Galt is another example of the amazing results that come from following “What’s next.” After completing medical school, Jabez served in the military, the 56 th Evacuation Hospital in Italy from 1942–1945. He was among the first doctors to implement the mobile surgery hospital, the MASH unit. He was also the first practicing Oncologist in North Texas.
Billy Jack Meredith is the older brother of the legendary “Dandy Don Meredith.” He is a graduate of Mt. Vernon High School. Don wasn’t the only athlete in the Meredith family. After high school, Billy Jack went to TCU on a football scholarship. The “what’s next” for him was military service and then sales. In 1967, Jack led the purchase of the Dallas Company “Docutel.” Next, that company introduced the Automatic Teller Machine, or ATM. Next, Billy Jack created excitement for its banking future. The next time you activate an ATM, remember that’s only one unimagined accomplishment the mystery of “What’s next” had in store.
