James S., who is my great uncle, grew up in Southaven, MS. He said the mid-South was a fun place to live. He said Memphis was in a transition of becoming a major Metropolitan area like Nashville. My uncle Jim, as we call him, shortly attended Northwest Mississippi Jr. College! And then joined the Navy in 65'. My uncle Jim was 20 years old about to turn 21 in October of 1968. He was at the end of his tour of duty in 68'. He said he kept up with all the news and things that happened in the mid-south, because he had just got accepted into Memphis State University. He said he work a 12 hour day on the USS Belknap. My uncle Jim was on board his ship at work when Dr King was assassinated. He said he wasn't surprised, because of all the rising tension there was. He said he wasn't as emotional since he had just returned from an 18 month tour to Vietnam. He did feel it was a senseless act by people who didn't want change to happen. He said the people he was with had mixed emotions, some were sad and others didn't care. He said he listened to the new and heard all the details of what happened. My uncle Jim said he respected Dr King before he died. He said the tragedy didn't change his life immediately. He said over time it changed, as he saw segregation decline, and the world was changing from the tragedy. He said this was a moving forward point in America. He said this incident brought many together, and helped in ending segregation.