Sunday on the Farm

Ernie Hanks' hands dug deep into the white pail and cast another handful of food to the swampy waters at his home.
It's morning at Swampy Acres in Lenox, Ala., the home of the former 908th Airlift Wing senior recruiter.
The catfish don't know Ernie as Grandpa, as many of his 908th pals called him. To the fish, he's merely the kind man who brings their morning meal.
But as the 64-year-old goes about his morning chores and looks around at the swamp where he built his home 25 years ago, he doesn't just see water with fish snapping up their breakfast, the dirt roads winding through the trees that surround the swamp or even the hawk nest he noticed today, atop his sweetgum tree.
From the blue sky to the darker shade of color on the water, Hanks sees the Air Force Reserve and recalls the trademark line from his days as a 908th recruiter.
"Every day in the Air Force Reserve is like Sun-n-n-day on the farm," Hanks said. "If you'd come by, I probably would've used it on you."
Many of the wing's biggest fish were brought into the 908th by Hanks, such as former senior enlisted advisors, Chief Master Sgt. Billy Grimes and Chief Mater Sgt. Leon Moore, the unit's first black member.
Some of his friends who are still in the 908th miss seeing his face.
"Ernie Hanks is what Johnny Veasey refers to as 'a rainy day friend,'" said Lt. Col. Ed Smith, 908th executive officer. "He's that very special person who'd walk 10 miles at night in the rain to help you out and never tell a soul about it.
"That's the way he served the 908th and that's the way he lives his private life. Being considered a friend of Ernie's is one of life's blessings," Smith said.
Hanks became one of the 908th's most colorful characters, particularly in his later years when he became known for his outgoing personality and lack of hair. His closest friends goodnaturedly called him "Baldy" and "Grandpa," but he never cared.
"I've always been picked on about my bald head since I lost my hair when I was 21," he said. "But what you do is use that for an asset and people will always remember you. I've been called Curly, Baldy, Grandpa, but they'll always remember the old, bald-headed man."
Hanks' military career began in 1950 and he spent almost four years in Bermuda, where he met his wife Angie during the Korean War.
For the better part of 25 years, he spent his Sundays in the 908th after joining the unit at Bates Field in Mobile in 1963.
He left the Reserve for a few years after the 908th moved to Brookley Air Force Base, but came back in after it moved to Maxwell in 1969.
Between the years of 1976 to 1982, Hanks' recruiting office met or exceeded its goal each quarter. In his recruiting, as with other aspects of his life, Hanks relied on a philosophy he learned during his stint as a salesman before returning to the Reserve in 1973.
"You never know how you look until you've had your picture took," he said. "It doesn't have anything to do with pictures. It's just like putting a kid in the Reserve. If he doesn't get in there and try, he'll never know.
"My idea was I didn't put anyone in the 908th who I didn't want to serve with," Hanks said. "There have been too many recruiters in the past who got into the numbers game. It ain't a numbers game. Everybody I put in is a whole person and you've got to treat him like a whole person. And I never had trouble with quotas."
Although Hanks retired as a master sergeant in 1988 to the quiet life at Swampy Acres, some people he brought into the Reserve occasionally call or visit to thank him years later. One even brought him two T-bone steaks to fulfill a promise made to him.
But Hanks also remembers the few who got off his hook.
"The re-enlistments, those are the hurters," Hanks said. "There are guys in my own neighborhood who did not stay and they are the ones who really needed it. I don't even mention it around them."
He has enough to talk about in Swampy Acres. Hanks is affectionately known as "Go-fer" by the local fire department because of his willingness to help out in any way he's needed. He proudly displays that name proudly on his pickup truck's front tag.
Grandpa Hanks would do it for anyone, his wife of 43 years will tell you.
"He just loves people," Angie Hanks said. "He loves to know all about them. And he never meets a stranger. They're all family to him.
"He's always liked being called 'Grandpa' and what it signifies. He would give his last dollar to someone. He's got a heart bigger than himself."
In 1969, Hanks built his house on an 80-acre tract of land in the middle of Brushy Creek Swamp near Lenox, a small town in Conecuh County between Brewton, Evergreen and Monroeville.
People basically laughed when they heard Hanks planned on building his home in the swamp, but they don't laugh now. Swampy Acres has not only his home and the houses of a couple of his children, but also Hanks' beloved "Doghouse," a sort of refugee on the bank of a waterfall.
"They said, 'He's lost his mind,'" Hanks said, laughing. "He's building a house on Brushy Creek Swamp. 'The creek will rise, the rattlesnakes will get you,' they said. 'It couldn't be done,' they said, but we did it."
The sun has now set on the swamp and Hanks is busy with chores he reserves for cooler times of the day. He might work in the yard, cut firewood in cold months or spend time in the garden, where he just planted potatoes and onions.
Wherever he goes on Swampy Acres, Hanks is reminded of his life before retirement. Each time he picks up that white pail for fish feeding, he thinks of the career that fed him the life he now enjoys.
"Everything you see here is because of the Air Force Reserve, so you can appreciate how I feel about the Air Force Reserve.
"The Air Force Reserve is like Sunday on the farm and I've proven that. 'Cause right now, for me every day is like Sunday on the farm. I never do anything I don't want to do. I always take my time and try to enjoy every day, every minute, just like it was my last one."