Tribute to Cpl Hollis Rodell Sweatt USAF

My father, Hollis Rodell Sweatt, 1929-1998, was a quiet, hard-working man. He was a Volunteer Firefighter for many years and served as a clerk in the Air Force in England.

So far, I have been unable to acquire his service record. He rarely became angry. He had a quick wit and loved to make people laugh with dry humor. He played in a Guns and Hoses fast-pitch softball league when I was a child.

He and I enjoyed each New Year's Day because, on the radio, there would be a Top 100 Country song countdown where we would discuss or argue whether we agreed with the list by the station. Dad eventually bought a cassette tape recorder to record the countdowns over the years. Later, as the genre tended to change, we would rehash the countdowns of the 70s and 80s from his recordings.

One of our best times was while I was on leave from the Marines in the late 1980s. We repaired his home, worked in his garden, and took his boat on the intercoastal waterway in Holden Beach, NC. His gill net was still on the boat, so I asked if he wanted me to put it in the shed. He said, "No, we might want to fish a little." OK, I replied, and off we went. We first went north along the Intercoastal Waterway (https://www.ourstate.com/safe-passage-on-the-intracoastal-waterway/), where we passed by two men on a skiff. They asked us if we'd been successful with fishing. Dad replied, "We'll cast our net near Lockwoods Folly." Later, we turned west onto Lockwoods Folly River and headed back home.

We never did throw out the net.

As I jumped up on the dock to tie down the boat, a Game Warden asked who the boat's captain was. Before I could reply, my dad pointed to me and said, "He is!" The Game Warden gave me a ticket for not displaying a fishing license on the hull. I had to see a Magistrate and pay a $200.00 fine!

Dad retired from Safeway grocery store (AFL_CIO) in 1979 when he was 55. He then sold his house in Maryland and moved to Shallotte, NC. He later coached Brunswick County Dixie League Youth baseball team and started the Shallotte Redskins Pop Warner football team.
Dad played in the Textile Baseball League when he was 19 in 1948. A picture of his team is in the book Textile League Baseball, pg 58. According to the caption, all of them were veterans.

In 1987, His youth football league team, Shallotte, NC Redskins won the "Turkey Bowl. They also went undefeated and unscored upon that year!

And in 1993, Dad coached the Brunswick Dixie League All-Stars to a 2nd place finish in the playoffs.

In 1992, many of the boys that played for Dad on the Redskins youth football team played on the Brunswick High School football team. A few of them received honors for their play in the state championship!

Eric Johnson, Aaron Butler, and Marty Earwood.

West Brunswick High won the State Championship as a 2A school in 1992. However, there were complaints that the school was larger than a 2A school. The next year, it upgraded to a 3A School.

Well, they won the state Championship again as a 3A team in 1993!


In Conclusion, as with most sports stories, there is much more to say about what happens off the field than on the field.

During the youth football league, many players were not consistently going to practice. When Dad inquired about the issue, many of the player's parents were working, so they didn't have a ride to practice. Dad first bought a station wagon to pick up the players for practice.

Later, he had to upgrade to a van to transport everyone who needed a ride!



Love you, Dad!