Foxy
advice on
gambling
serves well
By W. T.
Block
Reprinted
from the
Beaumont Enterprise,
Saturday
January 23,
1999.
NEDERLAND --
I remember the
first time I
ever met
Sergeant
Renaud, whom
everyone else
called "Foxy."
We met early
in 1943, after
I had been
assigned to
teach radio at
Camp Wallace,
near
Galveston, and
Foxy and I
began sharing
a cadre room
together.
I only saw
Foxy during
the day
because he
taught in a
school next
door to mine.
Being a
closed-mouth
person, Foxy
never said
much about
himself,
except that he
was from
Hollywood. I
learned from
others,
though, that
Foxy’s wife,
who was
rumored to be
a very
beautiful
movie starlet,
roomed at the
Hotel Jean
Lafitte.
And Foxy
disappeared
every
afternoon
after retreat,
so I and
others assumed
he spent his
nights and
weekends at
the hotel with
his wife.
Being a farm
boy myself, I
had carefully
avoided the
dice games at
first after I
joined the
army. One day
at lunch, Foxy
was standing
beside me,
when another
sergeant put
the dice in my
hand and
hollered,
"Block shoots
a dollar!"
Other people
had to tell me
what to do
because I
didn’t know
the difference
between "box
cars" and
"snake eyes."
Later another
player told me
I had made
eight straight
"passes," and
I watched as
the sergeant
grabbed up a
big handful of
bills and
left.
In December,
1943, Foxy and
I spent our
last afternoon
in our cadre
room together,
waiting on the
two troop
trains that
would carry us
to other
assignments.
"Block, I see
you’re growing
rather fond of
the dice,"
Foxy began. "I
wouldn’t
ordinarily
show you this,
but I figure
we’ll never
see each other
again after
today, since
you’re going
to the 78th
Division and
I’m going to
the 106th
Division."
"I know you
think I leave
camp every day
at retreat,"
Foxy added,
"but I shoot
craps in the
other
battalions
because I
won’t gamble
with my
friends. And
it costs a lot
of money to
keep a wife
living at the
Hotel Jean
Lafitte."
Foxy then
pulled out a
pair of dice
and began
throwing them
on a mattress.
He asked me
what point he
should shoot,
and I answered
"box cars." So
Foxy threw two
"sixes" for
me, then
"snake eyes;"
and then he
threw a dozen
"sevens" and
"elevens,"
before scaling
the dice from
"snake eyes"
and back.
"You see,
Block," Foxy
continued,
"you’re just
not in my
league - nor
in the same
league with
dozens of
other
professional
gamblers I
meet. If I
were you, I’d
stick to poker
because you’re
chances are a
lot better, or
better yet,
just quit
gambling
entirely. That
way you won’t
lose an entire
month’s pay
before you
know it."
And Foxy was
so right,
because his
demonstration
became
thoroughly
etched in a
niche of my
cranium. Nor
will I ever
forget the
soldier who
taught me that
lesson.
Later my
division
arrived in
Heerlen,
Holland on
December 1,
1944, and
Foxy’s 106th
Division
arrived at
Malmedy,
Belgium about
two weeks
later. After
the war I
learned from a
friend in
Beaumont that
Foxy was
killed when
the German
Army overran
his position
during the
Battle of the
Bulge.
W. T. Block
of Nederland
is a historian
and author.
His website is
http://block.dynip.com/wtblockjr/. This database is very large (150
articles) and
is intended as
an area
history source
for students.
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