Joaquin approves memorial highway designation

Another step in designating US Hwy 84 in Shelby County between the Sabine River and Crystal Lake as the Lt. General O.R. “Cotton” Whiddon Memorial Highway was approved by the Joaquin City Council last week.

The highway sign unveiling is scheduled for September 1, 2023, the 112th birthday of Lt. Gen. Whiddon’s mother, Cynthia Whiddon.

Lieutenant General Orren Ray “Cotton” Whiddon, a sixth generation Texan and the highest- ranking Army officer to be drafted from Texas, was born in Joaquin March 10, 1935, on land his third great grandfather Elijah Morris obtained in a headright from the Mexican government in 1834, just before the Texas Revolution.

His parents, Orren Cox Whiddon and Cynthia Cockrell Whiddon owned and operated Crystal Lake, the legendary East Texas water park in Joaquin. The original Crystal Lake was built in 1920 by Abner Odem Whiddon, Cotton’s grandfather. The dam that held Crystal Lake washed away in 1933. Cotton, his brother Abner and his sister Susan, helped their parents rebuild and later run the new Crystal Lake from 1946 to 1986.

Maintaining his family and community ties to Joaquin and East Texas remained a priority throughout his life, no matter where he was stationed in the world.

Whiddon graduated from Joaquin High School in 1952 and was involved in their alumni association for many years. He graduated from Stephen F. Austin College with a degree in Chemistry in 1955 and soon after, received his draft notice. Thus began his lifelong love affair with the Army.

Before being inducted, he married Harriot Jane McKinney of Nacogdoches. He was 20 and she was 17. They had a loving marriage for more than 60 years and a successful partnership in the Army. Cotton completed Officers Candidate School (OCS) in 1956 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Field Artillery.

He valued education and often said “an education is something no one can ever take away from you.” In addition to receiving his master’s in management from the University of Southern California, he also was a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the United States Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island.

Whiddon was inducted into the SFA Alumni Hall of Fame in 1988. The Whiddon ROTC Scholarship at SFA is endowed in his name and the howitzer fired at the SFA home games is named “Ole Cotton” in his honor because of his work with the ROTC program there.

Cotton served two tours in Vietnam. He said Vietnam was where he became a man. Like many soldiers who fought in Vietnam, he had conflicting feelings about the war, but he spoke respectfully of the Vietnamese people and culture, and he loved his “dirty armpit” soldiers. To call someone a “dirty armpit soldier” was a high complement coming from Cotton. It meant that you did not shirk the hard, sometimes dirty work of soldiering. Other assignments included Fort Sill, OK where he is a member of the Artillery OCS Hall of Fame; Vicenza, Italy; The Pentagon; Giessen, West Germany; SHAPE, Mons, Belgium; Fort Polk, La.; Fort Eustis, VA; AFCENT, Brunssum, The Netherlands; Bad Kreuznach, West Germany, where he was the Commanding General, Eighth Infantry Division; and his final assignment as Commanding General of the Second United States Army, Ft. Gillem, Ga. During his career, he worked closely with General Westmoreland, General Alexander Haig and General Colin Powell. He received numerous awards and decorations throughout his Army career, but was most honored to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge and the Army General Staff Identification Badge. He retired in 1990 after 35 years of active Army service.

After retiring, Cotton and Harriot moved to Lufkin. His leadership and ability to inspire others led to his work with the Salvation Army and the development of their Senior Day Care Center. He served on the Methodist Retirement Communities Board; the PineCrest Retirement Community Board and their Trust Board; the Lufkin City Planning and Zoning Board; St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School Board and was a Senior Warden of the Church. Cotton loved Lufkin and Lufkin loved Cotton.

He was awarded the Angelina Rotary Club’s Service Above Self Award in 2005 and the Lufkin Chamber of Commerce’s Angelina Award in 2014. He passed away March 20, 2016, and is buried next to his mother in the Joaquin Cemetery. He was a soldier’s soldier and a proud Texan, never losing his humility, his humanity or his common touch.

The family would like to thank and acknowledge Senator Robert Nichols, the Joaquin City Council and especially Councilman Mike Cummings for all their hard work and persistence in obtaining this Memorial Highway designation in Lieutenant General Orren Ray “Cotton” Whiddon’s name.

He would be both humbled and proud.

(Thank you to the family of Lt. General Orren Ray “Cotton” Whiddon for the biographical information and comments.)