TEXARKANA, Texas -- Three veterans have been solving problems for ages at Central Mall, but not before they have their first round of coffee.
Bill Wilkins, 89, James Hubbard, 79, and Steve Woodruff, 77, have been friends since the 1980s, meeting through a mall walking group and finding commonality in their service records.
The men are well-known throughout the mall, which was evident Monday as passersby stopped to shake their hands and pat them on the shoulders.
"We just love them," Chick-fil-A cashier Katrina Curtis said as she stopped by to check on the veterans.
Wilkins was drafted when he was 18 years old. After initially being stationed at Red River Army Depot, he fought in the Korean War and came back to the United States in 1953.
"The Lord was looking after me there (in training)," Wilkins said. "In my third or fourth week of training, I got pneumonia. They (training officers) went through it all, with simulated gunfire. I didn't know what I was doing. They took me in on a water wagon, and I don't remember going in."
Wilkins ended up having to be hospitalized for 33 days. While he was recovering, his comrades graduated without him.
"I had to start all over on training," Wilkins said. "The whole company (I was with) got wiped out. Not a soul in the whole company -- commander, everybody."
After the war, Wilkins was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and then eventually came back to Texarkana.
"My home's in North Carolina," Wilkins said. "I don't know why I ended up here."
Hubbard is a retired Army and former Arkansas National Guard soldier. He was 21 years old when he was drafted but chose to join the National Guard instead as a railroad engineer.
"I spent 10 years there, then was transferred," Hubbard said. "I wound up teaching nuclear, biological and chemical warfare at Fort Leonard Wood and Fort Benning because I was the only one trained about that."
Hubbard said he also spent time with the 95th Infantry Division, which before his time was a key group in World War II.
Hubbard eventually settled down with his wife, Edwina, in Texarkana and will soon be celebrating 50 years of marriage with her.
Woodruff was 19 years old when he joined the Navy in 1964, and he had been looking for a way to get out of Alabama.
"There wasn't no jobs," Woodruff said. "I had never been on a cruise or gone out to see the world."
Woodruff said he went to two bootcamps then was on a submarine base for 13 months. He also spent time on the USS Sierra destroyer and was discharged in 1968.
Wilkins' wife, Carolyn, died in March, and Wilkins said his friends have been integral to him the past six months.
"If I didn't have these guys, I don't know what I would do," Wilkins said.
From right, Steve Woodruff, Bill Wilkins and James Hubbard hold the mugs they brought from home for their Chick-fil-A coffee fix on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, at Central Mall in Texarkana, Texas. The veterans are a mall staple on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, where they sit at their table for hours and talk about whatever comes to mind. (Staff photo by Mallory Wyatt)
A photo of a young Steve Woodruff. (Photo submitted by Steve Woodruff)
A photo of the USS Sierra, the destroyer that Steve Woodruff was on while he was in the Navy. (Photo submitted by Steve Woodruff)