Dwight Young was my best friend when we were going to Central Junior High. We were both drummers in the Central band, as was Randy Combs also. The first real rock band I ever saw was when Dwight and I went to a car show in OKC and saw Ronny and the Daytona's. Not long after that Dwight got a Ludwig drum set. I didn't have a drum set yet, so was I ever jealous... Well, not so jealous that I didn't go over to his house all the time and wait my turn to play his drums. The first jam session I ever went to, I went with Dwight. He had the drum set, right? It was at somebody's house on the East side of Norman, not far from the old state hospital. We took turns on his drum set. One of the songs I remember from that night was Green Onions by Booker T. and the M.G.'s. Probably all of the Ventures tunes as well (Pipeline, Walk Don't Run). That was the first time I ever played rock music with other live musicians. I still play music, and I just got home from a gig where we played (among other things) Pipeline and Wipeout.
I lived on the far Northwest corner of Norman (Berry Road near Robinson), and Dwight lived on the far Southeast corner in Faculty Heights (Near 12th and Lindsey). That didn't stop us from being at one another's houses nearly every day. We rode our bicycles all over Norman. Riding bikes on the sidewalks at the University was a favorite pastime.
Dwight introduced me to hanging out at the snooker parlor on Campus Corner. That was a real sign of maturity. Park your bicycle in the bike rack at the Boomer Theater, then walk in the Sport Shop like you just rode in on your Harley.
We were inseparable in those days. I would pester Dwight just to the point that he would be ready to beat the you know what out of me, and then he would just laugh and say "Bobby, one of these days somebody is just going to beat the *@#& out of you!". Several people have said that very same thing to me many times over the years. They all just laughed, too.
We kind of lost touch with one another after junior high. We each got steady girlfriends, and Dwight was doing sports while I was doing music during High School. We didn't have any classes together after that.
Last year, I saw Dwight's name in the members list of the NHS Yahoo site, and sent him an email. He emailed me back and started out with "Good to hear from you, old friend..." He was in Iraq, working for KBR, leading convoys. He talked about his family and how excited he was about his kids. It was good to hear from him. I got a lot of chain emails from him, most of which had patriotic and/or Christian themes. I was glad when he made it back to the states, and I let him know that. I told him that his safe return to his family had been in my prayers.
Dwight was a gentle, kind person, with a heart of gold. All of us who knew him are very fortunate to have had that pleasure and honor. Our lives are richer from having known him.
~Bobby Hohenberger~
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