Dear Liz:
I've neither been in the service nor to Fort Knox. However, I lived in Lawton for several years and now live in Kentucky.
Lawton is a nice place. It is a bit of an Army town in that there are folks there whom you wouldn't normally encounter in Oklahoma. I saw lots of soldiers in BDUs and occasionally in what I think you call class a's. The dry cleaners do a big business in BDUs. Retired Army people are common. Its a big town of about 80,000 or more people the last I heard. I don't recall but I believe the base is just as populous.
The base is big. I only drove onto it briefly to turn around. In 1993, it was not as sealed as Tinker AFB in Midwest City. But the Murragh bombing happened while I was there.
At the time, Lawton was rated the most integrated city in the country while Tulsa was rated the least. Which gives you an idea of the Army's influence. When any discrimination occurs, the locals simply call the base which declares the offender off limits. Its very effective and fast. The day after someone complained of poor service at Denny's, it conspicuously had a black manager.
There is frequently artillery going off in the distance. I grew up in McAlester down the road from the Army Ammunition Plant, so the booms in Lawton were not noticeable until someone called them to my attention. Then again my hearing is not the best. Western Oklahoma is dry compared to Kentucky. The grass turns brown much sooner. There is/was a mall and a college in Lawton. Lawton is a straight shot on the interstate to OKC and Tulsa.
It is where many of the western tribes were brought following the Indian wars. There are Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, etc. Oklahoma is organized into Indian nations with each having a territory and being responsible for various services to the Indians in their respective area. It doesn't work that way. It's easier to get a ramp built on your house by your own tribe especially if you have relatives who are friendly with the chief even if you live in another tribe's area. I dealt with lots of people who complained of poor services from their or their relative's tribe. In eastern Oklahoma, the tribes are more assimilated and influential.
The roads in Oklahoma are not as well cared for as in Kentucky but they are better than in Arkansas.
The courts in Lawton are strict about drugs. They used to say that the mention of drugs resulted in an automatic conviction. Lawyers who prided themselves in being undefeated always explained that drug cases didn't count. The public defenders were independent contractors and poorly paid and poorly motivated. The DA's office was so hard nosed that the state offered them money to ask for lighter sentences. The same DA is still there.
Oklahomans never meet anyone too tough on crime. When the Rodney King beating happened, I was in Midwest City, and a similar occurence happened in OKC. A mentally ill black man swung a weed cutter at a police officer and was shot 14 times. There was no controversy or investigation. In fact, even the NAACP was only half-hearted in complaining. Up north, if you resist a mugging and assault a criminal, you go to jail. In Oklahoma, if you resist arrest and assault a police officer, you die, and everyone agrees that it was deserved. Nobody asks if it was necessary.
In fact, there was a man who owned a pawn/jewelry store and lived upstairs. He was burglarized and shot and killed the intruder. The papers asked him if he expected to be prosecuted. He responded that he wasn't the year before when the same thing happened.
I have relatives that grew up in Lawton in the 1950s and acquaintances who grew up in Lawton in the 1960s.
Churches are like much of the South. One or two of each denomination and a zillion Baptist churches. There was no synagogue when I was there though services are held on base. There was a town at least an hour's drive away that had one but I can't remember the name.
The biggest difference in Oklahoma and Kentucky is that in Oklahoma the working class considers it home and that the rich are just visiting. In eastern Kentucky, its the opposite.
The fastest way to get on anyone's bad side in either place is to talk about north and south like you're still up north. Tolerance and multiculturalism means don't diss the south, christians, evangelicals, republicans, rednecks, or country music. Keep comparisons with the north to a bare minimum. None of the comments about religion, ignorance, incest, or racism which yankees think are cute. Rush Limbaugh is beloved, and Connie Chung practically caused a riot. Remember in Oklahoma and Kentucky even the Quakers are armed. Good manners are mandatory. Yankees with good manners will likely be welcomed though no one remembers meeting one. I'm sure if they exist it's probably in the Army. Assume that everyone, including those who never served, respects the military and that most, including many in what up north would be monolithically marxist occupations, are quite conservative.
Thank you for your service. Enjoy your stay in either state. Have a nice day.
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Ft.Knox or Ft. SILL?
I lived in Ft Still ...a long time ago
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