A Night At The Museum with Richard Campbell D.D.S. "Dr. Feelgood"

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“Night for the Museum with “Dr. Feelgood”

The Dorcheat Historical Association Museum will hold its 3rd “Night at the Museum” for the 2012 series of speakers on the second Monday night in April, 2012.  Dr. Richard Campbell better known to some as “Dr. Feelgood” will speak at the Dorcheat Historical Association and Museum on April 9th, 2012.

Richard W. Campbell; a product of Minden's public education gained a BA in English and a BS in Zoology from LA Tech and a DDS from LSU. He plans to regale listeners with stories of growing up in the best of times in Minden and about his mother, Thomas Lorraine Campbell who was Webster's first Parish Historian. Additionally, he will give insight into what it was like to have been an Infantry Recon Platoon Leader in Vietnam with the First Cavalry Division.

Don’t miss your chance to hear about one of Minden’s homegrown sons. The museum events will be held in the Media/Learning room at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, 116 Pearl Street, Minden, La.  Museum doors will open at 5:00 p.m., with first-come, first-serve seating.  Program begins at 6:00 p.m., admission is free with potluck desserts and snacks welcome. 

For more information contact Schelley Brown Francis at 318-377-3002 or visit www.museuminminden.blogspot.com to sign up for the museum email blast. You can also find the museum on Facebook. To learn more about Webster Parish’s rich history visit the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum located at 116 Pearl Street in Minden. Museum hours; closed on Monday, Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (closed from 1-2 for lunch), Saturday 10 a.m. - noon. The museum admission is free. Also open for special tours and rental by appointment.

Dr. Richard Campbell prepares his notes at a table where a few of the items he carried in the 1st Calvary Division are displayed during Monday’s Night for the Museum event. | Press-Herald photo/Bonnie Culverhouse

A standing-room-only crowd saw a different side of "Dr. Feelgood" Monday night from the one they may have previously known.
Dr. Richard Campbell addressed the Night for the Museum group with stories of his family's move to Minden from Marceline, Missouri. He talked of how his parents followed his uncle to Louisiana and how his father liked Minden better than Shreveport so they settled here.
He also talked of his mother, Thomas Lorraine Campbell, who was Webster's first Parish historian.
But then he talked of the time he spent in Vietnam in the 1st Calvary Division from 1970 to 1971.
"I was in two different battalions," Campbell said. "I was a line platoon leader and later a recon platoon leader."
Men in his platoon carried packs weighing 90 pounds, in addition to a M-16 U.S. rifle and SKS Chinese community carbine.
"It's a semi-automatic version of the AK-47," Campbell said. "The AK-47 is actually the most recognized weapon – and perhaps symbol – in the world."
Campbell said the 90-pound packs he and his men carried, consisted of 13 quarts of water, 400 rounds of M-16 ammunition, C-4 explosives, M-60 machine gun rounds, five fragmentation grenades, five smoke rounds, an air mattress, ponchos, five days of food rations, toiletries, toilet paper, extra socks, an entrenching tool (shovel) and a Machete.
"The toilet paper, bug spray and foot powder were among the most important things," said Campbell, who also admitted he carried a 9mm pistol and 30 rounds for it.
Night for the Museum events are held once a month at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, 116 Pearl Street. Admission is free with donations accepted.
For more information about the museum, contact Schelley Brown Francis at 377-3002.