Changes

==Background==

==Background==

A son of  DeWitt, Sr., and [[Myrtis Methvin|Myrtis Lucille Gregory Methvin]], he was reared in Castor in Bienville Parish. His mother was the second woman [[mayor]] in Louisiana, with service from 1933 to 1945. He studied at Castor High School under the then long-term principal Elmer Reid Minchew (1908-2001), also the speech teacher and debate coach. Minchew was subsequently a speech [[professor]] at [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]].<ref>Dr. Elmer Reid Minchew obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', July 2, 2001.</ref> DeWitt skipped the second grade, and there were only eleven grades for pupils graduating in 1940. He played baseball and basketball at Castor High School, which had no [[football]] team. He and his father built the first [[tennis]] court in town.<ref name=dtmjrbio/>  

A son of  DeWitt, Sr., and [[Myrtis Methvin|Myrtis Lucille Gregory Methvin]], he was reared in Castor in Bienville Parish. His mother was the second woman [[mayor]] in Louisiana, with service from 1933 to 1945. He studied at Castor High School under the then long-term principal [[E. R. Minchew|Elmer Reid Minchew]], also the speech teacher and debate coach who subsequently became a speech [[professor]] at [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]].<ref>Dr. Elmer Reid Minchew obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', July 2, 2001.</ref> DeWitt skipped the second grade, and there were only eleven grades for pupils graduating in 1940. He played [[baseball]] and [[basketball]] at Castor High School, which had no [[football]] team. He and his father built the first [[tennis]] court in town.<ref name=dtmjrbio/>  

At the age of fifteen and a half, DeWitt, Jr., enrolled at [[Louisiana State University]] in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]] to study medicine. With the intervention of [[World War II]], he enlisted in the [[United States Navy]] at the age of eighteen and earned pilot's wings. He taught naval aviation at several locations from [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], [[New York]], to [[Oakland]], [[California]]. He was discharged from the military in 1946 and returned to LSU to study pre-law, not to complete the medical degree in which he had lost interest. Instead he graduated in 1950 from the LSU Law Center, at which he won the moot court competition in each of his three years of law school.<ref name=dtmjrbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/users/m/e/t/Mildred-Methvin/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0001.html|title=DeWitt Talmage Methvin, Jr.|publisher=genealogy.com|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

At the age of fifteen and a half, DeWitt, Jr., enrolled at [[Louisiana State University]] in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]] to study medicine. With the intervention of [[World War II]], he enlisted in the [[United States Navy]] at the age of eighteen and earned pilot's wings. He taught naval aviation at several locations from [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], [[New York]], to [[Oakland]], [[California]]. He was discharged from the military in 1946 and returned to LSU to study pre-law, not to complete the medical degree in which he had lost interest. Instead he graduated in 1950 from the LSU Law Center, at which he won the moot court competition in each of his three years of law school.<ref name=dtmjrbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/users/m/e/t/Mildred-Methvin/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0001.html|title=DeWitt Talmage Methvin, Jr.|publisher=genealogy.com|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref>