+Percy went down into Mexico in 1940 to find out why his father and his mother had split up. He never did get an answer. Dad never mentioned having another family. During the time he was there Dad had a horse named Negro and wagered in a race of his horse with another. Percy rode the horse in the race and won.
There was also an argument between dad and another man over Percy being there and Dad drew his gun on the man and that ended the argument.
In 1944 when Percy was discharged from the Army he was sent to Southern California for processing. His father and brother Ed, together, went to see him neither mentioned that Dad had younger children. Ed was the only one who knew Dad had a second family as he had gone to Nelly's house and caught Dad there with the two children.
Percy married twice. Had a daughter by his first marriage. After the divorce she was raised by her mother and step father. She had not seen her father since she was a teenager and right before his death she met and talked to him.
Percy joined the Army Air Corps on March 17 1942 and was a tail gunner in World War II. He flew many missions. He came back shell shocked and it took him a long time to get back to normal. Always carried with him some emotional scares from the experience. He fought once as a light weight contender under a Mexican name, as a Mexican. He loved bowling and bowled professionally. He once broke his skull at a bowling alley while setting up pins. He spent his last years in Lubbock, Texas where he was married to Ruth who was a vice president of a bank there in Lubbock. She was a widowed when she married Percy and had one daughter. He became Ill soon after they were married and she Ruth took care of him up until his death. He was given a military funeral with a 21 gun salute.
His one daughter Mary Phyllis Lafferty. Her mother was Mary Louis Mills (her married name was white) She had been married before and had two sons by previous marriage. It was Phil first marriage.