{"id":9674,"date":"2026-05-15T05:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=9674"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:09:07","slug":"childhood-friends-reunite-during-cancer-treatments-50-years-after-serving-in-tennessee-national-guard-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=9674","title":{"rendered":"Childhood friends reunite during cancer treatments 50 years after serving in Tennessee National Guard together"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A pair of childhood classmates who served together in the Tennessee National Guard reconnected during their cancer treatments nearly 50 years after they fell out of touch.<\/p>\n<p>Billy Taylor, a two-time cancer survivor, wasn\u2019t entirely surprised when he found himself back at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at TriStar Natchez in Dickson, Tennessee, for yet another round of radiation, WSMV 4 reported.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Billy Taylor, a two-time cancer survivor, completed radiation treatment for a third time. <span class=\"credit\">NBC\/WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the same time, Randy Duke was riding his motorcycle to the same center for daily radiation and chemotherapy treatments as he fights an aggressive throat cancer. <\/p>\n<p>For weeks, neither knew that they were incidentally crossing paths with an old friend. <\/p>\n<p>Duke and Taylor attended school together in White Bluff, Tennessee \u2014 just 10 miles outside of Dickson \u2014 and were in the same training unit in the Volunteer State\u2019s National Guard.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Randy Duke is undergoing daily radiation and chemotherapy to fight an aggressive throat cancer. <span class=\"credit\">NBC\/WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They lost contact in 1979 when Taylor left the guard to pursue his own business, and figured that was the end of things. <\/p>\n<p>Taylor recognized Duke\u2019s name immediately when he heard a nurse call for him while they were both in the waiting room at the center. Physically, though, Duke looked like a stranger \u2014 and vice versa. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know for sure that was him because we changed so much. I wouldn\u2019t have known him if I hadn\u2019t heard his name. I would have never guessed in a million years who he was,\u201d Taylor told WSMV 4.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor didn\u2019t say anything until he got a closer look at Duke in the parking lot three days later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrake, is that you?\u201d Taylor recounted shouting at Duke. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Duke and Taylor, two childhood friends, reconnected in the parking lot at their local cancer treatment center. <span class=\"credit\">NBC\/WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Duke always went by his middle name, Drake, in school because there were so many other students named Randy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my goodness, yeah. I can see it now, Billy Ray, and I was glad to see him,\u201d Duke remembered replying while Taylor reintroduced himself. <\/p>\n<p>The pair have been inseparable ever since. They spent hours catching up and reflecting on \u201call the crazy stuff\u201d they did in the Guard \u2014 effectively filling a gaping hole in Duke\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>When Duke first started his cancer treatments, he knew it would be difficult, but he told the outlet that the lack of real connection was even harder.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Taylor rang the chemo bell and plans to return to the center when it\u2019s Duke\u2019s turn to finish treatment. <span class=\"credit\">NBC\/WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe used to know everybody in White Bluff. Now, we don\u2019t hardly know anybody. We go to a restaurant and I\u2019m searching for somebody I know up there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he and Taylor are leaving for their morning appointments a little earlier so they can carve out extra time to chat in the waiting room. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could sit out there and talk. It got our mind off things too. It was just a good feeling to see him again. You don\u2019t see many people that you\u2019ve not seen in 48 years,\u201d Taylor told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs you get older, you\u2019ve got less and less time to meet them. So, it might be a good time to do it,\u201d Duke added.<\/p>\n<p>When Taylor completed his treatments, he rang the center\u2019s chemo bell with Duke by his side. Taylor said he plans to do the same for Duke when he finishes his treatments in June. <\/p>\n<p>Duke, meanwhile, is hoping to secure a part-time job with Taylor when he\u2019s well enough so they can work side-by-side as they did in their youth.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114302\" data-width=\"133\" data-height=\"139\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114302});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:125px; background:#91e7ac; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/15\/us-news\/childhood-friends-reunite-during-cancer-treatments-50-years-after-serving-in-tennessee-national-guard-together\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pair of childhood classmates who served together in the Tennessee National Guard reconnected during&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[4873,9733,3641,3546,1060,9734,9736,3115,9735,903],"class_list":["post-9674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-cancer","tag-childhood","tag-friends","tag-guard","tag-national","tag-reunite","tag-serving","tag-tennessee","tag-treatments","tag-years"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35.jpg",1200,799,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-768x511.jpg",640,426,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35.jpg",1200,799,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35.jpg",1200,799,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Comp_-35-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=349\" rel=\"category\">Blog<\/a>","tag_info":"Blog","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}