Best buddies

Best buddies

Ron Applewhite, a disabled Army veteran, and his friend Psycho, a 22-year-old umbrella cockatoo, are best buddies.

He keeps me calm,” Applewhite said. “He takes care of me. He gets me up.” Psycho sleeps with Applewhite, knows when he is in pain, and makes him get out of bed in the morning. Applewhite specialized in field artillery and nuclear weapons, and taught basic and advanced artillery and basic and advanced foreign dignitaries and nuclear weapons. He went into the Army out of high school and served 17 years before he injured his back in Turkey. He was airlifted out of Turkey. And he served in Germany. Born in Paducah, Kentucky, and having lived a spell in Tennessee with his mother and stepfather, Applewhite, who lived in Memphis, Tenn., awhile, moved to Marshall County in about 1990. He lived in Byhalia, Potts Camp and now has lived in Holly Springs five years.