Like A Toppled Gravestone Korea September 1952 Dampness in my bunker, mixed the with raw mid-September chill sent me on a short trot to the reverse slope of our position. The experimental button-in field jacket liners battalion sent Company L were a total failure. They conducted the cold instead of insulating us. “Keep them clean,”… Continue reading Like A Toppled Gravestone
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The Drug Store
The Drug Store The Bronx 1938 It never was “The Drug Store”; it was “Adoff’s”. If someone in the family was down with a cough from a chest cold, Ma would say, “So you’ll go to Adoff and you’ll get me ah mustehd plesster.” She placed the mustard powder in a bowl then added hot water to… Continue reading The Drug Store
The Pens In My Life
The Pens In My Life The Bronx 1938 There it is lying on its side behind my Thesaurus to the right of my keyboard, a product of modern technology, my ballpoint pen. Its history began when the crushed, pigmented minerals slipped off the fingers of Cro-Magnon Man as he painted images on the walls of… Continue reading The Pens In My Life
My Wardrobe
My Wardrobe The Bronx 1947 World War II finally came to an end. My brother completed his service in the MerchantMarine and left for Montreal to apprentice in our uncle’s dress factory. Consequently, neither the clothing he had outgrown nor his GI issue dominated my wardrobe. Shirts were no problem. My father mastered the art… Continue reading My Wardrobe
It Came With the Shoes
It Came With the Shoes The Bronx 1943 “It came with the shoes,” said Jerry. “What do you mean, It came with the shoes? When I buy shoes. They put it in a box and I go home.” “They gave me a baseball glove when my mother paid for the shoes.” “Can I see it?”… Continue reading It Came With the Shoes
The Powerhouse
The Powerhouse The Bronx 1941 It was a silent witness to everything that went on in the neighborhood. Like the Parthenon sitting atop the Acropolis, it rested majestically at the high point where the East 172 Street hill intersected Boston Road. From its classical lines one could have mistaken it for a bank, a… Continue reading The Powerhouse
Some Men From Company L
Some of the Men in Company L Korea July 1952 Marcus Freye and Paul Boring were quiet GIs. They occupied a space, but most of the GIs in our platoon were unaware that they filled it. Maybe they had buddies in the other platoons. Oh, we did have a few quiet men. Oscar Konnerth never… Continue reading Some Men From Company L
He Saw the Harbor Lights
He Saw The Harbor Lights Pacific Ocean February 1952 In late January, 1952, docked in Seattle WA, more than 3,000 troops boarded the M.S.T.S. Simon Buckner. The anchor was lifted, its horns tooted and we were off. Where was it going? We didn’t care. The fresh air whetted our appetites, the food was good, and the… Continue reading He Saw the Harbor Lights
The Day the Candy Store Died
The Day the Candy Store Died It all began with a phone call. While we pulled on the yo-yo string, or batted the little sponge Hi-li ball stapled to its racquet, we waited outside the candy store for the ring. In the East Bronx tenements who had a phone in 1938? No one we knew… Continue reading The Day the Candy Store Died
Wayne: MIA
Wayne: MIA Chorwon Valley, Korea: August 12, 1952. He was to the left of me. I know he was to the left because the light from the Searchlight Company’s beacons were ricocheting off the low hanging clouds in the valley. They clearly showed our medic Wayne alongside Sgt. Flaherty to the left of me. The… Continue reading Wayne: MIA