Category: Uncategorized

Look At That Kid Go!

Look at that Kid Go! The Bronx 1939 It was winter in the Bronx. Wavelets in Crotona Park Lake were breaking against its cement walkway. Inverted rowboats, stacked like plates stood to the left of the boathouse. Trees were bare. The only sign of life were sparrows chirping an occasional tweet and squirrels nervously surveying… Continue reading Look At That Kid Go!

An East Bronx Obituary

An East Bronx Obituary 1980 Charlotte Gardens, it sounds like a name to a cemetery. It is a neighborhood that died and ranch houses are its gravestones. Bronx, mein shtetleh Bronx* what has become of you? President Jimmy Carter proposed it, and President Reagan bulldozed built it. Rows of silent ranch homes replaced a community once… Continue reading An East Bronx Obituary

Hygiene in the Barracks

Hygiene in the Barracks Indian town Gap, PA October 1951 In sixteen weeks of basic training an attempt was made to mold young men from farms, urban areas, slums, rural communities, and wealthy suburbs into a group of killers. The Blue Mountain terrain of Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania was similar to the hills and valleys of Korea. It… Continue reading Hygiene in the Barracks

Psychiatry at the Veterans Administration

Psychiatry At the Bronx Veterans Administration The year was 1951, our country needed infantrymen for the Korean War. My body fulfilled all the requirements for that specialty. For that, I was compensated by being trained as an infantryman at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Upon completion of basic training, a troop train brought me from New York… Continue reading Psychiatry at the Veterans Administration

Questions, But No Answers

Late as usual. Shirley entered the classroom with her skirt feathering my arm. I was immediately swept far above the observation deck of the Empire State Building. She didn’t know it. How could she? We hardly exchanged a word in the classroom. They formed a wedge in my throat whenever I built up the courage… Continue reading Questions, But No Answers

“OOOH my groin!” shouted Jerry

The huge James Monroe H.S. cafeteria was designated as a study hall for the first four periods of the day. It was bustling with activity. Hockey, consisting of three pennies were used to play the game on the cafeteria table. The table was the ice hockey rink, two pennies were the players and the third… Continue reading “OOOH my groin!” shouted Jerry

The Senior Olympics?

I knew I could do better than that. With three months of training, I could wipe out the  Senior N.Y. State Empire Games record for the 100-yard dash. During my working years I could be seen daily jogging five miles on a nearby high school track. It paid dividends after I retired. “Life is like… Continue reading The Senior Olympics?

Korea: May 18, 1952

Korea: May 18 1952 Under any other circumstances I would have reveled in this evening. The temperature was in the high-sixties, if I stood on my toes I felt I could tickle a star, and a slight breeze kept me alert so that I could appreciate the clean country air, but Captain Smith, our company commander,… Continue reading Korea: May 18, 1952

An Intrepid Hero

An Intrepid Hero Chorwon Valley, Korea: August 12, 1952. Mail call! Some men from Company L gathered under a grove of trees on the reverse slope of their bunkers. Our terrified mail drove up with the mail. He quickly called out a number of names, tore back to his jeep then sped off to the rear.… Continue reading An Intrepid Hero