Date: May 27, 1918 (100 years ago today)
Place: Aisne, France
I'm thinkin' it's been a long time since I left Springfield, Illinois to do basic trainin' in the army after I received my draft notice. It seemed as if I just finished high school, was havin' a good old time and then it came. Why'd Wilson have to go and get mixed up with Europe? It was so peaceful at home. Mom and Dad and brother Bobby and of course, Cindy on Saturday nights, dancin' and drinkin' and neckin'.
It was weird at first bein' away from home, gettin' used to the army. I've made some good new friends, especially Jack and Elliot. The sergeant's a pain in the neck, but he means well and is a good teacher. I think I'm a good soldier now and ready to fight for America. Also, I got to see the Atlantic Ocean and meet some different girls.
And then the ship to France. At first, I felt horrible, but after a while I got used to it. When we landed, it was amazin'. Everythin' here is so different from back home. I think this could be the greatest experience of my life.
We've done more trainin' since we got here, but we've had some time off and a bunch of us went to Paris and met some French girls. They don't speak much English, but you'd be surprised how you can communicate other ways. There was one in particular, Yvette, that I was alone with for about 24 straight hours. I think I want to marry her after the war is over. Everyone thinks that'll be soon.
But today could be the day, my first experience under fire. I hope I show some courage. We've heard reports the Krauts are moving forward and we need to push them back, all the way to Germany.
We've been marchin' towards our position now for about an hour and I can hear loud explosions gettin' closer and closer. I'm feelin' nerves in the pit of my stomach. Kinda reminds me of when we were playin' football and the other team ran on the field and both bands were playin' and I wanted to do good and not embarrass myself in front of my teammates.
This is the real thing and its gettin' kinda scary. I can almost see Germans in the distance and they want to kill me. Well, I have to kill them first. The noise is so loud I can almost not hear anythin'. Bullets are flyin'. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see some of us fallin'. I'm afraid, but I can't stop movin' forward. I'm followin' my buddies. I fire my gun. I wonder if..........
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Sunday, May 20, 2018
KLMN
I knew a girl in high school, a long time ago. Let's call her KLMN. "The names have been changed to protect the innocent."
When I was fifteen, I was attracted to girls and wanted to have a girlfriend. But I didn't have the courage to go out and get one. The attractive, desirable girls had boys hovering all around them and I felt I wasn't good enough to win any. So, why try? I would only open myself up to rejection and humiliation.
And then along came KLMN. Compared to other girls, she was very skinny. And the glasses she wore didn't make her very attractive. The custom in those days was for girls to sit and wait for boys to be the aggressor and come to them. However, for girls like KLMN, the boys didn't come.
So, KLMN decided "if the mountain will not come to Muhammed, then Muhammad must go to the mountain." She chose me because she considered me to be good looking (I think) and intelligent. The latter quality was important because she was very intelligent and would want someone similar to be her boyfriend.
KLMN acted in a manner so that I could not ignore her. She made her presence felt. When we had a class together, she would sit near me and engage me in conversation. When I decided to take a school bus to an away football game, she came too and sat next to me. When I went to visit my friend on Varick Street on the west side of Oswego, she (who lived on the east side) showed up, too. Her interest in me was obvious.
In retrospect, I should have welcomed KLMN with open arms. She was female and she would be all mine. Good times ahead! Plus no rejection and no humiliation! But, I didn't see it that way. What an idiot!
KLMN wasn't playing by the rules I was led to believe were tried and true. I was supposed to be the pursuer, not the pursued. How dare she treat me so. Thus, we became like oil and water. I remember some arguments we had: the film Splendor in the Grass and the 1961 Notre Dame-Syracuse football game.
After chasing me for two years, she finally gave up and found another to be her boyfriend. However, one night senior year I was walking down West Second Street and our paths crossed. KLMN was dressed up for some occasion with makeup and looked great in high heel shoes and a brightly-colored, tight-fitting dress. Maybe I made a mistake?
For a change, I'll let KLMN have the last word (which she wrote in my high school yearbook fifty-five years ago). "After all is said & done, it's been lots of fun knowing you. I'll never forget the fights we had in history, Latin, study hall, etc., etc. Good luck always, be good & let's quit fighting. OK? I'm glad we're finally parting friends. Bye bye."
"P.S. I won't hold any grudges if you don't. I hope you'll agree that high school days are the best days. At least I think so."
When I was fifteen, I was attracted to girls and wanted to have a girlfriend. But I didn't have the courage to go out and get one. The attractive, desirable girls had boys hovering all around them and I felt I wasn't good enough to win any. So, why try? I would only open myself up to rejection and humiliation.
And then along came KLMN. Compared to other girls, she was very skinny. And the glasses she wore didn't make her very attractive. The custom in those days was for girls to sit and wait for boys to be the aggressor and come to them. However, for girls like KLMN, the boys didn't come.
So, KLMN decided "if the mountain will not come to Muhammed, then Muhammad must go to the mountain." She chose me because she considered me to be good looking (I think) and intelligent. The latter quality was important because she was very intelligent and would want someone similar to be her boyfriend.
KLMN acted in a manner so that I could not ignore her. She made her presence felt. When we had a class together, she would sit near me and engage me in conversation. When I decided to take a school bus to an away football game, she came too and sat next to me. When I went to visit my friend on Varick Street on the west side of Oswego, she (who lived on the east side) showed up, too. Her interest in me was obvious.
In retrospect, I should have welcomed KLMN with open arms. She was female and she would be all mine. Good times ahead! Plus no rejection and no humiliation! But, I didn't see it that way. What an idiot!
KLMN wasn't playing by the rules I was led to believe were tried and true. I was supposed to be the pursuer, not the pursued. How dare she treat me so. Thus, we became like oil and water. I remember some arguments we had: the film Splendor in the Grass and the 1961 Notre Dame-Syracuse football game.
After chasing me for two years, she finally gave up and found another to be her boyfriend. However, one night senior year I was walking down West Second Street and our paths crossed. KLMN was dressed up for some occasion with makeup and looked great in high heel shoes and a brightly-colored, tight-fitting dress. Maybe I made a mistake?
For a change, I'll let KLMN have the last word (which she wrote in my high school yearbook fifty-five years ago). "After all is said & done, it's been lots of fun knowing you. I'll never forget the fights we had in history, Latin, study hall, etc., etc. Good luck always, be good & let's quit fighting. OK? I'm glad we're finally parting friends. Bye bye."
"P.S. I won't hold any grudges if you don't. I hope you'll agree that high school days are the best days. At least I think so."
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Cinco de Mayo
On July 17, 1861, with Mexico crippled in a financial crisis, President Benito Juarez signed a law suspending payments to France on debts owed to it. The following November 11, Emperor Napoleon III of France ordered his navy to occupy Mexican port cities on the Gulf until the debts were repaid.
In January of 1862, about 2,500 French troops, the first of a much larger expedition, arrived in Mexico at the port of Vera Cruz. Three months later, on April 19, the first military confrontation between Mexican and French armies occurred. The following day, France declared war on Mexico.
On May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) of 1862, 5,000 French soldiers attacked the City of Puebla (between Vera Cruz and Mexico City) defended by 12,000 Mexican troops, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. The attack failed and the French were forced to retreat, having suffered 476 casualties, twice as many as their adversaries. Mexicans felt a moment of national pride that is remembered to the present day.
The war continued with more and more French soldiers arriving in Mexico. In 1863, the French again tried to capture Puebla. On May 19, the Mexican Army, badly outnumber, surrendered the city. The invaders then turned their attention to the capital.
On June 3, 1863, the French Army entered Mexico City and proclaimed a Mexican Empire, headed by an Austrian prince, Maximilian, who was told by the French that the majority of the Mexican people wanted him as their ruler. It was really only the Mexican aristocracy that did.
The French Army supported Maximilian against Juarez forces until May of 1866 when Napoleon III (encouraged to do so by the USA after the American Civil War ended) ordered it home. Maximilian was captured and executed in 1867. The war was over.
I think the first time I heard the expression Cinco de Mayo was ten years ago when I was driving down East Franklin Street (near Estes Drive) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and noticed a new restaurant named Cinco de Mayo. I knew it had something to do with Mexico, but I didn't know exactly what.
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as a significant military victory in the Mexican State of Puebla, but it is not a national Mexican holiday. Mexicans living in the U.S. State of California have been celebrating Cinco de Mayo since 1862 when news of the Mexican defeat of the French first arrived.
In the 1980s, Cinco de Mayo became more popular in the USA when Mexican beer company marketers started using it in their commercials. Since then, Cinco de Mayo has come to represent Mexican culture in the USA. As of 2006, there were more than 150 official Cinco de Mayo events held across the 50 states, especially in areas with high concentrations of Mexican Americans.
Both U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the White House during their entire eight-years there (2001-2016). In 2017 and 2018, President Trump said no.
In January of 1862, about 2,500 French troops, the first of a much larger expedition, arrived in Mexico at the port of Vera Cruz. Three months later, on April 19, the first military confrontation between Mexican and French armies occurred. The following day, France declared war on Mexico.
On May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) of 1862, 5,000 French soldiers attacked the City of Puebla (between Vera Cruz and Mexico City) defended by 12,000 Mexican troops, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. The attack failed and the French were forced to retreat, having suffered 476 casualties, twice as many as their adversaries. Mexicans felt a moment of national pride that is remembered to the present day.
The war continued with more and more French soldiers arriving in Mexico. In 1863, the French again tried to capture Puebla. On May 19, the Mexican Army, badly outnumber, surrendered the city. The invaders then turned their attention to the capital.
On June 3, 1863, the French Army entered Mexico City and proclaimed a Mexican Empire, headed by an Austrian prince, Maximilian, who was told by the French that the majority of the Mexican people wanted him as their ruler. It was really only the Mexican aristocracy that did.
The French Army supported Maximilian against Juarez forces until May of 1866 when Napoleon III (encouraged to do so by the USA after the American Civil War ended) ordered it home. Maximilian was captured and executed in 1867. The war was over.
I think the first time I heard the expression Cinco de Mayo was ten years ago when I was driving down East Franklin Street (near Estes Drive) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and noticed a new restaurant named Cinco de Mayo. I knew it had something to do with Mexico, but I didn't know exactly what.
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as a significant military victory in the Mexican State of Puebla, but it is not a national Mexican holiday. Mexicans living in the U.S. State of California have been celebrating Cinco de Mayo since 1862 when news of the Mexican defeat of the French first arrived.
In the 1980s, Cinco de Mayo became more popular in the USA when Mexican beer company marketers started using it in their commercials. Since then, Cinco de Mayo has come to represent Mexican culture in the USA. As of 2006, there were more than 150 official Cinco de Mayo events held across the 50 states, especially in areas with high concentrations of Mexican Americans.
Both U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the White House during their entire eight-years there (2001-2016). In 2017 and 2018, President Trump said no.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
The Real Ben Johnson
Last Sunday, I ended the saga (Best of Intentions) of Ben Johnson, history teacher from Oswego, New York, who lost his son, Frank, in a hunting accident, his first wife, Paula, in a traumatic divorce stemming from the loss of their son, and his second wife, Rita, as a result of a tragic mistake that sometimes happens during war.
I chose the name Johnson because the British commissioner, Sir William Johnson, went to Oswego in the mid Eighteenth Century to enter into a peace treaty with Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa Tribe. I chose the name Ben because Ben Johnson is one of my favorite actors.
The actor Ben Johnson, of Irish and Cherokee ancestry, was born in Oklahoma in 1918. Through his father, he developed an interest in horses. Ben's film career began with the 1943 Howard Hughes western, The Outlaw, when he was hired to bring the horses Hughes bought for the film from Oklahoma to Hollywood. Once in California, Ben got stunt work because of his ability riding horses.
The director John Ford hired Ben to be the stunt double for Henry Fonda in his 1948 film, Fort Apache. So impressed was Ford with Ben's horseback riding that he signed him to a seven-year acting contract.
Ben Johnson's first credited role was in the 1949 John Ford/John Wayne movie, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. In 1950, he worked again with the two Johns in Rio Grande. In 1953, Ben had a famous barroom fist fight with Alan Ladd in the classic, Shane.
In the early 1960s, Ben was in three episodes of Have Gun Will Travel with Richard Boone. In 1961, he worked with Marlon Brando in One Eyed Jacks. In 1968, Ben appeared in the Charlton Heston movie, Will Penny, and the Clint Eastwood film, Hang 'Em High. In 1969, he was one of The Wild Bunch, along with William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Warren Oates.
In 1971, Ben was cast in the film The Last Picture Show, directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich. It is a coming of age story of two teenage boys living in a dying small town in north Texas in 1951. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. All three awards were won by The French Connection.
In The Last Picture Show, Ben Johnson plays Sam the Lion, the owner of the local pool hall, movie theater and cafe. There is one touching scene in which he takes the two boys, Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) on a fishing trip. While there, Sam the Lion recalls a time in his past when he took a young woman to the same place.
"I brought a young lady swimming out here once. More than twenty years ago. It was after my wife had lost her mind and my boys was dead. Me and this young lady was pretty wild, I guess. In pretty deep! We used to come here horse back and go swimming with no bathing suit. One day, she wanted to swim the horses across this tank. A kind a crazy thing to do, but we done it anyway. She bet me a silver dollar she could beat me across. She did. The horse I was riding didn't want to take the water. But, she was always looking for something to do like that. Something wild! I bet she's still got that silver dollar."
Ben Johnson received the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Sam the Lion. He died of a heart attack in 1996 at the age of seventy-seven, mimicking the death of Sam the Lion in The Last Picture Show.
I chose the name Johnson because the British commissioner, Sir William Johnson, went to Oswego in the mid Eighteenth Century to enter into a peace treaty with Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa Tribe. I chose the name Ben because Ben Johnson is one of my favorite actors.
The actor Ben Johnson, of Irish and Cherokee ancestry, was born in Oklahoma in 1918. Through his father, he developed an interest in horses. Ben's film career began with the 1943 Howard Hughes western, The Outlaw, when he was hired to bring the horses Hughes bought for the film from Oklahoma to Hollywood. Once in California, Ben got stunt work because of his ability riding horses.
The director John Ford hired Ben to be the stunt double for Henry Fonda in his 1948 film, Fort Apache. So impressed was Ford with Ben's horseback riding that he signed him to a seven-year acting contract.
Ben Johnson's first credited role was in the 1949 John Ford/John Wayne movie, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. In 1950, he worked again with the two Johns in Rio Grande. In 1953, Ben had a famous barroom fist fight with Alan Ladd in the classic, Shane.
In the early 1960s, Ben was in three episodes of Have Gun Will Travel with Richard Boone. In 1961, he worked with Marlon Brando in One Eyed Jacks. In 1968, Ben appeared in the Charlton Heston movie, Will Penny, and the Clint Eastwood film, Hang 'Em High. In 1969, he was one of The Wild Bunch, along with William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Warren Oates.
In 1971, Ben was cast in the film The Last Picture Show, directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich. It is a coming of age story of two teenage boys living in a dying small town in north Texas in 1951. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. All three awards were won by The French Connection.
In The Last Picture Show, Ben Johnson plays Sam the Lion, the owner of the local pool hall, movie theater and cafe. There is one touching scene in which he takes the two boys, Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) on a fishing trip. While there, Sam the Lion recalls a time in his past when he took a young woman to the same place.
"I brought a young lady swimming out here once. More than twenty years ago. It was after my wife had lost her mind and my boys was dead. Me and this young lady was pretty wild, I guess. In pretty deep! We used to come here horse back and go swimming with no bathing suit. One day, she wanted to swim the horses across this tank. A kind a crazy thing to do, but we done it anyway. She bet me a silver dollar she could beat me across. She did. The horse I was riding didn't want to take the water. But, she was always looking for something to do like that. Something wild! I bet she's still got that silver dollar."
Ben Johnson received the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Sam the Lion. He died of a heart attack in 1996 at the age of seventy-seven, mimicking the death of Sam the Lion in The Last Picture Show.
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