All Boots Carry History in the Mud

Chapter 10

Left in Remebrance

Everyone’s war ends in some manner. The ending is never a fixed date, never the same for all involved. JB comes home, but in 1968 he left as a kid. Now in 1972 a man comes home, who has never lived as a man in his home. The survival skills he learned will not help him. Eldon and JB share Franklin and a long history, it is a start.

Train them well,

the men who will be fighting by your side

And never turn your back

if the battle turns the tide

For the colors of a civil war are louder than commands

When you're white boots marching in a yellow land -

Phil Ochs  White Boots Marching a Yellow Land

All Boots Carry History in the Mud

“Thank you for coming to pick me up, Mr. Parker.”

“Glad to do it. Dell drives into Franklin not the big city as she calls it.”

“This was the nearest stop on the train from California. No one in the Army thought anywhere here was a city. It wasn’t New York, it wasn’t LA, everywhere else was farm country.”

“Welcome back to farm country. I could have been here yesterday when the train came in.”

“Trains from the coast are often late and I had to sign up for diesel class at the junior college. They teach it down at the old school in the ag shop. I finished my last six months in motor pool back in the States, I think I should be able to get certification. The school picked me up and got the GI thing signed. A guy at the school gave me a card. The VFW left a card for all us new Vets. It was good for a free drink and of course they want people to join. Not those of us from Franklin more the ones in town. I stayed near the VFW and I walked over there. I was surprised some old guys who had been there awhile, were giving me a little shit about us losing the war. I had been warned about the yellow-bellied peace punks heckling Vets. Thought guys who had been there would be different.”

“Old guys drinking at those halls often weren’t there in the sense of seeing the tough action. I knew many who came home when my boys did. The ones in the tough spots were usually quiet. The story tellers often never heard an enemy shell. I wouldn’t pay them much thought after all you weren’t the general or the president. I don’t imagine you had much say in what they did.”

“Hell, I didn’t even have much say about what I did. Were you in the army?”

“I was called for WWI, the Great War they called it. I went down to the arsenal and they started some orientation classes on weekends. After three weeks they called off the whole thing. The war was almost over and the flu was so bad it ended my military career. One of my friends already at a base for basic came home too. He said there were sick soldiers everywhere. He emptied bedpans for four weeks that was his army career."

"Flu was that bad?"

"Yes, many people died in 1918 and 1919. Both my boys were in the war, one in Europe the other ended up in the Pacific. Then Kenny got drafted for Korea in Fall of ’51, but he was there just before the armistice. He was transferred and served out his time in Germany. All my sons went to school with GI aid after their time and it was a good thing for them. Tom was a pilot he made it sound easy not sleeping in the mud. I ran into an airplane mechanic who been in England, he told me how many they lost in the bombers and fighters. I guess Tom didn’t want to worry his folks.”

“Well Mr. Parker, Nam is all FUBAR. I was eager to get out of school, kinda finished high school in Army really. "

"What's FUBAR?"

JB answered softly and apologetically,"oh, 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition' Now, they got that lottery thing, I looked up my birthday. You know if I had just hung in like most in my class, I would have had a high number and never would have gone. I could have been one those lazy hippies with all the girls and free love. I don’t know; I did learn stuff. Now, I want to forget the whole thing.”

“Can you forget JB?”

“No not at night sometimes.”

“Tom couldn’t either at first, we would hear him at night sometimes. He’d shout out never even woke up, but his dreams weren’t good we guessed.”

“Yeah, did it go away?”

“We were afraid to bring it up. I asked his wife once. She said it became rare, but often in the first few years she would hear him.”

“I hope so, it still seems odd. I been living in California for six months. California didn’t seem like home. Being home maybe it will go away. Thank you for helping take care of my folks. Dad dying was a shock, I did try to sober up my life after that. Something about your Dad being gone it changes things.”

“It does not matter how old your father is, it just changes things. Hopefully for the better for you, JB your language is a little rough for your Grandmother.”

“Yeah, I will try to keep a lid on it at home. She is the most wonderful lady in the world.”

“Yes, JB they talk about saints in church, she is one.”

“Looks the same, sure looks like home. Doesn’t feel the same. Thank you for the ride home, Mr. Parker. After I finish diesel school, I will come over to tune up that tractor for you.”

“We’ll see, hopefully it won’t need tuned up for a while. They are all expensive and that green paint must be gold plated. Well here we are, Dell is going to be so happy to see you.”

“Yeah, we’re going to meet Mom and my sister’s family on Sunday. Thank you, again.”

-

Eldon drove up his lane and parked. In the kitchen there was still coffee in the pot. He heated up the coffee on the stove and poured a cup. He then spent a long time in the kitchen staring at the coffee cup. A cup that was one of his folks or maybe was a wedding gift. Still it had been here most all his life. The same cups he had used with Grace for over fifty years. He sat remembering the first time Miss Hayes came for dinner with his folks. Then after marriage and kids the Parker boys so eager for supper. Later the grandkids who had come in the summer. Drifting thinking. Reminded of all the times just he and Grace were sitting here saying nothing, with nothing needed to be said.

As he sat, he took another sip, then laid his head on the table and cried. He cried for all that had been lost, for all that was good in life, all that was about to end, and all that he had wished could be. He mostly cried for others because he knew looking back over his life, he had nothing to cry about.

He got up went to the living room and turned on the TV. It was the anniversary of the Lt. Calley conviction for the My Lai Massacre and a 'Special Report' was on. He sat in his chair and pulled out his bible. He thought how he always made fun of the bible thumpers, but tomorrow night was a bible study group he attended. He liked the new minister; the previous guy had been a cold fish. He knew they would read the passage tomorrow; he didn’t finish it. He put the bible aside. The report ended and 'Gunsmoke' came on, he watched the opening gunfight. He thought how many times had, Marshall Dillon faced that gunman down. He soon fell asleep, then woke during the 10 o’clock news. He watched the weather and went to bed.





photo Rob on Flickr