Chapter 13 (D-Day)

                                         Chapter 13

                                            (D-DAY)

                 

                    Tonight, we have a re-e-ally BIG SHEW!

                                                                - Ed Sullivan

                                                Intro for the Ed Sullivan Show

 

     Geronimo and his tribe perched high above the unsuspecting fort, cloaked along the meandering Mill River. Nestled among pines, maples and oaks, Fort Tollhouse had four sentries, one at each corner post of the fort, keeping guard over the sleeping populace, who were mostly soldiers. The sun had just begun its ascent above the hills, and the indiscrete warriors on horseback could be seen as indiscernible silhouettes. 

     The chief, in war paint, began motioning for his tribe to spread out and surround the fort, which they did as quickly and stealthily as I could manually position them.  They were, after all just plastic pieces with arms positioned to place both plastic bow and arrows or Springfield Infantry rifles into them.  Some moved on foot while others, the lucky ones, were mounted on their reliable and trusted plastic steeds.  They were readying themselves for what they believed would be a massacre on the unsuspecting plastic soldiers below them.

     They, of course were in for a rude awakening.  Little did the entire Apache nation know that one eagle-eyed Lieutenant Smuckler (hey, it was my fort, my story, my hero) spotted ‘Laughing Bear With Round Butt’ trying to advance before directed by his chief.  Big Mistake...The highly decorated Lieutenant Smuckler alerted the sleeping fort and within minutes Fort Tollhouse, was on full alert, with all the able soldiers taking up their positions and readying themselves for the most ruthless battle they would ever encounter...They never lost a battle; after all, it was MY game...MY rules. But, as I am sure you all know...there’s always a first time.           

     The intro for the Ed Sullivan Show was playing and entering from stage left was old Ed himself.  The Ed Sullivan variety show was interesting in the fact that Ed was as talented as a ground hog.  He didn’t sing, dance, tell jokes, do magic tricks, speak through a dummy, or even emcee his show that well. But he knew how to recognize talent or at least knew what the viewing audience would like. His show lasted for over twenty years so he must have done something right...

     Anyway, tonight, this night, this show would resonate through my being, for the rest of my life.... Ed Sullivan would be indelibly engraved into my psyche, my heart and my soul forever.  I sensed an aura in the room for the first time, almost haze-like...I attributed it to the fierce confrontation about to take place between Apache and the soldiers...maybe smoke from the native’s evening fires, I thought.  What a ten-year-old boy’s imagination can conger up.

     After Ed introduced some war veterans in the audience and allowed them to take a bow, the Hi-lads, a four-piece comedy vocal group, opened the night of festivities. The Hi-lads used synchronized dance moves, comedy routines and did impressions.  Tonight they began the evening with a piano player, guitar player and two singer/dancers.

     

     “...It’s so nice, to be here

      hope to bring you good cheer...

      Baby, everything’s   

      coming up roses...”

      “...we’re the sound, we’re the dance

       blow a kiss, take a bow...

       Everything’s coming up roses...”

 

     I looked up, knew the routine didn’t interest me in the least, and continued the battle at hand. Until, that is, Ed came back to thank the band and introduce Guy Marks, a comedian.  As soon as Guy opened his mouth, he had my attention.  He came out in a suit and straight faced, but as he began this war chief’s chant, I was hooked.  He began in native tongue and went on for about a minute.  He them metamorphasized into Humphrey Bogart as the interpreter:

     “ He said, there are no towels in the bathroom.”

     Marks proceeded to move between Indian Chief, Bogey, Gary Cooper and various other characters for what seemed to be 20 minutes, but I’m sure was only a few.  I laughed through the entire routine.  We all did.

     We were still laughing, when Ford and Reynolds, a comedy team, was introduced.  Their routine included a rendition of the song “Misty.”  They were funny too, but not like Guy. After an Eastman Kodak commercial, Ed returned.

     He then introduced the Great actor-comedian, Charlie Chaplin, who jokingly asked Ed for a job and then did a comedy routine originally done by his father.  Charlie, recognized as an icon of the silent film era, and thought of by many as the greatest comedian of all time, was a marvel to watch.  Tonight, as all other nights, Charlie found himself teetering only the way he could, into another awkward situation. He always discovered a way to somehow miraculously wobble away, while keeping his dignity in a world with great social injustice.  He was my hero, and I loved him....     

     The Ducats, five children tap dancers, did a song-and dance act and then Professor Backwards was introduced. Besides being a vaudevillian comedian, Professor Backwards (aka: James Edmondson, Sr.) had an uncanny ability to write in script upside down and/or backwards, spell and pronounce words backwards, as well as read an inverted blackboard correctly.  No easy task, as you can imagine. Tonight, however, he started his routine by telling some Henny Youngman type jokes:     

        

      “I had a brand-new Mercury. I loaned it to my brother last week. I said, ‘treat it as if it was your own.'  He sold it.             

        

     “I went up to the salesgirl. I said, ‘I’d like to see something cheap in a man’s suit.’  

     She said, ‘The mirror’s on the left.’”

 

    My sister and I began to squirm.  I snuck a peak at my dad, but he seemed adrift in thought.

 

          “You, know what a stewardess is. That’s a girl who asks you what you want, then straps you in the seat so you can’t get it,”

 

     The audience laughed at every joke and prank and applauded at the end.  Thank you God for making it so short. I thought, as my attention became focused on the true entertainment of the evening, the destruction of the Apache nation.

     Jean Carroll, the actress, Count Basie, the famed composer, pianist, songwriter and bandleader...even Dennis Day, was scheduled to sing “Climb Every Mountain”.

     But first, another commercial for Kodak movie projectors... When we returned, Ed introduced Count Basie and his Band who began playing a big band song.  One song sounded the same as the next to me, so I was really just listening and not watching the “Count” perform.

     I could sense something amiss behind and to the right of me.  Something just wasn’t right.  I felt my father’s restlessness and movement.  As I glanced up and over my right shoulder I could see him slowly rise from the bed and as his feet hit the ground he took one giant “drunken” step, uttered, almost to himself, “I’ve got to...” and collapsed face first, just to the right of me and directly onto my fort.           

         Soldiers scattered hither and yon, snapping in the air in all directions.  Horses and trees along with the barracks collapsed under the weight of the intruder.  It was the first time I could remember the soldiers suffering such a humiliating and devastating defeat, and in fact the first and only rout my fort ever experienced.  It would also be the last time I would ever play with my soldiers again. They disappeared from my view immediately after the collapse, and out of my consciousness shortly thereafter. I was about to enter pre-ejaculative manhood without ever experiencing childhood.  I didn’t realize this at the time but soon I would be totally out of sorts, at odds with everything and everyone and a rebel “with” a cause... But for now, just childhood panic.

      Those would be the last words I ever heard my father speak.

      I would never see him again.                                   

                                             

Reviews

[Becky C Strukamp]

Allen, this chapter is as all your chapters are, beautifully composed but this one was a stand out for me. The way you entertwined your childs play with toy soldiers and the "Ed Sullivan Show", a milestone in the arts of television. You captured your imaginative play while taking some note to the comedic entertainment being displayed before you. A memory of yours that never will be erased, forgotten, a memory from your youth which you protrayed with precision and when the harse, devastating and tragedy of that evening struck, your life was changed forever, your boyhood transferred manhood. Too early in your life you became aware that nothing is forever.

Your composed remembrance of this evening was written beautifully. You took us, the readers, into your minds eye as a youth experiencing laughter, joy and the harshness of reality, a reality that non of us are ever prepared to acknowledge let alone deal with and at such a young age.

Thanks again for bringing your personal and private memories to life and sharing them. Beautifully composed my friend, words fail to spring forward in my mind that can truly explain what this chapter brought to me. Thanks again Allen, your writing always inspires me to remember that life is precious and should not be taken for granted, not one single moment!

[Muse]

I love the part when you wrote:
hey, it was my fort, my story, my hero

The people we choose to idol and worship as children are sometimes random at best. But even I remember those people...family, strangers...musicians...movie stars. When growing up we see ourselves in other people...we see how "we" want to be. It's part of the experience...just like seeing a birth...a death. This was both a nostalgic and painful read my friend. I hope to see more work like this from you. Well spoken.

[Coyote Poetry]

in life we learn many lessons. Some are permanent photos of sadness. I like the flow of the story. The ending was very sad. Learning death is hard enough but to know someone leaved a sad memory. A excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Mockingbird]

what a traumatic experience this must have been for a young child. i guess you see the memory like a snapshot, every detail is in your mind. there was suspense throughout. i didn't see it coming. excellent work. i love your memoir.

[Leslie Philibert]

I`m a big fan of Allen`s writing, when I see his name I know I`m going to get good literature. Had a look at this and found lots to enjoy, really like the background and details that fill this with life. Nice one.

[Chris]

You did it right... nothing else needs be said.