What the hell was that? A crisp snap, like a watermelon when it hitting the road. That was weird. Did you feel that? That hurt my ears, holy shit. Oh man, wow a pink and red fog. Pink, yeah that`s pink all right. Slow dreadfully slow motion. Mind-bogglingly gorgeous pink a beautiful pink.
God damn the smell of bacon frying in the skillet the aroma mingling with the smell of brewing coffee...
August 1967 - San Ramon, Arizona
"Rise and shine Jack, do they let you sleep in this late in boot camp?" question my dad standing at the doorway of my bedroom.
"Hey dad, are you serious?" I answered cocking my head head to see him standing in the doorway. "Heck yeah, they let me sleep til noon if I wanted to. The Sargent even serves breakfast in bed. It`s a lot different than when you were in the army."
"Is that so?" Dad answered raising his eyebrows with a big grin on his face.
"You bet. That`s the new Army I don`t hafta do anything if I don`t want to. Would I lie to you dad?" I asked.
"Yes son you would. Your mother sent me back here to get you up for breakfast," said dad.
"What time is it?" asked Jack.
"Six-fifteen in the morning. You have to get out of bed, your mom made your favorite breakfast for you," explained Joe.
"Okay dad, I`ll be right there," I said as I sat up in bed and grabbed a smoke from a pack of Winston`s sitting on the nightstand next. I took a few drags and put it out in the ashtray. After sitting for a couple of minutes I put on my khakis and stood by the bedroom window. Having only one more day before I was scheduled to leave for Vietnam it was the first thing on my mind as I looked out the window at the purple hue of the Tortolita Mountains watching the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon. I put on my white tee shirt and sat on the edge of the bed. I lite another cigarette and thought it would be a long time before I would be with my family. I thought about Patty my girl friend and how much I was going to miss her. The aroma of the coffee and the frying bacon meandered through the old frame house was too much I pit my zippo and pack of smokes in my pants pocket and walked out to have some of mom`s breakfast.
I`m the son of Joe and Regina McElroy who lived in a small inconspicuous wood framed house that sat on the southwest edge of San Ramon. They barely had enough money to make ends meet but it wasn`t for a lack of trying. My mother Regina, worked at a small electronics company putting tubes into what would eventually become a TV set. My dad Joe drove a hay bailer for Langley-Johnson Hay and Development Company.
Both mom and dad came with their parents to San Ramon from Caddo, Oklahoma during the depression. Both my parent`s families had been hit twice, first from the depression and then from the never-ending dust. Oklahoma had certainly dealt both families a very sorry hand. San Ramon was a fresh start for both mom and dad`s families who believed that if you work hard and believe in God you`d realize the American dream. Their incredible work ethic overcame their lack of formal education. My folks were married in 1942 just before dad went to go fight the Germans in World War Two where he served in the quarter master corps. My older brother Joe Junior came along in 1944 then I came a long in 1947 and my kid brother Bobby in 1949. They were the salt of the earth, working folks who were held in high regard in San Ramon as well as the entire San Gabriel Valley. They were true believers who belonged to the Church of Christ and went to Sunday service without fail.
I stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching my mother fix breakfast. My father was reading the morning paper and hadn`t noticed me standing in the doorway. "Mom that that bacon smells so good," I said as I looked over her shoulder at the skillet.
"Well here you go sweetheart, here`s a piece for you while you wait," said my mom as she handed me a slice that had been cooked. "You want some coffee?"
"I can get it mom," I answered
My father who had moved to the coffee pot told me to have a seat, "I`ll get it for you. One sugar, right?"
"Yup dad that`s right, thanks," I answered.
"Buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, two eggs over easy, a couple strips crispy of bacon, and coffee. Does that sound okay to you son?" asked my mother.
"Are you kidding mom?" I answered, "I feel like I died and went to heaven."
"Here`s your coffee son," said my dad as he put it on the table.
"Thanks dad," I answered. "Where`s Joe today?"
"Yesterday he and some kid from San Ramon took some cattle up to a little ranch close to Showlow. They didn`t get back until about midnight last night," Regina answered while watching the eggs fry in the bacon grease.
"Joe and Peggy are coming over this afternoon for your going away party," my dad explained.
"You guys didn`t have to throw a party," I said.
"Son, I don`t have to do anything but pay income taxes and die," responded my dad. "Besides you really don`t think we`re going to let you go off without a little party."
"Well, I guess not," I replied as my elbow knocked a fork off the table. "Oops."
Mom turned around from the skillet, "Jack did you just drop a fork?"
"Yeah, I`m sorry about that," I answered.
"Don`t be sorry. Dropping a fork means that there is company coming and that`s a good omen," explained my very superstitious mother.
"Mom, where do you get all that hocus pocus stuff?" I asked.
My dad kicked my leg under the table and make a face at me as if to say, `Leave it alone.`
"Jack it`s not hocus pocus and you`d be well to pay attention young man. Dropping a fork is a sign that good company is coming. Well, guess what we`re having a party for you tonight with all your aunts and uncles," my mother noted.
"Mom, that`s fine," I heeding my father`s advise. "I was just pulling your leg that`s all."
"What you never want to hear is a hoot owl," warned my mother.
"Is that so?" said Jack.
"It`s the sign that great sorrow is on its way," mom began to explain. "As sure as the sun will rise in the morning, if an owl is peering in your window and starts screeching that`s a sure fire sign that someone in your family has died."
My father who is now standing by the stove with mom began to glare at me slightly shaking his head from side to side, which translated into, `drop the subject.`
"Old woman, is there anything I can do to help you?" asked dad as he patted mom on her rear end.
"Yes there is," mom answered. "You can get your hand off my ass and set the table."
"Consider it done my dear," dad said as he looked at me and winked.
"What were you planning on doing today?" asked my mom.
"I just thought I`d hang out with you guys," he answered.
"What time did you say you had to leave tomorrow morning?" asked my dad.
While eating my mother`s breakfast I answered, the words slipping around the biscuits and gravy, "My flight is at seven in the morning. I fly to San Francisco hook up with my unit and then the next day we go to Guam then on to Saigon."
"Let`s not talk about that. There`ll be plenty of time for worrying," said my mother still standing at the stove facing away from dad and I regaining her composure.
My father very softly patted my shoulder reassuring me that mom was going to be fine.
He looked at me and smiled. "I talked to Bobby last night he`s going to be here around noon."
"That`s great," I answered. "How does he like college?"
"He likes it all right except he gets a little cold up there in Flagstaff during the winter," my mom said as she sat down to eat at the table with my father and I.
"It`s going to be good to see him," I said.
"Is your breakfast okay?" asked my mother.
"Mom, this is incredible," I answered. "What can I say mom, you`re the best!"
"More coffee son?" asked dad.
"Sounds great Dad," I answered.
December 1966 - Mesa, Arizona - El Viajero Motor Inn
Patty Gainer and I had been a couple since our senior year in high school. Patty, went to Mesa High School, was ready to begin the second semester of her sophomore year at Arizona State University. She was studying to become an elementary school teacher. As for me after graduating from San Ramon High School I took a job in Tucson at my uncle`s machine shop. I preferred working with my hands and my brain in a machine shop than working in some kind of factory.
When mom got word that I was dating a girl from Mesa she got a little excited before she found out all the facts. My mother and to a lesser extent my dad, had come to Arizona and discovered Mormons which they had heard little about of back home in Caddo, Oklahoma. When mom`s first cousin Rita told her about the girl from Mesa, mom assumed that she was a Mormon. The very thought of her son dating a Mormon girl sent a chill down her spine. My mother so disliked the Mormons that she wouldn`t even go to Mesa saying that the place was as close to hell as she ever wanted to get. My mother believed that all Mormons were doomed to burn in hell and she wanted nothing what so ever to do them.
"Jack I`m getting hungry," said Patty.
"Let`s wait a little bit then we`ll go to Bob`s Big Boy and have a burger," I answered.
"Well, Mr. Jack," Patty responded. "I`m putting my clothes on."
"Come on, what`s the hurry?" I asked.
"Are you serious? What are we going to do in this dinky little fleabag of a room? We`ve had sex four times. Do you ever get tired? You paid fourteen dollars for the night and the damn TV doesn`t even work," Patty noted, as she stood at the foot of the bed as naked as the day she was born.
"Okay. I got your message," I answered. "Did any one ever tell how good looking you are with no clothes on?"
"Only you, since you`re the only one who has seen me naked," answered Patty
"If you ever went naked outside all those freckles would show up all over your body," I told her. "That would be fun playing dot to dot with all those freckles."
She glared at me with an expression of pure astonishment, "Jack I seriously wonder about you sometimes. I swear you have a one-track mind. I`m starting to think you`re some kind of pervert."
"You`re just now finding that out?" I said with my irresistible grin. "Why don`t you hop in bed and we`ll see what pops up?"
"No, no way, ain`t going to happen. I`m going to get dressed and get something to eat," Patty thought for a second. "You know what?"
"What?" I answered.
"That movie with Elvis Presley is playing at the Pioneer Drive-in," said Patty.
"What movie?" I Jack
"Frankie and Johnny," Patty answered.
Patty noticed that my face became serious. An expression she had seldom seen before. She sensed I was trying to conjure a way to tell her about what had just happened, "I have to tell you something."
"Oh geez, let me guess I look good naked," she responded trying to lighten the situation, surmising that it wouldn`t be good news.
"Yes I happen to think you look fantastic naked but that`s not it," I answered without being a smart ass.
"Okay then, tell me," she nervously asked.
I reached over and grabbed an envelope out of my pants. I opened the letter and handed it to Patty.
She immediately noticed that the envelope was from the Government her eyes nervously switched back a forth from the envelope to my face. She refused to take the piece of paper. "What is it?"
"Well take it and read it," I responded.
"No," she answered her began to well up. "You tell me what it is."
"I got drafted," I said.
"Oh my God. Are you serious? When did you find out?" A tear meanders down her cheek.
"This morning before going to work," I answered.
"Can you get out of it?" she questioned.
"I don`t think I have much to say about getting drafted," I answered.
"When do you go?" she asked.
"In two weeks," I responded.
"That`s terrible," she said.
"I have an idea," trying to lighten things up a bit.
"What?" knowing full well that I was going to make some smart-ass remark.
"I think it would be cool to play dot to dot with all of your freckles."
"It`s not funny," she said. "They could send you to Vietnam. You shouldn`t make fun this is a serious matter."
"Trust me Patty, I`m not at all excited about going into the Army but I have no choice," I answered.
"What`s your mom and dad think?" she asked.
"I haven`t told them yet," I answered. "We`re having dinner with them. I thought I`d tell them over dinner."
"I can`t be there when you tell them," Patty said. "Hell Jack, I`m doing everything I can, not to start crying right now. No, no, no you have to tell them on your own."
"You`re right I`ll tell them," I responded.
"Oh Jack. What are we going to do?" Patty said.
"I got an idea," I said as I sat up in bed.
"Oh yeah what`s your idea. Let me guess. Have sex again," she responded.
"No, that`s not it, how could you even think of such a thing? That is so disgusting," I said. "How about we tell my mom and dad that we`re going to get married? What do you think of them apples?"
"Oh my God, are you serious?" Patty asked.
"Absolutely," I answered again reaching over to my pants that were draped over a chair and pull the ring from a pocket.
"Oh my God this so bad," said Patty.
I was stunned. I wasn`t expecting that reaction from her, "Patty, do you not want to marry me?"
"Of course I want to marry you," she answered while tears rolled down her cheeks. "What am I going to say when people want to know how you proposed to me? Am I supposed to say that we were both naked as a jaybirds in the sleaziest motel in Arizona."
"For a second there I thought you didn`t want to marry me," I answered completely ignoring her reaction. "Since I bought you this engagement ring."
"Ah Jack that`s so sweet. It`s beautiful. Oh my god I don`t know what to say!" Patty responded with tears still rolling down her face.
August 1967 - San Ramon, Arizona
My father, both brothers, and I anxiously stood by my mother`s white 65 Impala waiting to take me to airport.
"Jack are you sure you got everything you`re supposed to have in the car?" my dad asked.
"I only had a duffel bag and I put it in the trunk myself," I answered.
"You know Jack I don`t want to hurt your feelings but normally you`re a very stupid looking kind of guy but the uniform makes you look almost smart," my older brother Joe remarked with a smirk on his face.
"Gosh, thank you Joe, I can always count on you to make me feel good," I answered.
"Jack is Patty going to the airport with us?" my younger brother Bobby asked.
"No, we said our goodbyes last night," I answered. "She said she couldn`t bare watching me leave."
"With you being gone the El Viajero Motor Inn up in Mesa will most likely go broke," said Joe Junior as he chuckled.
"I don `t understand," questioned my father. "What`s that got to do with anything?"
"Oh dad nothing Joe was just being himself," I responded giving his Joe a look.
"What`s taking mom so long?" asked my brother Joe.
"Let me go in and see what`s taking so long," my dad, remarked walking into the house.
"So Jack how long is the trip to Vietnam?" Bobby asked.
"I`m not exactly sure but I think we`ll be there in three days," I answered.
"Let me give you some advise from a caring older brother who has been around the block a few more times then you," said Joe before I interrupted him.
"Joe the only reason you`ve been around the block more than me is that you were lost," Jack and Bobby began to laugh.
"That was good Jack," stated Bobby as he laughed.
"God damn I got both of you giving me shit. I`m only trying to give some advice because I care about you," Joe Junior stated with a mischievously nervous grin.
"Alright, say what you`re going to say," Jack remarked knowing it is going to be a joke of some kind.
"All I wanted to say was that you`re going way over there all by your lonesome. Those gals over there are mighty fine looking and it won`t be too long before you want to get a little Asian poontang. Just beware little brother I hear they got some bad shit over there. You don`t want to be taking a piss some morning and have your pecker come off in your hand."
"I`ll keep that in mind Joe," I stated with a grin hearing my brother`s profound advice.
"I don`t believe your mom is going to the airport with us this morning?" my father said walking toward my brothers and I.
"What`s wrong?" I asked.
"One of her boys happens to be going off to a war and she`s scared stiff that she`ll never see you again. Why don`t you go in and talk to her a while. Then you can tell her good bye. We`re in no hurry, so take your time we`ll be out here when you`re ready."
My dad and my brothers waited out by the car while I went in to console my mother. When I arrived she was was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee. She looked as though she hadn`t slept a wink all night her eyes were red from crying.
"Can I bum a smoke from you mom?" I asked as I sat down at the table.
"Yeah, sure help yourself," she answered.
"How are you doing?" I asked pulling a smoke out of her pack and lighting it up.
"Not worth a damn," she answered.
"I`m sorry mom, I really am," I answered.
"It`s not you son," mom answered. "It`s everything. Anymore everything seems to be topsy-turvy and I`ll be damned if I can figure any of it out. More than anything I ever wanted in my life I don`t want you to go to that place. I just don`t know what I`d do if you were to get yourself hurt or killed."
"Mom do you remember when we were kids and we`d all go out early in the morning with you and dad. Dad would go out to pick cotton and you`d stay with us boys and we would watch the sun rise over the Tortolitas. You`d tell us stories that you made up on the spot to get Joe and I to watch Bobby while you went out to work with dad. Mom I remember that as if it happened yesterday. Did you see the sunrise this morning? It was incredible, it reminded me of those days," I told my mother.
"Why are you telling me that?" she asked.
"I thought it`d make you feel better," I answered.
"Well Jack it`s not. The only thing that would make me feel better is if you weren`t going," mom answered.
"I don`t have a choice, besides it`s what I`m supposed to do. I`ll be home before you know it," I said in my feeble attempt to console her.
"Excuse me but I don`t feel a damn bit patriotic right now. Everybody in San Ramon has told me how proud they are of you. Everyone is so patriotic especially the folks who don`t have kids that have to go into the Army. I guarantee you if everybody had to donate a child go fight in this war we wouldn`t be over in that damn God forsaken place. Its easy being patriotic when you`re rich and your son is in college and doesn`t have to go do the country`s dirty work. You`re too damn young to know what you`re putting at steak."
"I understand mom and I`m sorry. I`ll be as careful as I can and I`ll be back home before you know it. I promise."
"You don`t know that," she remarks as she puts out her cigarette and takes a deep breath. "I know you have to go and there aint no sense in dragging this out." She stands and looks directly into my eyes. With her right hand she combs her fingers through my hair. "Be careful boy I`ll pray for God to watch over you every day until you come back home. You hear?" asked my mother.
"I hear you mom. Thank you," I said.
"Go on now," her words barely audible, with her eyes closed she cups his face between her hands and with a long lingering kiss she whispers in his ear, "goodbye."
9:03:32 AM Thursday March 2, 1968
Binh Dinh Province - Republic of Vietnam
This doesn`t feel right. I`m being engulfed in a warm blanket of pink. It`s so silent, so cold silent.
7:03:33 PM Wednesday March 1, 1968
"What was that?" asked Joe. "Turn the TV down."
"What was what?" reacted Regina lifting her head up to listen.
"I thought I heard something," said Joe.
"Old man you`re starting to lose your marbles," said Regina.
"You may have a point," Joe remarked just as he noticed a hoot owl that had roosted on their front porch and was staring through the window of the living room. Just when Joe took notice the hoot owl started an unnerving shriek. Joe immediately went to the front porch to scare off the bird. When Joe opened the front door the hoot owl flew to a small tree in the front yard stared back at Joe, then flew away.
A Serious Matter By Mark E. Elzey
