thedrifter
04-08-03, 04:57 PM
Elmer T.
The old man sat on the stone bench
Looking dapper in a faded blue suit
Black wingtips buffed to a bright glossy shine
His cane resting across his lap
A red tie on a white shirt showed he had style
A gold pin was stuck in his lapel
The pin that he was never without
Of an eagle atop a globe with a fouled anchor
Gray cropped hair surrounded a bald scalp
Wrinkles covered his tired, stern face
A face that his nose had outgrown
Weary blue eyes set deep but still sharp
His name was Elmer T.
He came here everyday and just seemed to be waiting
But nobody knew just what he was waiting for
Or even knew his name, for nobody ever bothered to asked
If they had, well the answer was just plain simple
For Elmer T. was not waiting at all
At least not for someone or something
He just came here to sit and watch, but mostly just to think
At seventy-six and ill, he knew his life would soon be over
After all his dear Martha was already gone
So sitting here in this new mall was far better
Than sitting at home all alone
His two surviving boys were all grown up and gone
Now even his grandkids had kids
Most lived out west, for that’s where people go now
There was a sister down in D. C.
Maybe if Charlie, his oldest, was still alive today
He might have stayed closer to home
But Charlie, his dear darling boy,
Had not come home from that crazy war in Vietnam
So Elmer T. spent most of his mornings
Watching people as they passed by
Families with excited kids, running into and out of stores
Old couples shopping arm in arm
And he watched with some concern
The young adults with their rowdy ways
More than once a crude gesture or some profane insult
Was thrown at him with no cause or reason
Elmer T. would mostly ignore them
And chalk it up to their ignorance and youth
But sometimes they would annoy him
With their total lack of respect
Elmer T. smiled to himself
And thought of how different his youth had been
A time of peril and hardship,
A sad fearful time of war
Just three months short of his high school graduation
Young and foolish, thinking the war would pass him by
Elmer T. and his best friend Smitty, both just seventeen
Enlisted in the United States Marine Corps
He thought of how big and strong he had been
Six foot and one hundred and seventy pounds
But that was so very long ago
Time and illness had wasted him away
“Now that had been in what? Oh yeah, March of ’44.”
By February of ’45 they were pinned down on a bloody beach at ‘Iwo’
Elmer T. looked down as his eyes started to water
As he thought again of that time
Oh how he missed those men he once knew
Their friendship and love for each other
Lost half his platoon in just the first two days
And good old Sgt. Anderson, ‘Pappy’ was what he’d been called
Not just because he was a veteran of the ‘Canal’
He was known as ‘Pappy’ for being all of twenty-four
The old man in their squad
Lost to a sniper on D+4
Elmer T. had spent three weeks on that burning hell
Watching his buddies die one by one
Killing a hidden enemy the same way
One by bloody one
He saved Smitty’s life, at least Smitty would have told it that way
Cut down by a grenade, wounded and in the open
Elmer T. was hit twice going out to save his friend
Hit once more on the way back in
He was awarded a Silver Star
But if anyone had cared to ask
Elmer T. will tell you, “It ain’t honest.”
What was I to do? Just leave my best friend out there?”
Elmer T. gripped his cane tight
As he remembered Smitty’s funeral
After all they had been through together
Smitty died in an automobile accident back in ‘49
His trembling hand brushed a wet cheek
He looked towards the sunlit doors
“That’s life.” He said to himself
“What is God’s will we do not know.”
God and the Corps were not done with Elmer T.
In ’50 the Korean War exploded while he was in the Reserves
Called up to serve again, married but no children
For Charlie was just on the way
So with ‘Chesty’ and the Glorious 1st
Elmer T. climbed the Inchon walls
Street to street, house to house
Fighting through Inchon, and Seoul
He soon found a different war
Way up north by the Chosin Reservoir
Now instead of killing the enemy one by one
They came at you all at once by the thousands
With bugle calls in the chilling cold
Wave after wave they rushed forward
Elmer T. swore that every single one
Was personally coming for him
One night while on a flanking patrol
Protecting ‘The Frozen Chosen’
He won another Silver Star
For wiping out a Chinese mortar squad
The wound he received was his ‘ticket home’
To his wife and newborn son
And again if you should ask about this ‘Star’ well
“I was just doin’ my job.”
As Elmer T. sat reflecting
He had noticed three young boys
Three times they had passed him as he sat thinking
One of them commenting, “Look at that old fart.”
They stood now ten feet away
Talking low and looking at him
Smiling and laughing
Cooking up some sort of mischief
He tried to pay them no mind
And decided to start for home
But before he got up to leave
He whispered his simple prayer
“Smitty, Pappy, Doc and Dutch
All of my other dear friends. Charlie my beloved son, dear Martha,
God bless you all for coming into my life. God keep you.
I love you all and I will see you soon again. Amen”
Weary from his thoughts
Elmer T. decided that as he sat here again tomorrow
He should reflect upon happier times
He would think of when he met Martha and of his beautiful boys
Standing he collected himself
He straightened his tie and jacket
And while leaning on his cane
Rubbed the pain from the old wounds in his legs
Now using the cane for balance
The frail old man slowly went out the door
Turning down a street he had failed to notice
The three boys had followed him
These boys, all of fifteen
Figured they had an easy mark
This old man they figured, could not hurt them
But if necessary, they would hurt him
Elmer T. had overcome plenty of fear in his life
But that was when he had been young and strong
Now hearing the footsteps, murmurs and laughter behind him
That old feeling of fear began again
Glancing over his shoulder
Elmer T. saw them gaining ground
Looking around there seemed to be no help
And he knew he was in trouble
Elmer T. felt the fear growing stronger
Absently he reached up to pull down on his lapel
That’s when his hand hit the pin
That’s when he got mad
Elmer T. was not mad at the kids
He was not mad at the situation
He was not mad because he was now old and frail
He was mad at himself for being scared!
“After all you’ve been through,
You’re afraid of these kids?
Well you may not be the man you used to be,
But than neither are these boys!”
“Damn it man you are a Marine!
So buck up and act like one!”
Still clutching his pin he raised his cane
And with an old familiar rush of adrenaline, he whirled
Well, he whirled as well as seventy-six year old man
With two bad legs could whirl
But it must have impressed the boys
For they stopped dead in their tracks
Elmer T.’s weary tired old eyes
Had turned to cold blue piercing steel
As he looked the lead boy straight in the eyes
“What do you want?” asked Elmer T. boldly and firm
Surprised the boy stuttered, than collecting himself said,
“We want your money old man.”
“Yeah,” piped in another, “give it up or get hurt!”
Meanwhile Elmer T. quickly sized up his foe
He had learned long ago a hard lesson
Do not under estimate your enemy
And he knew that now at his age
These boys could do him some harm
He knew they had no plan,
No signal for who would strike first
It was all catch as catch can, hit and run
He also saw no weapons
Thinking faster than he had in years he made his plan
Knowing that his first stroke would be his best shot
He would strike the biggest, closest bandit first
Knocking him on his ass might take the fight out of the other two
Raising his cane a little higher
He noticed that the one farthest away
Was already holding back, losing his nerve, ready to run
He was sure that it was now down to two against one
“I said give us your money you old bastard!” said the biggest one
Elmer T. with a strength he had not felt in years
And a voice calm, firm and chilling, simply stated
“Come and get it.”
The big one darted in
Then jumped aside
And with all his might, the old man swung his cane
And missed
Elmer T. felt a sharp, quick pain under his out stretched arm
As the boy lunged in and made contact
And while falling to the ground
He saw the flash of a blade in the boy’s right hand
Now the other two were on him
Kicking him as he lay dying
Ripping open his faded blue jacket to steal his wallet
And laughing at his pain
Just as quickly has they had struck
The bandits were now gone
Running in three separate directions
Shouting, cursing and laughing into the coming night
“Damn,” said Elmer T. “That kid was fast.”
continued.............
The old man sat on the stone bench
Looking dapper in a faded blue suit
Black wingtips buffed to a bright glossy shine
His cane resting across his lap
A red tie on a white shirt showed he had style
A gold pin was stuck in his lapel
The pin that he was never without
Of an eagle atop a globe with a fouled anchor
Gray cropped hair surrounded a bald scalp
Wrinkles covered his tired, stern face
A face that his nose had outgrown
Weary blue eyes set deep but still sharp
His name was Elmer T.
He came here everyday and just seemed to be waiting
But nobody knew just what he was waiting for
Or even knew his name, for nobody ever bothered to asked
If they had, well the answer was just plain simple
For Elmer T. was not waiting at all
At least not for someone or something
He just came here to sit and watch, but mostly just to think
At seventy-six and ill, he knew his life would soon be over
After all his dear Martha was already gone
So sitting here in this new mall was far better
Than sitting at home all alone
His two surviving boys were all grown up and gone
Now even his grandkids had kids
Most lived out west, for that’s where people go now
There was a sister down in D. C.
Maybe if Charlie, his oldest, was still alive today
He might have stayed closer to home
But Charlie, his dear darling boy,
Had not come home from that crazy war in Vietnam
So Elmer T. spent most of his mornings
Watching people as they passed by
Families with excited kids, running into and out of stores
Old couples shopping arm in arm
And he watched with some concern
The young adults with their rowdy ways
More than once a crude gesture or some profane insult
Was thrown at him with no cause or reason
Elmer T. would mostly ignore them
And chalk it up to their ignorance and youth
But sometimes they would annoy him
With their total lack of respect
Elmer T. smiled to himself
And thought of how different his youth had been
A time of peril and hardship,
A sad fearful time of war
Just three months short of his high school graduation
Young and foolish, thinking the war would pass him by
Elmer T. and his best friend Smitty, both just seventeen
Enlisted in the United States Marine Corps
He thought of how big and strong he had been
Six foot and one hundred and seventy pounds
But that was so very long ago
Time and illness had wasted him away
“Now that had been in what? Oh yeah, March of ’44.”
By February of ’45 they were pinned down on a bloody beach at ‘Iwo’
Elmer T. looked down as his eyes started to water
As he thought again of that time
Oh how he missed those men he once knew
Their friendship and love for each other
Lost half his platoon in just the first two days
And good old Sgt. Anderson, ‘Pappy’ was what he’d been called
Not just because he was a veteran of the ‘Canal’
He was known as ‘Pappy’ for being all of twenty-four
The old man in their squad
Lost to a sniper on D+4
Elmer T. had spent three weeks on that burning hell
Watching his buddies die one by one
Killing a hidden enemy the same way
One by bloody one
He saved Smitty’s life, at least Smitty would have told it that way
Cut down by a grenade, wounded and in the open
Elmer T. was hit twice going out to save his friend
Hit once more on the way back in
He was awarded a Silver Star
But if anyone had cared to ask
Elmer T. will tell you, “It ain’t honest.”
What was I to do? Just leave my best friend out there?”
Elmer T. gripped his cane tight
As he remembered Smitty’s funeral
After all they had been through together
Smitty died in an automobile accident back in ‘49
His trembling hand brushed a wet cheek
He looked towards the sunlit doors
“That’s life.” He said to himself
“What is God’s will we do not know.”
God and the Corps were not done with Elmer T.
In ’50 the Korean War exploded while he was in the Reserves
Called up to serve again, married but no children
For Charlie was just on the way
So with ‘Chesty’ and the Glorious 1st
Elmer T. climbed the Inchon walls
Street to street, house to house
Fighting through Inchon, and Seoul
He soon found a different war
Way up north by the Chosin Reservoir
Now instead of killing the enemy one by one
They came at you all at once by the thousands
With bugle calls in the chilling cold
Wave after wave they rushed forward
Elmer T. swore that every single one
Was personally coming for him
One night while on a flanking patrol
Protecting ‘The Frozen Chosen’
He won another Silver Star
For wiping out a Chinese mortar squad
The wound he received was his ‘ticket home’
To his wife and newborn son
And again if you should ask about this ‘Star’ well
“I was just doin’ my job.”
As Elmer T. sat reflecting
He had noticed three young boys
Three times they had passed him as he sat thinking
One of them commenting, “Look at that old fart.”
They stood now ten feet away
Talking low and looking at him
Smiling and laughing
Cooking up some sort of mischief
He tried to pay them no mind
And decided to start for home
But before he got up to leave
He whispered his simple prayer
“Smitty, Pappy, Doc and Dutch
All of my other dear friends. Charlie my beloved son, dear Martha,
God bless you all for coming into my life. God keep you.
I love you all and I will see you soon again. Amen”
Weary from his thoughts
Elmer T. decided that as he sat here again tomorrow
He should reflect upon happier times
He would think of when he met Martha and of his beautiful boys
Standing he collected himself
He straightened his tie and jacket
And while leaning on his cane
Rubbed the pain from the old wounds in his legs
Now using the cane for balance
The frail old man slowly went out the door
Turning down a street he had failed to notice
The three boys had followed him
These boys, all of fifteen
Figured they had an easy mark
This old man they figured, could not hurt them
But if necessary, they would hurt him
Elmer T. had overcome plenty of fear in his life
But that was when he had been young and strong
Now hearing the footsteps, murmurs and laughter behind him
That old feeling of fear began again
Glancing over his shoulder
Elmer T. saw them gaining ground
Looking around there seemed to be no help
And he knew he was in trouble
Elmer T. felt the fear growing stronger
Absently he reached up to pull down on his lapel
That’s when his hand hit the pin
That’s when he got mad
Elmer T. was not mad at the kids
He was not mad at the situation
He was not mad because he was now old and frail
He was mad at himself for being scared!
“After all you’ve been through,
You’re afraid of these kids?
Well you may not be the man you used to be,
But than neither are these boys!”
“Damn it man you are a Marine!
So buck up and act like one!”
Still clutching his pin he raised his cane
And with an old familiar rush of adrenaline, he whirled
Well, he whirled as well as seventy-six year old man
With two bad legs could whirl
But it must have impressed the boys
For they stopped dead in their tracks
Elmer T.’s weary tired old eyes
Had turned to cold blue piercing steel
As he looked the lead boy straight in the eyes
“What do you want?” asked Elmer T. boldly and firm
Surprised the boy stuttered, than collecting himself said,
“We want your money old man.”
“Yeah,” piped in another, “give it up or get hurt!”
Meanwhile Elmer T. quickly sized up his foe
He had learned long ago a hard lesson
Do not under estimate your enemy
And he knew that now at his age
These boys could do him some harm
He knew they had no plan,
No signal for who would strike first
It was all catch as catch can, hit and run
He also saw no weapons
Thinking faster than he had in years he made his plan
Knowing that his first stroke would be his best shot
He would strike the biggest, closest bandit first
Knocking him on his ass might take the fight out of the other two
Raising his cane a little higher
He noticed that the one farthest away
Was already holding back, losing his nerve, ready to run
He was sure that it was now down to two against one
“I said give us your money you old bastard!” said the biggest one
Elmer T. with a strength he had not felt in years
And a voice calm, firm and chilling, simply stated
“Come and get it.”
The big one darted in
Then jumped aside
And with all his might, the old man swung his cane
And missed
Elmer T. felt a sharp, quick pain under his out stretched arm
As the boy lunged in and made contact
And while falling to the ground
He saw the flash of a blade in the boy’s right hand
Now the other two were on him
Kicking him as he lay dying
Ripping open his faded blue jacket to steal his wallet
And laughing at his pain
Just as quickly has they had struck
The bandits were now gone
Running in three separate directions
Shouting, cursing and laughing into the coming night
“Damn,” said Elmer T. “That kid was fast.”
continued.............