A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Harvard Law School 66.
HIM TO THE DRAW."
THESE WERE THE LAST WORDS MY FATHER SAID TO ME. THIS WAS SHORTLY AFTER THE TURN OF THE PAST CENTURY, NOT TOO LONG AFTER HE LEARNED THAT HE HAD LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE. HE SHOWED UP AT MY OFFICE, TOLD ME THAT HE WANTED TO TALK TO ME AND WE WENT INTO ANOTHER ROOM. IT WAS AT THAT TABLE THAT HE TOLD ME HOW THE STORY OF HOW THE WAR ENDED FOR HIM.
BUT LET ME TELL YOU HOW THE WAR BEGAN FOR ME. ON THE MORNING OF 7 DECEMBER 1941, MY FATHER, MY SAINTED MOTHER, AND ME MOTORED FROM FT. BENNING, GEORGIA, TO ATLANTA. THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIP WAS TO BUY THEIR FIRST HOME, A SMALL TRAILER THAT MY MOTHER WOULD DRIVE BACK TO WEST VIRGINIA AFTER MY FATHER SHIPPED OUT TO NORTHERN IRELAND IN EARLY 1942. NO AMERICAN SAW MORE COMBAT THAN MY FATHER IN WW II. HE WAS PART OF THE INVASION OF NORTH AFRICA, SICILY, AND THEN UP THE BOOT OF ITALY [CHURCHILL CALLED THIS ''THE SOFT UNDERBELLY OF EUROPE''] ENDING AT THE PO VALLEY IN THE NORTH IN THE SPRING OF 1945.
THE WAR ENDED FOR MOM AND ME WHEN WE WENT TO ST. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH IN PINE GROVE [A SMALL TOWN IN THE OUTBACK OF WETZEL COUNTY] AND SANG ''THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC.'' THE WAR HAD BEEN SUCH A BIG THING IN OUR LIVES, I THOUGHT, AND NOW DADDY WAS COMING HOME. "WHY AREN'T THERE MORE PEOPLE HERE, MAMA'', I ASKED? SHE SAID SOMETHING LIKE "THEY HAD BETTER THINGS TO DO, HONEY.'' BUT WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN GREETING A WAR HERO, I THOUGHT.
THINGS WOULD NEVER BE AS GOOD FOR ME AS THEY WERE FOR ME THERE ON SIMPSON HILL IN PINE GROVE. I WAS THE STAR ADORED AND WORSHIPED BY ALL. THE FIRST CHILD AND THE FIRST GRANDCHILD ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FAMILY. WHEN I TOOK ''THE FIRST STEP'' OF 12 SOME 35 YEARS LATER, I SAW RATHER QUICKLY THAT IN AA AND NA THAT ONE RECEIVED THE FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT OF ''GRANDMOTHER LOVE''.
MY MOTHER WAS YOUNG AND ATTRACTIVE AND HAD STOLEN MY FATHER FROM HER YOUNGER SISTER (SOMETHING THAT WAS TOLD TO ME BY A GREAT AUNT IN SO-CAL WHEN I HITCHHIKED OUT THERE AFTER MY SECOND YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL.) SHE WAS THE FAVORITE OF THE LOCAL DOCTOR WHO TOOK A SHINE ON ME AND WOULD LATER GIVE ME A DOCTOR'S HANDBAG (DOCTORS MADE HOUSE CALLS BACK THEN.) HE WAS ALWAYS THERE TO GIVE ME A ''BOOST'' AND ONCE WHEN I HAD SOME FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES IN LAW SCHOOL, HE MAILED ME A WAD OF CASH.
THE LEITMOTIF, THE BACKGROUND BUZZ AS IT WERE THAT FOLLOWED ME UP UNTIL I WAS 6 OR 7 WAS ''POOR LITTLE BOY. HE'S SO SWEET, TALKING ALL THEY TIME. SO FULL OF ENERGY. AND HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE HIS FATHER.'' MY FATHER HAD BOUGHT INTO THAT MYTH. YEARS LATER HE WOULD TELL ME ''WHEN I SHIPPED OUT, I NEVER EXPECTED TO SOME BACK.'' AND THE STATISTICS BACKED HIM THIS. THE MORTALITY RATE OF A 2nd LIEUTENANT IN COMBAT IS NOT TOO MUCH MORE THAN THE DEW ON THE MORNING GRASS.
BUT LET'S GET BACK TO MY FATHER AND ME AT THE TABLE. HE TOLD ME THAT FOR THE LAST YEAR HE WAS A LIAISON BETWEEN THE AMERICAN ARMY AND THE ITALIAN PARTISANS. THEY WERE MOSTLY COMMUNISTS WHO HAD OPPOSED MUSSOLINI SINCE HE TOOK OVER AND THEY WAGED A BITTER, VERY PERSONAL GUERILLA AGAINST THE ITALIAN FASCISTS. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN AMBUSHED AND KILLED 13 SS MEN, HITLER PERSONALLY ORDERED A 10 FOR 1 REPRISAL. ''AND THAT WAS WHEN ITALY AND GERMANY WERE ALLIES'', MY FATHER TOLD ME.
WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE REPLICATION OF WHAT MY FATHER TOLD ME IN HIS WORDS SOME 10 OR 15 YEARS AGO:
I was coming back to the base and about halfway there I saw two soldiers hitchhiking and I picked them up. I said that I had to stop at Graves Registration but that I would take them to where they were going after I was done. Well, they stole my jeep and the Army in its wisdom took the cost of the Jeep out of my pay. Also, they docked me extra because an officer isn't supposed to be driving a Jeep. He's supposed to have a driver. Well, it's just a few days later--the War's almost over and the Jerries are surrendering in droves--and I see this big column of soldiers marching up the road, they're raising this big cloud of dust. As they got closer I could see that they were Germans and they were all carrying their weapons because the Italian partisans would have killed them if they could. There was a full Colonel leading them standing up driving the Jeep AND IT WAS MY JEEP. He didn't have a driver either!!! So the Colonel went for his gun, etc.
HE WENT ON AND TOLD ME HOW HIS LAWYER HAD SOLD HIM OUT. DIDN'T PLEAD HIS CASE WELL, ETC. FOR EXAMPLE, HE HAD HIM APPLY FOR A PURPLE HEART RETROACTIVELY. HE HAD GOT HIT WITH SOME SHRAPNEL A YEAR OF TWO EARLIER. SAID IT DIDN'T LOOK GOOD, LIKE HE WAS ASKING FOR MERCY. AT THE TIME I JUST WROTE THAT OFF AS TYPICAL WETZEL COUNTY HARD-HEADEDNESS. A LAWYER THERE CAN NEVER ''WIN'' A CRIMINAL CASE: IF THEY GUY GETS CONVICTED, HIS LAWYER LET HIM DOWN; IF HE GETS ACQUITTED, HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED IN THE FIRST PLACE AND YOU SHOULD GIVE HIM HIS MONEY BACK.
I ONLY BROUGHT MY MOTHER TO TEARS ONCE, WHEN I WAS 12 OR 13. MOM WAS BERATING ME ABOUT WHAT A TERRIBLE CHILD I WAS (and rightfully so!) AND I INTERJECTED WITH ''SO LOOK AT YOU. YOU WERE GOING TO BE AN ARMY OFFICER'S WIFE, TRAVELING ALL OVER THE WORLD, WEREN'T YOU? WELL LOOK AT YOU, LOOK AT WHERE YOU ARE NOW? IT WAS AT SOME POINT AFTER SHE QUIT CRYING---MINUTES, HOURS, DAYS, WEEKS OR YEARS,I DON'T REMEMBER BUT NOW, RIGHT NOW I CAN HEAR HER SOFT VOICE SAYING Your Father got into a lot of trouble just as the War was ending. Don't ask him about it, it will only make him mad. Maybe someday he will tell you about it, maybe he won't. Just don't ask him anything about the War. Let him tell you. Let him tell you, Herbie.
IT WAS IN A CONVERSATION WITH A NEW MARTINSVILLE LAWYER (WALTER ''DIRT'' BALL) WELL OVER 60 YEARS LATER THAT MY FATHER ''SPOKE'' TO ME AGAIN. "DIRT'' LISTENED QUIETLY AS I TOLD HIM THE STORY AND WHEN I WAS FINISHED HE SAID QUICKLY AND WITHOUT ANY HESITATION HE KILLED HIM.''
''DIRT'' WENT ON TO TELL ME ABOUT HIS FATHER WHO WAS IN THE PO VALLEY AT THE SAME TIME. THE GERMANS HAD OVERRUN THEIR POSITION AND HIS FATHER WAS AWARDED A SILVER STAR, A BRONZE STAR AND A PURPLE HEART FOR HIS CONDUCT IN REPELLING THE ATTACK. HE WAS (LITERALLY) STABBED IN THE BACK. ''THOSE GUYS HAD BEEN IN COMBAT FOR OVER THREE YEARS'', HE SAID. ''THEY WEREN'T GOING TO PULL A GUN AND NOT USE IT.'' WHEN ''DIRT'' SAID THAT I THOUGHT ''THAT'S WHAT MY FATHER ALWAYS SAID TO HIS LITTLE GUN 'FREAK' SON: 'NEVER PULL A GUN UNLESS YOU'RE GOING TO USE IT'." IN MY IGNORANCE, I THOUGHT THAT THIS MEANT READY TO USE. IN THE DAY [WHAT AN ODIOUS PHRASE, ALTHOUGH NOT NEARLY AS BAD AS ''WHATEVER''], I THOUGHT PULLING A GUN ON SOMEONE WAS JUST ONE WAY TO SETTLE AN ARGUMENT.
SO IT'S AS CLEAR AS I WANT IT TO BE THAT MY WAR HERO FATHER [NOTA BENE: I HAVE REMOVED THE ITALICS AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS ARTICLE] BY SAYING ''I BEAT HIM TO THE DRAW'' WAS SAYING SOMETHING THAT ANY KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON---OTHER THAN HIS ''WAR WIMP'' SON---WOULD UNDERSTAND. AND THE REASON THAT MY FATHER FELT HIS LAWYER LET HIM DOWN IS THAT HE BELIEVED IN HIS HEART OF HEARTS THAT HE ACTED IN SELF-DEFENSE. AFTER ALL, WHAT CAPTAIN WOULD DARE TO PULL A GUN ON A FULL COLONEL?
THIS IS NOT WHERE THE STORY ENDS THOUGH. THERE ARE LOTS OF LOOSE ENDS. HOW DID MY FATHER GET OUT OF DOING THE FULL 10 YEARS AT HARD LABOR IN THE FEDERAL PRISON AT LEAVENWORTH? WHEN DID HE GET HIS VETERAN'S BENEFITS RESTORED? THE PRISONERS WHO WERE FOLLOWING THE COLONEL WERE NOT ''REAL'' GERMANS BUT RUSSIANS WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED ON THE EASTERN FRONT AND SENT TO ITALY IN GERMAN UNIFORMS. AT POTSDAM THE ALLIES HAD AGREED TO SEND THEM BACK TO JOSEF STALIN. WERE THESE ERSATZ GERMANS UNKNOWINGLY MARCHING TO THEIR DEATH? WHO WAS THE GOLEM OF TRIESTE? WHO WAS HUGH THOMPSON, JR. AND WHY DO I CONSIDER HIM THE GREATEST HERO OF OUR ADVENTURE IN VIET NAM? [HINT: HE WAS A HELICOPTER PILOT.] WHAT PART DO THESE ITEMS PLAY, IF ANY, IN MY FATHER'S STORY?
IF YOU SEE ME AND WANT ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS ANSWERED, IT WILL BE NECESSARY FOR YOU TO MAKE AN IMMEDIATE $20 CASH CONTRIBUTION TO MOI. IF YOU WANT A TELEPHONE REPLY, PLEASE CONTRIBUTE $100 TO HERBERT JOHN ROGERS, d/b/a, H. JOHN ROGERS CAMPAIGN FUND @ WesBanco. Account # 0074008476.
Routing # 043400036. If you want a personal appearance, call (304) 455-3200, wait 15 seconds after my message for the beep and pledge $5000 in small, unmarked bills upon arrival.
Editor's Note: Mr. Rogers in his hubris forgot to mention that he is THE FAVORITE SON (The Evangelist Jeremy Gilbert from Paden City said that Mr. Rogers is G-D'S FAVORITE SON) for President in the 2020 Democratic primary. Mr. Rogers in his political evolution has gone from Roosevelt Democrat to Libertarian and is currently a "DIXICRAT". He has sought and received the blessing of the members of the PIPELINERS PENTACOSTAL PALACE, the "new wine'' in the old bottle of the First Methodist Church in New Martinsville.
"HE WENT FOR HIS GUN AND I WENT FOR MY GUN AND I BEAT
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