Boating; Joe's war?

The oldest living member of the 'Dead End Canal Yacht Club' is named 'Tail Gunner Joe' because he was a crew member on Flying Fortress' over Europe. His favorite war movie is Catch 22 even though he thinks it is silly and isn't sure what is really trying to say.

Carol married him in 1946 after he was through with all of that. She died last year at the age of 91. She had lived with her youngest daughter off and on for the last fifteen years. Carol suffered from Dementia and finally died in a Florida nursing facility. She hadn't recognized Joe in years.

Joe would only talk to the women members about Carol but we got the story second hand. She wrote him during his second tour. She was in High School but they became enamored with each other quickly. “She was wise beyond her years and in her last letters to her soldier she planned their wedding,” our wives told us.

Joe bailed out over Germany while returning from a raid late in that war. All but two of the crew survived. He was captured by German soldiers heading for the American lines. They used him to negotiate their 'Kaput, All is Kaput!' Some were teens other were men in their fifties. None of them were Nazis they claimed. Just a bunch of Good Germans trying to get away from the 'Ruskies' who were slaughtering everyone!

At the front the German soldiers threw their weapons into the river and sat on the bank waiting for the American boats to come across. The first boat picked Joe up and popped the top of a liter of German beer for Joe. They told him about the end of the war rumors. Joe confiscated a boat and went back for his prisoners. Then he went home.

Joe was a talker and he had all his senses so we listened eagerly when he told his stories. Not about Carol's later years but all about his early life and the G.I. Bill and College and Law School and working for a big oil company and finally retiring and volunteering as a Public Defender. He'd been wealthy from stock options but the Nursing Home got a lot of that.

My wife heard from his Grand Niece that Joe had stopped talking a few days before. Her family had bought the house on our canal and Joe had a 'Father-in Law' apartment for life in the back. “He watches too much news,” she often complained, “and now that Charlottesville murder has upset him to the point he'll hardly talk. He just keeps muttering something about Nazis.”

We suspected a stroke but his Doctor ruled that out with a preliminary diagnosis of depression. His niece was surprised when he didn't object to her turning off his TV but he grew very angry when she tried to take his war picture album away. “He wants some one to look at his pictures.”

I, Boston Bob, Erie Earl and Texarkana Hanna crowded into Joe's little apartment. He recognized us all but he didn't greet us in his usual warm manner. “Where did you get the wheel chair,” I asked. None of us ever saw him use one before.

“It was Carol's. No use letting it go to waste?” We told him we brought some beer but he declined. “Don't have a taste for it. Do you have any of that German beer with the flip tops”?

Erie Earl was sure Total Wine would have some so he promised to pick up Carl a six pack. “That would be real nice. Maybe that's what I need.”

“What's ailing you,” Boston Bob asked and that simple question opened the old man's mouth and he didn't stop talking for over and hour. He was sad and angry with American Nazis. Mostly angry at young men marching and shouting and killing. He was remembering his war. Most of it was very antiseptic, push a button and down the bombs would drop. Then he was taken on a guided tour by German soldiers and he saw the young soldiers lying dead alongside the roads and the houses blown to pieces.

He knew there were dead women and children in them but he didn't go look. Everyone was starving. Everyone was traumatized and he knew it was because one madman and his followers wanted to rule the world. He talked and we listened. After the hour he asked for a beer and we toasted 'sanity' for all.

Hanna was especially moved. “Don't worry Carl, it can't happen here. We still remember and will fight them tooth and nail!”

Never, never are you sure?

This blog/column is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All images are merely for humor and not meant to comment on subject. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Do not read while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery. Keep sending those great questions and comments! (Contact) boatguied@aol.com