Uncle Kenny was, as my grandpa said, an alcoholic prior to World War Two. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Kenny enlisted in the Marine Corps December 8, 1941. He thought he might be cured of his alcoholism, but that was not to be. He was assigned to Carlson's Raider battalion right out of boot camp. There was an old movie about that with Randolph Scott, but it was apparently propagandized for the war years. The truth of it historically was the raiders were dropped near Japanese islands by submarines and the job was to infiltrate Japanese camps and slit the throats of night watches to strike fear into those there early in the war before the regular corps was able to invade. He mentioned that to me once when he was drunk. Decades later he still regretted having to do that. Don't misinterpret that as a slam on Kenny, I loved him dearly. I don't know what all in the way of souvenirs Kenny had from the war, but he did give me a Japanese sniper rifle when I was so young I was barely able to lift it. My mother was horrified, but Kenny assured her he had disabled it so it could not shoot.
My grandpa also liked his beer, but he never drank at home. He liked to go to a local tavern so he could talk to all the old men who gathered there in the afternoons and evenings. Once he was talking to a man on the stool next to him. He was also an ex-marine from WW-2. Grandpa mentioned his son-in-law was also an ex-marine. The man asked about where Kenny served and grandpa was telling him what he knew about Kenny's exploits. After the marine raider battalions were disbanded Kenny was assigned to a regular marine division and was landed ashore on Saipan in 1944. It was a bloody mess as you may have heard. When grandpa mentioned Kenny went ashore on Saipan the man lit up and said, "damn, I remember him. We went together onto the shore of Saipan." He told grandpa the night before the invasion he scoured the ship for anything he could get to drink and found nothing. The next morning Kenny was drunk when they went ashore. The Japanese fire on the beach was fierce, but Kenny was standing tall tossing grenades at the defenders. I suppose that's why the man remembered it decades later.
My grandpa was more of a father to me than my father ever was and I loved him dearly. He more than made up for dad. Grandpa took me to California on a vacation in 1957 and we went to Disneyland before it was fully completed. He worked as a clerk at the post office and got off shift at 2 in the afternoon so we went fishing during the summers. In 1974 he was dying in the hospital. Uncle Kenny (who also loved him) heard about it and wanted to see him. Being Kenny he stopped at a tavern on the way. He was at a bar drinking and the man next to him was bragging about a huge catfish he had caught that afternoon. Kenny wanted to see it, so they went out to the parking lot where the man opened the trunk of his car. The catfish head was nearly as big as a human skull. Kenny asked if he wanted the head of the fish? The man said, "no." Kenny asked if he could cut the head off to show it to his father-in-law in the hospital? The man said,"go ahead and take it." By the time Kenny was ready to leave for the hospital, visiting hours were long over, but his marine training went into gear and he slipped by the nurse's desk and got into grandpa's room. Grandpa was sound asleep by then, so Kenny left the catfish head under the bed so grandpa could see it in the morning. It turned out grandpa died in the wee hours of the morning in his sleep. The next morning the nurse came into the room and found the head. She freaked out! She called mom to let her know grandpa had died and to ask her if the catfish head had some voodoo or religious meaning? Mom immediately knew it was Kenny because no one else would or could get by the nurses or even attempt to do the deed.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
My grandpa also liked his beer, but he never drank at home. He liked to go to a local tavern so he could talk to all the old men who gathered there in the afternoons and evenings. Once he was talking to a man on the stool next to him. He was also an ex-marine from WW-2. Grandpa mentioned his son-in-law was also an ex-marine. The man asked about where Kenny served and grandpa was telling him what he knew about Kenny's exploits. After the marine raider battalions were disbanded Kenny was assigned to a regular marine division and was landed ashore on Saipan in 1944. It was a bloody mess as you may have heard. When grandpa mentioned Kenny went ashore on Saipan the man lit up and said, "damn, I remember him. We went together onto the shore of Saipan." He told grandpa the night before the invasion he scoured the ship for anything he could get to drink and found nothing. The next morning Kenny was drunk when they went ashore. The Japanese fire on the beach was fierce, but Kenny was standing tall tossing grenades at the defenders. I suppose that's why the man remembered it decades later.
My grandpa was more of a father to me than my father ever was and I loved him dearly. He more than made up for dad. Grandpa took me to California on a vacation in 1957 and we went to Disneyland before it was fully completed. He worked as a clerk at the post office and got off shift at 2 in the afternoon so we went fishing during the summers. In 1974 he was dying in the hospital. Uncle Kenny (who also loved him) heard about it and wanted to see him. Being Kenny he stopped at a tavern on the way. He was at a bar drinking and the man next to him was bragging about a huge catfish he had caught that afternoon. Kenny wanted to see it, so they went out to the parking lot where the man opened the trunk of his car. The catfish head was nearly as big as a human skull. Kenny asked if he wanted the head of the fish? The man said, "no." Kenny asked if he could cut the head off to show it to his father-in-law in the hospital? The man said,"go ahead and take it." By the time Kenny was ready to leave for the hospital, visiting hours were long over, but his marine training went into gear and he slipped by the nurse's desk and got into grandpa's room. Grandpa was sound asleep by then, so Kenny left the catfish head under the bed so grandpa could see it in the morning. It turned out grandpa died in the wee hours of the morning in his sleep. The next morning the nurse came into the room and found the head. She freaked out! She called mom to let her know grandpa had died and to ask her if the catfish head had some voodoo or religious meaning? Mom immediately knew it was Kenny because no one else would or could get by the nurses or even attempt to do the deed.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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