Sundays at Two

1.  From that first day,

2.  John reminded me of Hemingway 

      (only taller).

3.  With his piercing blue eyes and kindly smile,

4.  he hovered over me and leaned on his cane.

5.  His bearded face broke into a wide grin.

6.  "Come on in," he smiled, leading me to an

7.  easy chair in the elegant apartment.

8.  Painstakingly I had prepared for this moment,

9.  photocopying releases, guidelines, preparing questions:

10. "How did you get through it?"

11. "Did you get drafted or enlist?"

12.  "Why did you choose the Army?"

13.  "Well," he replied, "there wasn't much for a healthy young man to do then,

14.  just out of high school, so me and five friends took the train 

15.  from Hamilton County to St. Louis to enlist."

16.  Basic training.  Endless marching up and down hills.

17.  "All we did was march, and run.  All the men in my group

18.  later became officers because our training was superior."

19.  And what did John know about the Holocaust,

20.  about the dead of Kiev, Odessa, Poland, Russia?

21.  The ninety thousand Jews that perished to ashes, to dust?

22.  Those Jews who fought on, to end the "Final Solution?"

23.  No, John didn't mention those things.

24.  But he did discuss how he and his men

25.  were like a band of brothers

26.  and how they trained for "Operation Overlord."

27.  June 5, 1944, the biggest undertaking in military history.