Cumming's No Diesel Was He!
Cummings would
have been far more suited as a UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) or
"frogman".Such were the shape and condition of his hapless feet. These two boats
had each, a mind of their own. One went thisaway, the other went thataway. In itself, no
big deal. Except for his high tendency to trip over imaginary items and stick the muzzle
of his .57 recoilless rifle into the dirt.
One day the company
had to remove the old paint from their steel helmets. While in the field they used these
helmets as cooking utensils, wash basins and the steel pots took quite a beating. With
paint remover they began to prepare them for repainting.
Their platoon
sergeant, Haynes was a Southern Gentleman if there ever was one. Never one to raise his
voice, his gentle manner belied his soldiering ability. What most of these sergeants
achieved with brute force, this man doubled with clemence.
After the morning
session was over the good sergeant placed his clipboard on top of his locker. Later in the
day the sergeant reached to get his papers, someone had put an open can of paint remover
on top of his stuff. Not knowing of the can of fluid, Haynes' eyes became victims to the
searing, acid-like liquid. Brilliant colors filled with pain reverberated inside his head
as he fought to retain consciousness as a darkness unrelated to night hovered at the edge
of his mind.
The pain caused the
gentleman to lose it. He did not know whom had done this stupid thing but almost everyone
else did!
Cummings swallowed
against the cold, hard knot that choked his throat. They had never heard the man swear
before. Haynes lambasted the day the perpetrator was conceived. He also blasted the
mother, the grandmother and said anything to try and anger enough the guilty person to
come forward. It did not work!
Silently Cummings
resented the tirade in proxy about the validity of his parentage and of his mother's
now ruined reputation, but remained as a muted dummy. No one told Haynes and if he
reads this book he'll probably go to Maine to find my boy Cummings.
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