In my late teens I was naive, squirrely, painfully shy and generally fearful, which was made up for by trying to be macho. Such is the way of teenage humanity.

It was 1978 and I had worked with Steve for over a year and a half. I should say worked near by Steve in the shop.

Steve was a loner I guess you could say, he didn't small talk or joke around like the rest of the guys. Steve was a vet. There were other vets working there also. There was Emil the Polish artillery man that lost his left arm in the war. He had one of the most snarly demeanor's I've ever seen on a human which was all a put on. Probably to intimidate punk kid's like me. And there was Will also. An Oriental guy well over 6 feet tall from Mindanao who walked really bad and liked to bitch about the Japs that broke his knees. Nice guys both and I"m honored to have known them.

And then there was Steve..

Steve was around 6'2" square shouldered, rail straight and his face was frozen into a snarling grimace. A curled lip look of menace or disgust that scared the crap out of me. And he had freaking red eyes, FREAKING RED EYES! And he worked right behind me with that look of total disgust. And he had tics too. He was always swatting bugs that weren't there by his right ear. Trouble is he was right handed and had a razor sharp deburring tool in his hand that was waving around. I knew he wanted to kill me.

It was mentioned in whispers, little pieces of the puzzle of Steve. Too many flight in too many shot up aircraft with shot up buddies over Europe.....It was mentioned out the side of peoples mouths in hushed tones....combat fatigue...they didn't have PTSD back then..and I just new he hated me and wanted to kill me.

He had to hate me. I was probably the embodiment of every thing he hated. Long haired, bell bottom wearing punk.

Then one day in April of 78 we went on strike. Had to pull picket duty for 20$ a week and do my duty. Then one day the other guys decided to go to lunch. They said "Hey kid let's go to Chink's for lunch". I replied that I was only 19 and it wasn't a good idea. They said it's all right so I tagged along expecting the worst.

We were a motley crew walking the 2 blocks to "Chink's Foundry Lounge". A 500 pound tool maker, a 6 foot Oriental, a one armed Pollack, a hippy looking punk. and Steve holding up the rear. To this day I have never seen a seedier dive than Chink's. Housed in the ratty bare floored office of a defunct foundry and sweet Jesus the bar tender looks like an older Brock Lesnar with tattoo's and a military buzz. We walk in and he says sternly "Hey guy's, that kid's too young". The boy's replied "He's all right Chink". Chink gets a little louder " He's way too young"! By this time I'm inching towards the door in case Chink wants to chase me out with a club. It was common to run off under age kid's back then with a stick of some kind to put a little fear of God in them. I was already scared by the looks of Chink and his demeanor. I moved to take a step towards the door to avoid any trouble when a big hand grabs my shoulder. Jesus Christ now Steve's got me. He holds me firm and in a voice I'd never heard come out of him before, he says "CHINK I SAID THIS KID'S ALL RIGHT".....All of a sudden, Chink replies , in a very sheepish tone..."All rrright Steve, what ever you say". All was well. I think it was that day I saw that Steve really had steely blue eyes.

I don't know what I had ever done to warrant any respect our consideration from those brave, wounded vet's. I knew I needed to do a lot more of it. Especially Steve.... Did I mention he had steely blue eyes?

You pulled your load, and you didn't pay out BS.

Some things never change.

Great story, and well written! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, thanks!

Very cool story. I've taken to writing down some of my better stories as well. The hope is that someday my kids would find some worth in reading them.

Being accepted by Steve in front of the guys must have made you proud and humble.
Awesome story.

Obviously, Steve saw something in you that you did not see or know you had. Life is like that.

flashguy

sounds to me you were doing the right thing.

Very well written, and an epic chapter of your life. GOD BLESS ALL OUR VETS!!!

When you write more chapters, please keep us posted.

A+

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
Great story, and well written! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, thanks!

+1 Thanks!

Well done. I enjoyed reading that. Thanks for posting.

Good read

Thanks!

Awesome.

Great read, I enjoyed reading it. Just, what happened to Steve and the others? You ended to soon and I need closure.

Thank you for sharing that with us.

Thanks for posting. Please do so more often.

Thanks for the story, made my day!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading that story Duke. Thank you For honoring those vets in such a way.

Very well written.

Very good read....any more you could add?...

quote:

Originally posted by ArLEOret:
Great read, I enjoyed reading it. Just, what happened to Steve and the others? You ended to soon and I need closure.

Awesome story Duke.