(left to right) Arthur De Mattei, Adolph De Mattei, Silvio De Mattei, Katarina De MatteiMy dad joined the US Army at 17 years old, that’s him on the far left standing next to my Uncle Adolph. My grandfather, that’s him on the right standing next to my grandmother, had to sign for my Dad because he was a minor. Dad was assigned to the 37th Infantry Division (Buckeyes) during WWii and shipped overseas to the Battle of the Pacific (Leyte, Luzon, Baggio, Guadalcanal, etc). I grew up hearing stories of the bloody island battles, of how hitting one beachhead after another kinda a makes a guy hate going to the beach, especially after watching your friends never make it home. My dad carried a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) because as he likes to put it, “I was a big son-of-bitch.” As a child my dad was my hero, he still is. He says, “I’m no hero, Son, the heroes never came home.” If you want to read more about the 37th infantry, there’s a decent summary on Wikipedia. If you want to hear more first hand accounts of the perils of war, give my dad a call or drop by and see him. Happy Veterans Day to all Dwho served and especially my Dad.
I was not around on December 7, 1941 but my dad was and that “day of infamy” so moved him that at 17 years old, with permission from his immigrant father, he joined the Army and was immediately sent over seas to be, as he likes to put it, “a sand bag”. He didn’t return home until he was 20. My point is, unlike many other young boys, he returned home and has never let me forget those that did not. Pearl Harbor Day also reminds me that kids everywhere are still the future of this world and we adults continue to treat them as if they are sand bags. I for one want the next war to leave the kids at home and send the adults. We’ll see how fast all this insane shit stops.
Middle-aged heavyweight woman with five o’clock shadow pushing a loaded babushka cart and wearing some kind of schmatta on her head spit at me and then mumbled something in Russian as I jogged by her. Sources tell me it was either an ancient curse or a killer recipe for borscht. Not to be outdone, an…
Caryn is on personal business in Chicago, she is flying home today. One of her teachers from long ago passed away. They had remained friends over the years. She’s feeling the loss of her friend very deeply. As a matter of fact, when Caryn was going through chemotherapy at The Block Center in Evanston, Tom…
Got back to NYC safely. Always difficult to leave San Jose. It’s where I’m from. It’s where my people live. It’s where I learned, loved, lost, laughed and cried…a lot. Took a redeye with a crying baby at my back. It cried and cried and cried so I didn’t have to. The only thing that…
Arthur Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a metaphor for McCarthyism in his play, The Crucible, now in limited run here in New York featuring a cast of British, Irish and American actors in a reimagined version by Belgian director, Ivo van Hove. I saw the play Wednesday night. Today, some feel…
Unfriend me now, misogynists! Begone, bigots! I say unto thee, unfriend me now, you homophobes! You racists! You pedophiles of Liberty! Dispatch thyself from my virtual life, you scaremongering cowards! You puke piles of bile! Purge me from your mace-in-the-Facebook lives! Unfriend me now, Villains! Unfriend me now, you who choose the Duke de la…
To post on the internet that Actorman is self indulgent is like a child saying, “Whatever!” when being scolded by a teacher or parent; it’s passive aggressive and meaningless. And what’s worse, it shows how one has put absolutely no thought into what one is posting. It’s stating the obvious and therefore not saying much…