I will say little of my family before me. They were honest and decent from the middle of The Nation, Sunflower, Cornflower, and Hawkeye. They worked hard and did not refuse any work. They treated children well. They accepted all as equals. They thought themselves equal to all. They spoke plainly and directly. They were hopeful and thought well of others. They might have been too ready to think that all others were much like them. They tended to die young.  All too soon all who were left were me and my nephew Willson. He first called me ‘Uncle’ and soon all others did. That is just as well.  

I was fortunate in early life to have two good friends. They are still. Little Jimme was called ‘Little’ because his father was called ‘Big’ Jimme. Little Jimme was not very big but he was bigger that Big Jimme. Little Jimme, who I will call Jimme from now on, liked science and always had a science or mathematics book with him. And he always carried a notebook to practice math problems. Jimme had an ability to disarm larger people. Once a halfwit thug trying to start a fight asked him if he was talking to the oaf’s girlfriend. Jimme answered ‘no, but I will if you would like me to.’

Jimme, or I for that matter, did not often have to worry about being annoyed by halfwits because of our other friend Bro. Bro is, a term I later learned, a Gentle Giant, quiet and powerful.  Bro lived with his mother, who had once been a school teacher. She was a small woman lively far beyond her age. It would have only been the two of them if it wasn’t for the stray animals Bro found. The back part of their house was a ‘hospital’ for recovering birds, cats, dogs, and some other creatures Bro thought he could bring back from injury.

As he did for a small black and white dog he found that had been hit by a car. Dog was one of his first successes. This was when we three first became friends. Dog became our constant companion. We could not agree on any other name. He would go with us when we went exploring in the hills or across the open fields. Dog must have been a sheep dog. He would run along to one side of us and then back around to the other. This all the time we were moving. When we stopped he would sit a way off and watch us. He was with us all our early years.

 Another part of Bro’s Mother’s house was a large room with a large table inside. All through school every afternoon just after classes we three would gather around this table. There Bro’s mother walked back and forth behind as we did the day’s lessons. Dog would sit over by the door and watch us. Bro’s mother could say many unmistakable things just by the way she looked at you. We could ask her questions about our school work. Often she would answer a question with a question. Jimme liked our times at the table. Bro and I worked to like it as much as Jimme.

Bro and I also learned a lot just being with Jimme. Both of us even learned to read books. Now we were curious about the world we found ourselves in. And we did better in school than we would have if we had not known Bro’s mother and Jimme.

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Military? Oh of course! That was back in the day when all able bodied males had to serve one-year in the Nation’s military. All three of us were so honored after school when we turned eighteen.

The military sent me off to Old World. The Nation still had an armed base there from our small involvement in Last War, which ended fifty some years before. I helped collect scrap, the remains of war equipment. I fixed some of the broken stuff at times. Other guys had to collect bombs and shells that were shot off but did not blow up yet. I traveled around Old World and got to know people there. It was an experience that made me even more curious about the world and opened up me to how much there was to learn.

[Editors. The so-called Last War was fought in Old World between five or six countries of equal military ability. They chose up sides and went to war. Why? No good reason except they all had large militaries that none had used in many years. All believed that any war would be over quickly because of new modern weapons. But the equal destructiveness of the new weapons on defense made it impossible for any to gain an advantage. Finally all realized they had no reason to kill other people who were just like themselves. And none claimed victory. So far it seems that all learned a lesson.]

In Old World you can catch a train just about anywhere that will take you just about anywhere else. I did this a lot. And you don’t have to wait long for the train. The people are friendly if you are. A lot of our military never quite caught on that they were in a different country. Some never stop complaining about the differences. And why can’t they learn our language after all we are doing for them. And we should be served first in stores and beer bars. It was not long after I came back to Cottonpaugh that the governments in Old World invited The Nation to discontinue our military presence there.

Bro was posted to the Nation’s Capital and assigned to the unit that guards the Nation’s President. The new soldiers were quickly told that the president was always to be referred to as ‘The President.’ More often he was known to the people around him as “P.” He would call himself P is his talks.  It was said that if a soldier was heard to use the President’s full name, such soldier would quickly be transferred out. A likely new duty was with the unit that kept the brass polished on the monuments and decorations that abound in Nation’s Capitol.

P gave Bro and the other new arrivals a welcoming speech. How they must join with P and ‘stand up for the country.’  ‘Be Tough.’ ‘P always supports the troops’. P explains that  a strength of his is the inspiration and comfort of his speeches at military burials. Bro and the others exchange looks. Members of the unit learn that their duty is to stand guard outside of offices and meeting rooms. Bro and the other solders are surprised that they could hear words and phrases from the meetings.  Most of the time the only voice they could hear was P.

A favorite story that went around was that P. would bring a Game ball to meetings. When he told a staff member to ‘carry the ball’ on a project he would toss him the Game ball. It was said he usually missed.  P. believed that to show you are a strong country you have to fight a war. You cannot hope to keep the peace if you do not show that you are a strong country. We have to be tough. P. would talk about that a lot. He would puff out his chest when he said “We have to be tough.”

And Bro learned things from some of the soldiers who had been there longer. They all talked with each other about what they heard and were able to make some sense of it.

So they concluded that P. was planning a war. He rambled and repeated himself about reasons for war. Have to get rid of weapons that are just sitting on the shelf. ‘Stale’. Use ‘em, get new ones. ‘Crisp.’ Also amounts of humanitarian aid is critical to help the innocent caught up in this conflict.  Keeps the churches happy. Good for the economy. We get the refugees which are the people in the country who were on our side and have to leave when we lose. A good source of cheap quality labor. Do the jobs we don’t want to do.

Who to go to war with? The best are countries in isolated sections of the world.  Countries that don’t have much military, just strong enough to attack and bomb without any chance that they can damage us.  The country can’t have our religion. They also must have something bad about them. Maybe they are under-polluted.  No freedom of the press. Or an irresponsible press. A high crime rate. No crime so Human Rights violations there. No elections. Or ‘Unfair Elections.’ A large budget deficit. Don’t allow Labor Unions. Do allow Labor Unions. Not ‘team players’ in the family of nations.

P. liked to show others how he was a ‘tough’ Game player in his school days. He would throw blocks into some of the larger young guys on his staff. When hit the guys knew to fall back on the ground and roll around in ‘pain’ gasping for breath. P would then apologize and help them up. President liked that Bro had played Game in school. Once he had Bro stand holding a Game ball. P. demonstrated how he would tackle an opponent who tried to carry the ball on him. He ran into Bro as hard and fast as he could.

Bro did not resist, but he did not know to fall back either. P. hit him and slid down dazed and ended up with his chin on the top of Bro’s boot. Aides and security men ran up and attended to P. Bro’s superior officers called him in for ‘discipline.’ They could not tell him what he did wrong because every time they started to talk they would break down laughing. Not long after P. ordered an attack on a small country. Bro began his new duties polishing brass, a position he held for the rest of his military service.

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Jimme really the best of us all went to the worst place – where there was war. Some small country few could find on a map I would bet. Jimme came back seeming smaller and frailer than when he left. He once said something about an explosion. And dimwits. The only bad thing I ever heard his say about someone else. I would tell you more about this if I knew more about this. Bro and I, and Dog, spent time with him as we all got ready. We had decided to go on back to school when the term started.

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