The generation that defeated Nazism has given way full blast to the Viet Nam generation. I got to thinking about this seriously when a friend shared with me an intimate story about a close relative and the pictures in his wallet. For years Grover Ray carried 13 black and white pictures in his wallet. These were found when he died. He went to the far corners of the world as an enlisted man in the US Navy.
Space is a precious commodity on a fighting ship.
The pictures from Grover's wallet illuminate an Arkansas past just as the dusty first light in King's Tut's tomb illuminate an ancient civilization. Grover Ray grew up in Van Buren. His father was a grocer, his mother a Sunday school teacher. A picture of Grover from that time shows a fine, intelligent face, intense eyes, full lips, chin with shallow clef, mane of dark curly hair. Grover Ray delivered groceries and got around socially in the store delivery car.