The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-12-11
PORTRAIT OF A HER0

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 One pf the unsolved mysteries of history 6 how Custer hurdled the military promotion system and overnight rose from e mere lieu. tenant 70 . general All any, one knows Is that he returned to headquarters one day after being out on . mission, and chums greeted nm as General" -. Custer thought they were kidding, because he al- ways boasted that he'd be a gen- eral before the war was over, and he was all set to start punching. one of his friends grabbed him by the arm and took him to his. tent where he found an envelope con- taining his commission addressed to "Brigadier- General George Arm- strong Custer" Custer, who was only g years old, turned pale and passed out cold,
 Custer was nuts about onions and ate them as though they were ap. ples. The last gift he received from his wife before he died was A sack of onions Whenever he was away from his wife, he'd sit up until all hours of the night writ. ing long letters to her. During one expedition, he wrote her Q letter eighty pages long When Cus- ter died at Little Big Horn, the Indians who killed him paid him a tribute that showed the respect even his enemels had for him. Every man killed in that battle was scalped-except Custer.
 Just before Custer entered Little Big Horn where he made his last stand, one of his Indian scouts tried to dissuade him. Don't go In there," the scout warned. "There are too many Indians" "You do the scouting" was Clusters reply. I'll do the fighting" The In. dian went away, donned war paint and reappeared e few moments later. Custer asked him, "Why did you put on war paint?" The Tn. dian replied: "You're going to your God your way. I'm going to my god my vay."
 Custer always believed in fight. Ing an enemy when he saw one, without stopping to consider the cost When he was c kid, he once attended a dance and noticed one of hts enemies poklng fun at him outside by making faces and gestures through the window :. Custer rushed up to the window and pushed his fist right through the pane into the guys snoot.
 Custer was Q Slaowman who knew how to do things in q manner that hit people between the eyes. At the end of the Civil War, the Army raraded in review before the presI- dent and other dignitaries in front of the Whiet House Just as he approached the reviewing stand, his horse reared and started to run away With a flouriSf, Custer mastered it and onlookers cheered wildly as Custer gailoped back into his place In line and passed the TO. viewing statnd Q second time .. He insisted 4t was an accident, but rivals argued that his horse never acted up before or after that parade.
 The cadets ct West Point nick. named Custer Fanny" because of his blue eyes, blend hair and pink cheeks In the Army, where he was It's youngest general in its history, he became known as the Boy General with the golden locks" s.. Because Elizabeth Bacon, the girl he loved and married, ran away from him (when she met him on the street Slightly intoxicated) Cus- ter gwore off smoking and drink. ing and never touched either again ETontlerSmen like Buffalo Bln wore long hair as Q challenge to the Indians who were collecting scalps. Custer wore his hair long merely because 1t was the tradition Of cavalrymen.
 It took c month to make Gus. ters last stand for the film, "They Died with Their Boots On" Historians believe the actual battle couldn't have lasted more than from half Co three-quarters of an hour, Clusters men were so hopelesly out- numbered Although Sitting Bull is usually credited with hav- Ing been in charge of the massacre, actually he was as far away from the battle as his horse could get him. As soon as he heard of Cus-