The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-06-29
RETURNING SOLDIER

What a country to get back toll
-. Boy, could make love to its
mud puddles, not to mention it's rock
and rillsl The first peep at that
statue of Lib. i. The first look at
the homefront skylinel :. The sky
scrapers! The shops, the stores,
the houses, even the hotdog stands!
{. The first eyeful of signs guy
can read, of windows with American
clothes in 'em, and the names Of
beers, cigars and people he heard
of before!
''Sure / seen 'em all before, but
now they're in technicolor!
-
'sNo kiddin', even mo Smoking
sign in English is something beauti-
full. i. The words Hamburger and
Onions on a lunchwagon become
full Of poetry. And every dame
i see becomes Hedy Lamar!
"See all them tenements out the
car window? Okay, to me
they're palacesi {. See them bill
boards boostin' tooth pastes, stogies,
motor grease, the circus and some
body's brewery? Baby, to me
they become the worlds ten thou
sand greatest masterpieces Of art
and literature! ;. Steve's Wayside
Lunch! ). I'll take it over the Rue
de la Whozissl
"Yeah, there's too many guys
around that still got double chins
and deadpans. Too many foul
balls that don't pay no attention to
uniforms, service ribbons and deco
rations. Is. Too many creeps that
give more attention to loose dime
in a train aisle than to DISC on a
marines chest. Too many purks
don't even know what your division
insignia means. Yeah, and all
that, but forget 'em! And get a
load of all the faces and smiles and
voices and wisecracks and things
that spell America, and ! don't mean
backwards!
Cali that counts is being back
where the papers carry full accounts
of the bali games, where nobody
wrecks houses except h0use-wreck-
ers, where you can grab any door
knob without thinking it could be a
BOBBY trap.
''Look at that taxi driver beating
his jaws out in a argument with that
laundry truck driverl :. Boy, it's
like long forgotten sweet music! =.
See that old number in baggy Stacks
setting out lettuce and tomato plants
in that two-by-four backyard!
Kid to me it's the Queen of Sheba
in the Hanging Gardens of Babylonl
"America! OF thee / sing, and
every rattle, fiivver horn and every
yell Of Sock it out, kid makes swell
accompaniment! :. Thy woods and
tempted hills! ). Yowsir, even all
fouled up with beaneries, tourist
camps and liver pill signs, they
make the best scenery on earth!
"The hometown garbage truck
seems like Cinderella's coach and
four. ). The cry One up, with mus
tard!' gives me greater thrill than
Lafayette, we are here!' The
white picket fence around my house
is a greater sight than all the shrubs
and statues around the gardens Of
Versailles. And I'll swap the
Rhine, the Pc and the Thames for
the water running off my sunporch
roof after a June rain.
-
"YOu can have the Atlantic, the
Pacific, the Mediterranean and the
English channel for the brook that
runs through Mulhgan's Grove.
I'll trade all the words Of Churchill,
Roosevelt, Truman, Stain and Tony
Eden and all the music of London
and Paris for the sound Of a certain
party'S voice. You take the
Four Freedoms, I'll take her one
smile. There amt as much
meanin' i'm the text Of the Charters
Of Quebec, Breton Woods, Yalta,
Cairo and San Francisco as there
Is In seven little words from my
nom, I've got homemade pie for
you.'
"Well, the train is pullin' in now.
Home again! Pardon me if I hug
a couple of trees and kiss a few
buildings. Gangwayl Hey, moml
Hey, pop! Hey, honeyl"
We expect to visit the place any
day now and be introduced to Vice
Commodoress in Charge Of Fancier
Cocktail Glasses and a Chairlady of
the Committee to Tie Ribbons on
Moorings. Skipper, an old-fashioned
cuspidor, if you pleased
The Japs now threaten to launch
an about stratosphere balloon at
tack on the United States. Person.
ally we think it is lot Of ''ba-
looney."