No Ordinary Joes by Larry Colton Read Free Book Online

found a job delivering the
Dallas Evening News
after school. There’d be no more track.
    * * *
    In the summer of 1941, not even Joe DiMaggio’s fifty-six-game hitting streak could distract Americans from the threat of war. German troops had occupied Paris, and Hitler had reneged on his nonaggression pact with Russia. In secret military discussions over command and strategy, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and their British counterparts concluded that Germany was the predominant member of the Axis powers, so if America entered the war, the Atlantic and Europe would be considered the decisive theaters. Any future American military effort would be concentrated there, and operations of U.S. forces in other theaters, such as the Pacific, would be secondary. Part of this reasoning was that Germany’s offensive capabilities were greater, and that its superior technology had the potential to develop a secret weapon that could destroy its enemies.
    Tim wasn’t as concerned about the threat of war as he was about getting an occasional date and making money on his new job selling soda pop at the Wednesday night wrestling matches. On a good night he could make as much as 75 cents, not to mention getting to see legendary wrestlers such as Silent Hubert, Strangler Lewis, Danny McShane, and Sailor Tex Watkins. He knew the matches were fixed (he’d seen the capsules of blood in the dressing room), and yet he liked watching anyway. But it was the money that was important; he liked being able to help out his mom with the rent. She was anxious by nature, always expecting the worst, and he was the opposite, constantly assuring her that things would be okay. He considered it his duty to keep her spirits up.
    In the fall of 1941, soon after Tim started his senior year at Sunset High, Byron came to visit from Lubbock. Despite having lived on opposite sides of the state for three years, they were still great friends. Byron liked not just Tim’s sense of humor and intrepid approach to life but also his compassion, like the way he treated Sidney Segal back in junior high. Sidney, a small, plump Jewish kid, was everyone’s favorite target, and he rarely made it down the hall without getting punched in the shoulder or being called “kike” or “Jew boy.” He attached himself to Tim, most likely because Tim was outgoing and friendly to everyone. Sidney soon becamehis shadow, following him everywhere. Tim accepted the role of Sidney’s protector. He had taken to heart what he’d heard Reverend Truitt preach about a person’s true calling being “to lend a helping hand.” When Tim moved to Dallas, nobody was sadder to see him leave than Sidney.
    Seeing Tim for the first time in a couple of years, Byron noticed a change. On the surface, Tim was still full of spunk, bragging about getting paddled in band class for acting out. But now he was less directed, more intense, a bit of a loose cannon. It was almost as if he’d grown a chip on his shoulder. Not that they talked about it. In Texas, circa 1941, best buddies didn’t talk about their feelings.
    Byron talked about joining the Navy. The idea appealed to Tim, too. He was tired of working four jobs, and he reasoned that in the Navy he would make better money and could send most of it home to help his mom. If there was a war, he figured he’d be safer on a ship in the middle of the ocean than in a muddy foxhole.
    The only possible wrinkle was getting his mother’s permission, since he was only seventeen. To his surprise, she gave it, figuring he was probably going to drop out of school anyway. The next day Tim walked across town to the recruiting depot, took his physical exam, and signed up. The day after that, he marched into the office at Sunset High and dropped out. The fact that he was still several months short of graduation didn’t bother him; he could finish after he had served his time. A steady income was more important.
    On November 1, 1941, still not shaving daily, Tim kissed his