I never really knew my dad until he came back from the war. It was late in ’45 when he came home and I was still only three years old. His sisters and his mother often spoke of what a gentle soul he always was. My mother never knew that person, for the man who returned from the Pacific war was anything but gentle.

He had a hair trigger temper that often flared up for no apparent reason. Our lives were filled with turmoil, mostly because of his drinking but just as often by his erratic behavior. He had been wounded at Guadalcanal and spent some time in the hospital before going back on duty. I always believed that he was just plain nuts.

My dad was not a wife beater. He never beat my mother, but he was verbally abusive and shoved her around on occasion. Once when I was about fifteen, they were arguing and he grabbed her arm and was hurting her. I jumped up and grabbed his arm and punched him in the face. It did not affect him in the least and he hit me back, not in the face but right on top of my head. I went down and my mother went nuts. There was much yelling but he really felt bad about it and he told me so. It was the first time I ever stood up to him and it seemed to calm him down for a good while.

I never liked my dad, and I’m not sure if I ever loved him or not. When I left for the Navy, I told him if he didn’t start treating my mother right I was going to come back and kick his ass. He knew that the aging process would eventually bring about that possibility (I might have had to wait until he was 88, which would have occurred this month but I would have gotten it done) and I’m not sure if that was why he changed or not but, nevertheless, my mother’s letters told me that he was being a much better husband and had cut down on his drinking.

He died in a car wreck before I got back home.

There are few positive things I remember about my dad, but on occasion he did things that impressed me and made me proud of him. One such event took place in a West Texas Honky Tonk when I was about seven or eight years old.

My dad worked in the oil field, in those days first as a roughneck, then a driller, and finally he was promoted to tool-pusher, and we moved around quite a bit. One trip took us to some anonymous location in the vast Llano Estacado (that is cool talk for Permian Basin) and to a small café and bar. It was not uncommon in Texas for restaurants and bars to be in the same location. The restaurant seating was usually separate from the bar and dance floor.

We stopped for lunch and sat down at a table near the door, and ordered our food. My dad got up to go to the bathroom. No sooner had he left than a couple of drunks from the bar side came over to our table. Now, my mother was about twenty-seven or so, at the time, and was a good looking woman. One of the drunks asked her to dance. She said no, that she was with her husband and her son.

Now for someone who was not drunk, that might have been sufficient to make the men leave, but these two men were drunk, and I suspect of poor manners even when sober. My mother began to get nervous and asked them again to leave; they would not.

Inevitably, my dad came out of the bathroom and walked back to the table and found the two men standing there. “What do you want?” He asked the one standing closest to my mother’s chair.

“I asked this lady to dance,” the drunk said.

“And what did she tell you?” My dad replied.

“Well she said no….but.” WHAM…my dad hit him and he hit the floor. His friend made a move for my dad and he hit that man and he went down too, and stayed down. The first drunk was back on his feet and he and my dad started trading punches, and the drunk was not enjoying it.

My dad knocked him through the screen door that led outside to the café parking lot. The man crawled under a car, and my dad was kicking at him under the car. The drunk bit into my dad’s leg and wouldn’t let go so my dad dragged him out from under the car with his teeth still clamped on to his leg, and was pounding him when the cops arrived and broke it up.

I never left my seat at the table, heeding my mother’s admonition to stay put, before she went outside to help my dad should he need it. As it turned out, he did not. The cops arrested the two drunks but let my dad go because of your little boy, they told him. This was an unusual move for Texas cops who, in those days, usually either arrested or beat up anyone involved in an altercation, no matter what.

We finished our lunch and then got back on the road.

Jack

who cares about you and your damn dad..you damn racist.

Post another Obama and the dancing chimps posts..that's all you're really here for

Now Jack like Urq you could prostrate yourself before the posters you view as leaders her. That might help you.

See that fat ass of yours?

good. Drop pants. point it at ZB again or Iso and say:"I honor you. I am your slave"

Done.

now get me wrong I dig ZB and Iso but it's on a level playing field ..I don't have to drop and

prostrate before them.

See the diff, Jack?

I'm so surprised cat hasn't uprated you yet for your drivel about your drunkard wife abusing father.

Afterall she was such a big help when you asked her to help you go stalk denny on Kausfiles Special Fray ..you know the fray that ran her out for stalking Loree (your old friend before?) gee..go fucking figure,Jack.

...the war that we're in now is that war does things to good young men. And their families.

Thanks for sharing the story.

<link>

moron

the devil beats on husbands and fathers. He goes after the headship, first, fast, and furious.

i've taken Karate and was a single mom for some years while raising a son. i'm not what one would call an easy victim; but, i've learned you can't wear the pants and the skirt, and do a decent job of either one to balance a child out.

Any women who knows the Lord, can eventually see through how the devil sets a man up in our society to look like he is a waste. This is the biggest lie of the devil. Especially when a man loses a job, all of society, wives, and in-laws come down on him. if a woman loses her job, no one says a thing, eighty percent of the time. the devil knows this.

on a wrestling mat if a guy gets hit in the face he can still stand up , but if you get him by the legs, you've got an easier way to take him down. it is the same in life. when the devil keeps jabbin at a guys face he may get punch drunk , but he's still standing. so, the devil goes after his legs or the foundation of the family, the wife. a man who loses face at anything, but especially at work or in front of his wife and kids or in-laws. He's practically pinned.

the wife is the foundation, the devil goes after the headship first dealing with him up front, but then going through the wife and then kids or in-laws. the guy gets hit on the streets and then at home. he has no refuge. he can't talk to other guys about these matters, because most guys don't talk much in the first place. woman talk to each other about personal problems, but men usually keep things quiet about the home front, for protective reasons.

the devil is not stupid , he knows females are always trying to get the upper hand in life, because they are the weaker vessel, biologically and endurance wise they make a strong foundation; but physically for the long haul, men are more resilient. Ask Cleopatra why she didn't choose an all female army. Eve, also was the first mouth chosen to do harm. long lasting lesson there.

the female is the foundation for the family, the male is the headship. both ideally need to stay strong to make the spiritual union work; but, God knows the devil will pit one against the other ,it is a matter of divide and conquer. i'm not saying that domestic abuse should be tolerated, but i am saying that females should teach their children about how the devil works on fathers, dads, mothers, and wives. i believe it is important to teach children that we have a spiritual adversary and that God can defeat him, not man. Man or Woman is far from perfect. only God is perfect that is why - if we teach our children to not expect much from human beings , but to expect much from God. it would alleviate some of the misconceptions about the problems we experience.

i believe your father had a good heart and so did your mother, judging by the way you came out.

they were given some raw deals in life that made them seem like they were less than they were.

don't believe the devil's lies. the devil sets us up to look one way or another, to pit us against each

other. if you have a heart for the Lord, which only God knows, he attacks that person even more.

the devil attacks whole households. wherever there is God in someone's heart he starts wars.

he is relentless. never underestimate his capacity to do harm. i've met him and that is why i know

i need God to save me. no cowardice in that , just the obvious move for survival.

if i went through what your dad went through in life, i would have needed tequila on the rocks every hour to just face the day. people who are sensitive should never have to go to war. the devil has a field day with them there against the barbarians without hearts. they come back so mentally and emotionally scarred that some never heal. wounds just keep opening up. it is hard to get understanding and support from those who love you , because they don't understand what the person has been through. they can't see all the hidden wounds.

God bless you, Mr. Jack Dallas

rotfl jack...you are so lame.

Thanks Arch.

Jack

I just feel so much for jack and his drunkard dad and his abused mom.

sigh.................what can I say?..............

rotfl.

God bless you, Mr. Jack Dallas

He has, ST...thanks.

Jack