My father only had one war story. He had various prewar and postwar ones, but of his time in combat during World War II, only one anecdote survived.
He ran into a fraternity brother from Atlanta, Ga., on Guam. What are the chances! And they were so glad to see each other, and they took a ride in a jeep. They almost got into trouble! Ha Ha!
Perhaps he was not telling me everything.
He had a friend from the Marine Corps, Bobby MacArthur, called Bobby Mac or MacAdoo, for short. They fought in the Pacific together. Bobby Mac showed up. Bobby Mac was loyal. The tone in Dad’s voice when he said MacAdoo expressed it all.
Islamic Jihad killed 242 Marines in a suicide bombing at a barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983. It was the largest terrorist attack on Americans abroad.
A Look Exchanged
I was with my father and Bobby Mac when they heard the news. They exchanged a look.
In that look, I saw grief, strength, brotherhood, and something utterly stoic.
