A Day in Paris - part 6

It was still Thursday.
We left the Arc de Triomphe to begin our walk down the Champs-Elysees. 

No trip to Paris is complete without a stroll down the Champs-Elysees. It was a bit of a walk. My wife didn't want to go into the fancy stores along the way. It was getting late, so we just wanted to enjoy the walk to the Louvre. Google tells me that the distance is 4.5 kilometers.

That's just short of 3 miles in real measurement. It wasn't a bad walk...it was a very nice walk...but there were complications. Now that we had left the monument with the free restroom, my companion informed me that she needed to use the bathroom--complication number 1. We were also getting thirsty. I bought another Orangina--the precursor to complication number 2. 

We made an attempt at addressing complication number 1 in the long park that runs along a portion of the thoroughfare. A sign indicted that use of the facility would be 2 euros. The place looked a little off-putting...so we were; off-put, that is. Wife said she could wait.

After we had entered the Tuileries, we were climbing a short set of stairs. At the top, two girls accosted us. One girl said, while holding a map, "You're from here, can you tell us where the nearest subway stop is." I was wondering why she thought I was "from here." Was it the dopey hat? Was it my debonair look and jaunty air of je ne sais quoi? (Who really knows what that is anyway?) When I didn't respond immediately, she whisked the map away and went down the stairs. I don't know if she suddenly realized that I was not in fact "from here." Or if she thought maybe that I was "from here" but didn't speak English. Either way, I was happy with her decision to seek an answer elsewhere. We continued on to the Louvre. 

I was surprised that there was no line at the entrance. My wife thought that it might be closed. I assured her that it was not. I had planned this out; we were arriving at the Louvre on one of the days that it stayed open late. We descended at the entrance beneath the glass pyramid (which wasn't even there the last time I had been to the Louvre). Below, I could see a line. I made some inquiries. That line was for a special exhibit. I didn't care. I wasn't interested in that exhibit...but I did want to see the rest of the great museum. 

The lady told me that the rest of the Louvre had already closed. Only this one special exhibit remained open. I knew that couldn't be true. I knew the museum stayed open till 9:00 or 10:00 p.m on Fridays. I had planned for this. So I told her that I thought the museum was open late on Fridays. She said that it was...but today was Thursday. That's when I remembered...I had originally scheduled our visit to the Louvre for Friday night. Then there had been some complications with the plane tickets, so the tickets we got had a Friday morning rather than a Saturday morning departure...and I had never revised my 22 step day in Paris schedule to account for the change from Friday to Thursday. It was another Maxwell Smart moment. The lady did let me me know that the Musee d'Orsay was still open. I told her that we had already been to that one that morning. Oh well.

On the bright side, the Louvre restrooms were still open. My wife met some nice people from Oregon in her line while resolving complication number 1. Shortly after that, the last bottle of Orangina kicked in. Without going into detail, let me just say that I became very familiar with the men's room in the bottom of the Louvre. It really was complication number 2, and the resolution thereof was not pleasant. I will say that it was one of the nicest restrooms that I was able to use during the trip, it ranked just below the restroom at the Frankfurt airport. While I did not get to see and cannot express my thoughts upon the overabundant oil paintings, or the great number of magnificent statues in bronze and in marble, I give the plain porcelain in the famous museum a plethora of plaudits. I felt much like Rodin's The Thinker--which isn't displayed in the Louvre. 

"Missing in Action" - Recap and Review

Combat!

Season 1 Episode 6: Missing in Action

The opening begins on a hunk of a German plane heavily decorated with bullet holes and some chalk writing…indicating the 465^th Bomber Wing. I would guess that pilots are going to play a big role in this episode. A colonel explains a mission to assembled pilots—the same railyards they’ve been trying to bomb. We learn that they will pick up a fighter escort in Rouen.

A Lt. wants to know when they’ll be moving off this milk run. The colonel segues into an invitation to a dance that the nurses will also be attending…with heavy drinking and no curfew. As another Lt. explains the details of the air mission, we become privy to the colonel’s thoughts.

He lights a cigarette…he’s reminiscing about another mission (or is it this mission? I’m not sure.). It started out as a milk run. At Rouen, the Germans began hitting them. 109’s took out the bomber on his right. Two of his engines were on fire. He couldn’t keep the plane in the air. He bailed out...last. He was about to descend into the midst of the war.

Cut to the usual super cool opening sequence. The guest star, or featured NPC, is Howard Duff (whose birthday was November 24). I’m guessing he is the colonel. The episode is directed by Byron Paul.

There is combat, or at least gun fire. It’s night. A layer of fog clings to the ground like a fluffy negligee. Caje has to stop another soldier from firing after a cease-fire order. The soldier says he thought he saw something. Someone fires a flare. We see Saunders…he’s sneaking. When the flare burns out he moves to his men, and startles them with a beckoning hiss. Based on all the episodes that I’ve seen so far, I must say that Saunders is the king of sneak…at least for sneaking up on his own men. Also, I have a vague memory of some episode of Combat! Where the Germans kept firing flares that descended on parachutes which brightened the night, and Saunders standing motionless to avoid detection. The flares in this episode are not as bright and don’t last as long as those that I seem to remember from another episode.

The trigger-happy soldier is called Fergus. Maybe he did see something. There have been infiltrators captured recently. Another flare goes up. Someone…a civilian…takes cover…then scrambles toward the Americans. They fire on him. He goes down, but struggles up to them, muttering, “American,” before falling unconscious. Saunders checks his dog tags. He’s an American officer. Saunders yells for a medic. Fergus feels terrible.

The wounded man gets attention. He says he’s with the 465^th bomber group. He’s concerned about someone else…at the farm…it’s 2 kilometers away. He dies. Fergus feels worse. (I’m wondering if this was the same Lt. at the mission briefing who was tired of the milk runs—I believe that it is—but it can’t be, if the colonel was remembering a previous mission).

Next we see Lt. Hanley under the camouflage netting. He’s receiving orders. He’s not happy about it. He’s complaining that his men have been on the line for three weeks and are coming apart at the seams…as evidenced by what just happened. Too bad. The orders come from high up. They’ve got to go find Colonel Jabko (our featured NPC). The word was to send the best man available—Hanley’s it.

Back at the squad camp, Caje is explaining how stupid the airman was, bumbling into their gun emplacement in a combat area. Saunders squelches the debate. “It’s over.” Speculation turns to why they were pulled off the line. Braddock suggests it’s because they need a rest. Caje laughs at the idea. Hanley rolls up in a Jeep with a French partisan beside him. He brings news from the DM. The side quest is on. They’re moving out tonight…but Hanley is only taking Braddock, Fergus, and Caje. Hanley doesn’t care how bad the men feel about the airman having soaked up their friendly fire. They’ll move out with light packs, but extra ammo and grenades. I have to wonder about Hanley’s choices. Caje is an obvious choice; he’s a great soldier, and he speaks French…just the guy one might need for working with the French underground. Braddock? In previous episodes, he nearly blew up Saunders three times within a period of a couple minutes; his attachment to the chicken in the most recent episode nearly gave away the squad’s location to the Germans. Fergus? The trigger happy guy whose only act of which we are aware was the killing of the American air Lt. What was Hanley thinking? That he would look good by comparison? That the mission was bound to take at least one casualty, might as well take the depressed guy and hope it’s him?

 The team is assembled. Hanley explains it to them. A farmhouse 18 kilometers away is where the colonel is supposed to be. The partisan Gallarde knows the way. They will ride in the back of his truck, behind the crates of cabbages.

They arrive at the first checkpoint. We get to see our first live German of the episode. Gallarde speaks German. The German seems congenial…right up to point at which he empties his MP 38 into the back of the truck. Apparently those cabbages look dangerous.

It looks like Fergus took a hit, but doesn’t scream out. The guards let Gallarde pass. Soon he pulls off, and the back of his truck gives birth to our American soldiers. The men fan out to secure the area (I suppose), while Hanley attends Fergus. Gallarde informs him that the farmhouse is another two kilometers farther. He provides Hanley with a pack of cigarettes with a black feather. That will get him into the farmhouse.

Cut to a new scene. It’s night. Dogs are yapping. A man’s hand holds a pistol aimed at a door. A woman’s hand moves down the arm, pushing the pistol down. “It is nothing,” she says. We see our featured NPC, and some French woman. The first thing I noticed about her is that she has big beautiful eyes that are tinted with more than just a touch of crazy. She tells NPC that Gallarde won’t come tonight, and that she hopes he never comes. NPC is equally smitten.

While our featured NPC is swapping saliva with the mademoiselle (played by Maria Machado), our heroes are lugging the wounded Fergus through the brush, looking for the farmhouse. They’ve found it. Hanley makes his way quietly to the door. He knocks, preparing his best door approach.

 A voice in French asks, “Who’s there.”

Caje has joined Hanely. He answers.

NPC and his brand new crazy main squeeze hear them from the barn. NPC peeks out at Hanley and Caje as the owner opens the house door to them. Hanely gives him the cigarettes with the feather. Owner bids them enter. Caje goes back to help Braddock carry Fergus to the house.

Meanwhile, crazy eyes tries to persuade NPC not to go. He goes anyway. She watches. NPC joins the men in the house as they are about to take Braddock upstairs. Fergus had taken a bullet in the stomach. There are no doctors in town available to come to his aid.

Hanley and NPC are about to discuss plans when the owner’s niece, mademoiselle aux yeux fou amoureux, comes in, startling them. She’s hopeful that they will all stay until Fergus is better. She tells them that the Germans haven’t been there for more than two weeks.

NPC tells Hanley about being found in a field by a farmer who turned him over to the underground. NPC is wondering how long before division moves through here. There’s noise outside. It’s Gallarde. He tells Hanley and NPC that there is a leak in his organization. They may have a traitor. He relates some suspicious instances of men nearly getting out, only to be caught before getting away. He ends with the air Lt. shot by Fergus. NPC wants Hanley to explain what happened to the airman. NPC is upset when he learns that his friend was killed. He’s even more displeased when he learns that it was Hanley’s platoon that shot him…he’s not thrilled about accompanying the men who shot his friend.

Gallarde tells them that everything is on hold right now. He has to see his chief and decide what to do. Crazy eyes takes the opportunity to advocate waiting; she argues that the allies will be here within a week. Hanley reports that his orders call for getting the colonel back as soon as possible. The colonel plays the colonel card; he can countermand those orders. Hanley merely responds that he can’t force the colonel to go with him.

Cut to Braddock taking a bath in the barn. Two boys intrude. They’re cousins of Crazy eyes. Braddock’s French apparently is limited to, “Bonjour.” But he might have understood that the boys were calling him an idiot. Crazy eyes comes in, sending the boys out. Braddock is worried that the boys might talk. She tells him not to worry. She asks to scrub his back. We don’t get to know Braddock’s answer, but we can guess what it would’ve been.

Caje dashes in. He reports that Fergus has just cashed-in. I never expected Fergus to survive the episode. He was a new face; he was trigger happy; he killed or helped kill the airman—he was clearly the designated redshirt of the episode. There will be more room in the truck, now that Fergus is gone. Caje and Braddock both seem anxious to leave.

Cut to the house. Caje is speaking French with the owner’s wife. Hanley approaches NPC, telling him that they need to leave. NPC wants to rely on the judgment of the underground. Gallarde points out that a German counterattack could cut them off completely.

 Hanley goes out to relieve Braddock on guard duty. Crazy eyes approaches him. In her best Marlene Dietrich voice, she tries to persuade Hanley to leave without the NPC. I’m wondering if she is the leak, the traitor, and doesn’t want NPC to die with the rest of them when they leave.

Back inside, with everyone except Hanley around the table, Crazy eyes is promising that after the war she’ll really show NPC some French cooking. There’s a noise outside; it sounds like vehicles, maybe motorcycles, approaching. Hanley runs inside, reporting an extraordinarily bad roll on the wandering monsters table; vehicles are coming. The Americans and Gallarde hurry away. Outside, NPC is hampered by his injured leg, but manages, refusing Hanley’s assistance.

As the Americans slip away, Germans on a motorcycle with a side car, and a truck that looks like something sort of halfway between a truck and Jeep (I’m guessing that it might be a Steyr 1500) drive up to the farm. It looks like there are 6 Germans. They aren’t dawdling. 3 go to the house; 3 search the barn.

The owners and their niece (who is conveniently named “Denise”) put on their best casual innocence act. The Germans roll successfully to disbelieve the act. Two Germans search the house, going upstairs. The other German with the  Luger speaks in English, as it is well known that these particular Frenchmen speak English. Owner professes that no one is there, despite the German’s accusations. Wife won’t admit either but her resistance roll seems to be right on the borderline, as if she just might blurt out everything. Luger man confronts Crazy eyes, wanting to know who the man was that they buried here today. He emphasizes the question by punctuating it with a backhand to the face—Crazy eyes' face, not his own.  His men have made a critically important die roll on their search; they bring down a blood-stained blanket. When owner tries to explain, German leader man awards him with a special recognition of merit delivered from his Luger. One of the other Germans concludes the award ceremony with a 21 bullet salute from his MP40. Owner and wife are dead. Crazy (d)niece is in tears.

Meanwhile, the 3 Germans outside are searching. Unable to successfully roll up any Americans in the barn, they go outside and start making spot check rolls. NPC gives one of them a piece of his mind delivered by his pistol at 4500 fps. One German down. His buddy runs to the truck to get on the blower to John Gill to tattle on NPC. Hanley tries to shoot the tattler. Hanley’s rifle is jammed. He’s forced to extend his best wishes through his pistol barrel.

Now the three Germans in the house get suspicious and decide to reconnoiter outside. Gallarde, from his hiding place (which sometimes looks like he’s beside a rock near a bush away from any buildings, and sometimes looks like he’s behind some straw covered by a tarp next to a barn), drops the last of the original barn-searching Germans with a shot from his pistol.

German rifleman steps out from the house. He takes aim and fires (and that seems like an awful lot of smoke for that one bullet). I swear that looks like a rifle he’s firing, and it booms like a rifle, but also makes the submachine gun sound, and three bullet holes appear above Gallarde’s head—Gallarde is back beside the barn where he was hiding earlier, not at the rock where he just shot the other guy. I don’t know if that was bad editing or intentional. (I re-watched that segment. The rifle booms three times, and three bullet holes go into the wood. I guess what I thought was the machinegun sound, was supposed to be the bullets hitting the wood.)

Gallarde shoots the rifleman. MP40 man runs out of the house, firing. He does his best to make himself an easy target…and succeeds admirably. No longer burdened by hit points, he collapses like an empty balloon. That only leaves German Luger man in the house. Obligingly, he runs out the door, and pauses to fire. He waits briefly but no one wants to shoot him. He runs again.

Braddock shadows Luger man and confronts him beside the vehicles.  Luger man shoots…rolling well under the to-hit number; he misses. Braddock introduces himself with a number of brief statements punctuated with small metal periods from his rifle. Luger man is so taken by Braddock’s charm, and punctuation, that he does a little pirouette before he falls. This little arm of the Wehrmacht managed only two unarmed civilian deaths while losing 100% of their own number to the French and Americans.

Gallarde gets NPC and tells Hanley that they must leave. Gallarde and NPC go into the house. There’s Crazy (d)niece still upright and breathing. Gallarde is suspicious. Why wasn’t she killed with the aunt and uncle? Now NPC is asking too. He’s serious about getting an answer. As one might guess, she cries that she did what she had to in order to protect NPC. NPC storms out. Gallarde tells her that he won’t give her what she deserves at the moment, but they will find her.

They leave Crazy (d)niece wailing prostrate among the German corpses outside the house. They depart in Gallarde’s produce truck. At the bridge check point, Gallarde drives right through. The guards shoot at the back of the truck. This time the cabbages shoot back. One of the guards falls.

Back at the American lines, a squad of soldiers stop the truck. It’s Littlejohn. The Americans are rebirthed from the truck once more, safe and sound.

Cut back to the colonel at the 465 bomber wing quonset hut. He’s alone until another Lt. comes in. They’ll be bombing another railyard…another milk run.

 What to think about this episode…I’m not sure. There was a fair amount of ammunition expended--always a positive thing. Some interesting vehicles were shown. I got to hear some French being spoken. Some of the German being spoken was simple enough that I could figure it out from the context. The episode touched on the terrible, but too frequent problem of friendly fire casualties. The irony being that pilots hitting soldiers on the ground was more common than American soldiers shooting airmen. The infantry often referred to the fliers as the American Luftwaffe because of the not infrequent casualties inflicted upon them by the airmen.

I had not anticipated that the rescuee might be reluctant to leave because of a romantic attachment. I guess I found that to be a distraction. I’m not sure how long Crazy eyes helped heal NPC’s leg, but the strange romance seems to have developed rather quickly…and he was a colonel. He should have been able to take care of his business, and then make arrangements for the girl. Plus she had those eyes painted in a suspicious shade of crazy—some (but not me, of course) might argue that the same could be said of most feminine eyes.

Hanley seemed less decisive than I expected regarding the colonel…but it was a colonel, and Hanley had the wounded man to complicate matters…so he can be forgiven for that. Caje and Braddock had fairly minor roles in the episode. They got in on the shoot fest, but didn’t get to participate meaningfully before that. It was almost as if they were along just to carry Fergus.

I suppose that’s the solid symbolism of the episode that goes with the theme of friendly fire. Fergus, as the symbol of such an act, became a burden, a weight to be carried by all of the men in the squad, as represented by Caje and Braddock. We also see the contrast between the tragedy of friendly fire casualties, and the twisted self-indulgence of Crazy eyes, almost vicarious murder, in getting everyone else killed to protect herself and her new lover.

Not a bad episode, but it won’t rank among my favorites. Actually, so far, I think that the first episode, and “Rear Echelon Commandos” (which I criticized for relying too much on NPC action, if I remember correctly) are among my favorites so far. 

A boy and his fence

Perhaps even more well-known than the opening lines of the novel, is Tom's grand tour de force with the whitewash. 

Chapter 2 of TATS (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) begins with a description of a cheerful, dreamy, Saturday morning. Twain juxtaposes that pleasant atmosphere with Tom and his bucket of whitewash; Tom is in deep melancholy. He faces 30 yards of 9 feet tall fence. (Not unlike a writer's blank page, or screen, waiting to be filled with words).

After a couple swipes with the whitewash, Tom sits down, discouraged (Writer's block?). Soon Jim comes along on his way to fill the water bucket. Tom, after a series of bribes, culminating with a look at his sore big toe, convinces Jim to let him take the bucket for water while Jim works on the whitewash. Aunt Polly, armed with a slipper, sends Jim on his way for the water. Tom is back to whitewashing. 

Tom thinks of his friends and the activities that he had planned. He grows sadder as he contemplates how they will make sport of him. Examining his boyish wealth of toys, marbles, and trash, he realizes that he doesn't have enough goods to bribe his friends into even a half-hour of work for him. Just as Tom is about to fall deeper into melancholy, inspiration strikes. 

Tom takes up the work with vigor. Ben Rodgers appears, pretending to be a steamboat, the Big Missouri.  Ben makes quite an elaborate show of maneuvering the steamboat, acting not only as captain, but as the boat itself, both calling out orders and executing them, voicing the bells, and using his hands to simulate the great paddle wheels of the craft. Tom pretends to be oblivious to Ben's artful display; he is engrossed in his work. 

Ben leads into a taunt, asking Tom he if wishes he couldn't go swimming like him instead of having to do that work. Now we see Tom begin to display his preeminence. 

“What do you call work?” 
“Why, ain’t that work?” 
Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.” 
“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?” 
The brush continued to move. 
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

Now Ben sees the matter in an entirely different light. He wants to paint, just a little. Tom acts as if he wants to let Ben give it a try, but does not; Aunt Polly is awful particular. He increases Ben's desire to take up the whitewashing by professing that there isn't one boy in a thousand, or two thousand, who can do it properly. Tom refuses to allow Ben to trade his apple core for a turn at whitewashing. At last, reluctantly, Tom surrenders his brush to Ben in return for Ben's entire apple. 

Other boys came to jeer, but stayed to whitewash, giving some of their treasure to Tom in exchange. I found the most interesting bit of treasure to be a dead rat which included the string by which to swing it. Other treasures included a kitten with only one eye, a dog collar but no dog, a knife handle, and four pieces of orange-peel. While he was able to idle away his time collecting treasure, the fence received 3 coats of whitewash. The only thing that prevented him from bankrupting the youth of the town was the fact that he ran out of whitewash. 

Twain shares Tom's new-found wisdom:

He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.

We watched Tom in chapter 1 interact with Polly, Sid, and the over dressed boy. We saw him spare with his wits against Polly, and with his fists against the boy in the earlier chapter. Here, we see the classic Tom Sawyer. Here, we see why he is the boy of boys. He will be the leader of any group of boys of which he is a part; he is a master at manipulation.

An Adventure Begins

“TOM!” 
No answer. 
“TOM!” No answer. 
“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!”

Those are the opening lines of one of the most famous of American novels--Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I was recently reminded, while boasting of the superiority of Huckleberry Finn over that earlier work, that it had been many years since I had last read that great American classic about the young Monsieur Sawyer. Having just finished my latest free book from Amazon Prime, it seemed like a good time to read some real literature. 

Although I remain singularly unqualified to review great literature--I've never read any critical treatment or even Cliff Notes on Tom Sawyer, have no relevant advanced degree or recognition, and I am woefully deficient in my stock of keen insights and witty observations--I've never let that stop me before. I do know what I like; I like Mark Twain's writings. (In the last year or two, I read for the first time Twain's Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and found it an absolutely delightful contender with Huckleberry Finn for Twain's best work). Additionally, the protagonist in my nearly completed novel, Smoke, uses a few quotes from Mr. Clements' works (as well as from other authors) for his own inspirational purposes. I seem to have forgotten where I was going with this...except for the bit of self-promotion for my upcoming book...so I'll just get back to the story.

The person doing the hollering for Tom is Aunt Polly. (When I was a kid, my dad once pointed out to me that every Tom Sawyer movie that he has ever seen starts with Polly's hollering. I doubt that my dad ever read the book; if he had, he would know why the movies start that way). If I remember correctly, we'll follow Tom himself through most of the book, but here we are introduced to him through the viewpoint of Aunt Polly. She loves the boy, but is frustrated with him, and with herself for not disciplining him more severely--so she suffers for both Tom's sins and her own. Perhaps her view is flawed. Twain describes her spectacles as being "built for style, not service." Twain claims that "she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well." That seems to be a pretty strong indication that Polly's myopic view is inaccurate at best.

Polly finds Tom, his mouth full of the fruits of his latest crime--he has been sampling the jam. She's about to take a switch to the boy. He directs her attention to something behind her...and makes his escape. She resolves to make Tom work tomorrow, Saturday, to make up for his dodging of discipline. 

At dinner, Polly resolves to make Tom reveal that he played hookey. Tom outmaneuvers her on that point, only to have his grand evasion scuttled by his hated half-brother Sid. Tom flees the scene once more. He forgets his troubles in remembering, and practicing, his newly acquired skill of whistling. 

All is well until Tom meets a well dressed boy. The prelude to the fight is fairly lengthy. The boys engage in an elaborate series of taunts and dares, including the threat of imaginary big brothers. At last the point of no return is reached when Tom says that for two cents he would lick the over dressed boy, and the boy proffers the two cents. Tom thrashes the boy, and chases him home. He waits there until the boy's mother orders him away, calling him a "bad, vicious, vulgar child."

Tom finally returns home quite late. He uncovers an "ambuscade" in the form of Aunt Polly as he slips through the bedroom window. I like that word "ambuscade." I thought that I had first seen it in chapter 3 of Huckleberry Finn, but here it is right at the end of chapter one of this earlier novel.

At the end of the first short chapter, we have met Tom, and understand that he is a rascal--the free spirit of the aptly titled song by Rush. We see Aunt Polly as well-meaning, but apparently ill suited to deal with her dead sister's son. We also meet Sid, the hated (by Tom), quiet boy without adventurous, troublesome ways. Sid is the half-brother, and antithesis of Tom. Tom is a fighter, he detests boys who dress well (especially during the week), and possesses an inveterate hatred of work. 

I believe the next chapter will address that move made famous in The Karate Kid, but first performed by Tom Sawyer, known as "paint the fence."

A Day in Paris - part five

The Thursday continued. 
We left Sacre Coeur, walking down the near infinity steps, down the street, past the little shop where we had purchased the bag, and back to the metro. The red book sheet for the day showed us at step 15 (of 22) getting on the M12 at Anvers. Step 16 had us ride to CDG Etoile; 17 was visiting the Arc de Triomphe. 

And I have no idea who the person in the white jacket with the upraised arms might be; just some other tourist; but it really makes the picture come alive. 

From the outside, the monument seems huge. It seems even taller when one is going up the stairs inside. Before we got to those stairs, we had to take a tunnel under the roundabout and come up in the center where the Arc stands. There was nothing unusual about going through the metal detector... except that I kept setting it off. The people behind us were losing patience. Finally, the guard just passed us through without any groping or stripping...in spite of the rather rude suggestions of the people behind us.

I have said that Paris is a city of stairs. At the Arc, those stairs were a fast and furious experience...by which I mean, when tried to go fast, my wife got furious. Of course, I jest. We were too tired to go fast. The circular stairs go up...and up...and up...and up. Then, when we were just about to collapse with exhaustion, we discovered that there were more stairs. 

Eventually we got to the top...but it wasn't quite the top. It was a place to rest, buy souvenirs, use the bathroom, etc. I needed the latter (and I don't mean the etc.), but I decided to go on to the top after a brief rest. 

More stairs. I only got one or two pictures from the top. I was there about one minute. That earlier need I mentioned suddenly became very, very, extremely urgent. Back down the stairs.

There was a line. It wasn't moving. Even when someone came out of the restroom, no one went in. I was curious. What could be the cause of this strange phenomenon? On the lady's side, there was no line; only the men's side had a line...and it refused to move. Eventually, after about 20 minutes of intense and painful waiting, I unraveled the mystery. A guy with four or five boys had gone into the men's room. There was only one stall. I think he was giving each of them an individualized course in astrophysics, or something.

So, I spent most of step 17 waiting in line...for the loo.

My wife didn't want to go back up to the top. I was in a hurry to lead her down the Champs-Elysees, through the Tuilleries, and to the Louvre; so we left, getting a few pictures before we took the tunnel under the roundabout to the Champs-Elysees.



Next time: A Day in Paris - part six

"Far From The Brave" - Recap and Review

Combat!

Season 1 Episode 5: Far From The Brave

Player Characters: Hanley, Saunders, Kirby, Nelson, Littlejohn, Braddock and Caje.

The show opens with our team moving up a hill through cover. Bayonets fixed. (Except, of course, for Saunders who has his Thompson ready).

They’re moving in skirmish line toward the skeletal carcass of some destroyed edifice. Machine gun fire sounds. They hit the ground. It’s that big machine gun again, spewing lead by the stream (not near a stream, just like…you know what I mean).

Our man on the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) takes out the machine gunners, but not without garnishing a number of perforations of his own. We see his helmet go tumbling down the hill. When it comes to a stop, we can see that it has a hole in it. Hanley picks it up; it has two holes, through and through—that’s two on both sides.

Cut to the opening theme music, cool bayonets and explosions.

After the theme, the camera opens on a grave. I’m guessing Private Grady Long belonged to the helm of inconvenient courage. The episode was written and directed by Bert Kennedy. 

The shot pulls back to show the squad around the grave. It’s raining. Saunders seems particularly distressed, and not just by the rain.

 

Next they’re entering a building. In some of the interesting camera work that characterizes the series, the camera shoots through what looks like the ribs or naked frame of a small boat.

Hanley goes to a man on the radio. The radio man informs him that a captain has been trying to get a hold of him all morning. I feel a mission, a quest, a chance at fate and glory about to be revealed. Battalion is pulling back to Avranches, but our heroes are staying…as the rear guard. For those who care, Avranches is in Normandy near the sea, near the mouth of the See river. In the previous episode, they had been near Belleroy, which is between St. Lo and Bayeux (see the small red circle on the map), still near the beaches of Normandy. If battalion is pulling back to Avranches (see the large red circle on the map), it means our boys have been fighting their way south.

In other news, they are getting a replacement, but only one, a BAR man. Saunders isn’t happy; they’re under strength.

Cut to a Jeep crossing a bridge…the same bridge that featured in “Rear Echelon Commandos.” A lieutenant in the Jeep tells a soldier to get out and find 2^nd Platoon, K Company. The soldier stands alone for a moment before walking to the fishing boat place where Hanley and Saunders discuss the mission. Their assignment includes orders to observe the enemy armor and call in artillery. Saunders adds, “And get our heads blown off.”

The new guy is Private Delaney (played by Joe Mantell). I have the impression that this NPC won’t be running on his full quota of hit points by the time the closing credits roll. Saunders is reluctant to take him, but Hanley insists.

Saunders asks the new guy about being a BAR man. He replies that he was trained on that in basic, but he has been a cook’s helper for the last two years.

Cut to Kirby grabbing the BAR and pretending to fire it. He obviously likes the weapon. We get some friendly banter between Kirby, Littlejohn, and Caje around a small fire. Kirby wants to take over the BAR position. At one point, Littlejohn asks, “Don’t you ever think about anything else but shootin’ and killin’?” Kirby replies, “That’s what were here for, ain’t it?”

Billy comes out of the building behind them looking for his helmet. Littlejohn is using it to boil water. Braddock drives some chickens from the adjacent barn. It looks like there will be some wild rolls on the small game grappling tables…but I predict Saunders and the NPC will show up before the first dice hit the table. I’m wrong. Braddock quickly grabs a bird by the leg, success on the first roll. Billy doesn’t want to have to kill the chicken.

Before any poultry blood is spilled, Saunders and the replacement arrive. Saunders orders the men to put the fire out, and to form up. They’re moving out. He introduces the replacement to the men: Caje, Braddock, Littlejohn, Nelson, and Kirby. The latter is noticeably pleased when Saunders tells him to get the BAR…and less pleased when ordered to give it to the new guy. He tries to argue, but Saunders won’t hear it. Nelson (Billy) gets to carry Delaney’s ammo. Our boys march toward the north end of town.

Cut to a dark and rainy night. Kirby and Caje are on lookout in a clock tower. They stand near a gaping hole in the concrete wall. Kirby is still steamed about the new guy getting the BAR. He doesn’t know who this “stinking cook’s helper” is thinking that he can take Grady’s place. Saunders, who must have a high sneak rating, catches Kirby complaining and reminds him that he’s up here to use his eyes, not his mouth. Kirby argues. Saunders puts him in his place. He sends Caje and Kirby downstairs.

Delaney comes upstairs. Saunders is watching, or brooding, or both. He offers Saunders coffee. Saunders reminds him that he ordered there be no fires…he’s not in the kitchen anymore. He softens the rebuke by telling him that it takes a squad a while to get used to a new man, but they’ll come around. Delaney tells a story about a new guy back at the mess who was given a real important job right off. Saunders sees the connection. Delaney explains that BAR might be too important of a position for the new guy. Something is still eating Saunders; he tells Delaney to do as he’s told. He’s not taking the BAR from him. What’s eating Saunders? I suspect that the BAR is a dangerous position—that’s why he doesn’t want to give it to Kirby.

Braddock still has the chicken, but Saunders won’t let them have a fire; it might alert the Germans. He sits on the stairs to have a chat with Delaney about the chicken. I haven’t seen any candles yet in this episode; I have no idea as to the source of the dim light. The discussion leads into Delaney’s backstory. He’s 40, and joined the army voluntarily. He asked to move to the line, because “being a cook in the army is like being a clerk in Hanau,” Wisconsin. Kirby interrupts the warm moment between Braddock and Delaney. Braddock tells him to “drop dead.”

Cut to Littlejohn and Billy. Billy has lost the pin from a grenade. Littlejohn finds the pin, but doesn’t tell Billy at first. When he does show the pin, he takes the grenade from Billy, and then gives it to Delaney to hold. Billy hears something. It’s Delaney, he’s having trouble with the BAR.

Kirby decides to give the new guy some instruction…with a dollop of derision. Only to be interrupted by the stealthy sergeant once again. Every time Kirby gets rolling with the complaints, Saunders appears on cue. No wonder he can’t get it out of his system; Saunders keeps corking his rant. But Kirby doesn’t cork this time. He turns his verbal wrath on Saunders…only Saunders pops his own cork…and it’s time to roll on the grappling tables.

Saunders has Kirby pinned against the wall. Fear and surprise are evident in Kirby’s expression…something serious is about to happen...Caje douses the flames with an important message from the top of the stairs. “Listen.”

They can hear tanks. Saunders rushes up the stairs. Then Braddock yells for him downstairs. “There’s something moving out there.” Everyone gets their soldier on. “They’re coming in!” 

It’s Hanley, in all his low-budget Gregory Peck-ishness. Hanley says there are at least 10 tanks, halftracks, armored cars, etc. parked at the other end of town. This isn’t just a German scouting party (so there will be no knot tying competition or campfire songs).  Saunders is ready to retreat. Hanley says they can’t move; the Germans are all around them. Apparently there wasn’t much watching being done by our squad from K Company. I’m guessing the DM rolled secretly; they failed. The Germans came right in under cover of the dark and stormy night—that’s a seriously negative modifier to the spotting die roll.

“At least we’re in position to judge their strength and direct artillery fire,” Saunders says, spitting Hanley’s earlier words back at him. More bad news, the corporal with Hanley can’t raise battalion on the radio. Hanley admits that Saunders was right earlier when he described this assignment as being between a rock and a hard place. Saunders’ reply, “Things are tough all over, Lieutenant.” In other words, “We’ll deal with it.”   

It’s morning, and the place is lousy with Germans.

Braddock’s chicken’s morning oratory attracts attention. He tosses the bird outside to keep the Germans from discovering them. The Germans chase the hen. She comes back inside. They are about to burst through the door after the chicken. The squad is all primed to roll for initiative. An officer yells at the two Germans just before they crash the party. (Maybe they wanted to tie knots and sing campfire songs after all). The officer calls them back. Braddock grabs the chicken.

Hanley says there must be at least 50 pieces of German armor around the town. The radio man has battalion on the line. The order is to sit still and wait for the Germans to pull out. Saunders still wants to call down artillery, and make a run for it. Hanley doesn’t like the thought of trying to dodge artillery fire. Saunders argues that the Germans are going to find them sooner or later. Before Hanley can respond, Braddock interrupts…the Germans are doing something…coming to investigate the building. Hanley orders everyone into the basement. Brockmeyer, the radio man (I guess), speaks German. He says that the Germans are going to set up a command post upstairs. 

Hanley decides to call down the fire from division. There’ll be over 50 pieces of artillery firing, shells coming in from all directions. Hanley will lead the men to a wood outside of town when the shelling starts.

Saunders gives the men the plan. They’ll leave their packs, and don’t bunch up. Delaney shows signs of stress. He must have that NPC premonition that his best-if-used-by date has arrived. He has realized that he is the lone redshirt in the landing party.

Multiple orders of 105 shells and other assorted armor-piercing rounds are on the way. Division delivers in 30 minutes or less, or your next order is free. Amid the shelling, the squad fights its way out of the building, winning the initiative roll-off, and snuffing out the unsuspecting Wehrmacht warriors along the way.

It’s at the bridge that they run into a bit of trouble—besides the rain of deadly steel and explosives from above. A German halftrack not only blocks the way, it spits fun-sized gobs of lead poisoning at our heroes. I’m sensing a job for the BAR man. Will he answer with a withering hail storm, courtesy of Mr. Browning?

Everyone is pinned down. The halftrack blocks the bridge; a tank moves in behind them. Delaney makes a courage roll…fail; he cowers in a corner. Nelson tries to rally the new guy. Delaney waves him on, telling him that he’ll follow. He starts to rise. The halftrack gunner pushes him back down.

Hanley calls for the BAR man. Saunders goes back to look for him. The rest of the squad, pinned behind a defunct German tank, explains that Delaney is down, but not wounded. When Kirby goes into the “I told you so” tirade, Saunders shuts him up. He looks like he wants to use more than words on Kirby.

Saunders goes back to Delaney and gives him two-scoops of get-your-BAR-into-action. The first scoop is responsibility. The second scoop is guilt. He shoves the BAR into Delaney’s hands, and tells him, “Cover me.” He leaves. Delaney rolls a courage test and gets a passing score. He takes the BAR and moves after Saunders.

They both dodge artillery. Saunders doesn't dodge well, he goes down; he’s not moving. The halftrack gun continues its monotonous message in dots and gashes. Delaney screws his courage to the sticking place (I’ve probably already used that quote from MacBeth in a prior recap, but it fits perfectly here.), moving to the edge of the bridge in the face of machine gun fire from the halftrack. He breaks cover and marches toward the enemy at short range. He takes at least one dot and maybe a gash as well. He’s down, but the halftrack gun seems to be jammed. Instead of retrieving the BAR, he reaches into his jacket. My guess is that he’s going for the grenade that Littlejohn gave him earlier. He throws it, and expires; the half-track gun crew takes it badly, draping themselves over the edges of the vehicle to empty their hit points in unison. 

Saunders recovers from his apparent concussion and moves up to Delaney. 

Hanley gets the rest of the men moving forward, bidding Saunders to follow as he passes. The Sgt. leaves the lifeless Delaney, grabbing the BAR, and follows. That bridge and its vicinity have been especially tough on cooks; a cook has died at or near the same bridge in two separate episodes.

We next see American soldiers entering the town via the bridge. A Jeep drives past Saunders who stands next to a covered body. 

Hanley tells him that it’s time to move out. Saunders admits that he was wrong. He had put Delaney on the BAR because he didn’t want to lose one of the others; he thought that it would be easier to lose someone that he didn’t know. He never knew Delaney’s first name, until he read it on the dog tag. He says that it’s not easier.

There’s a new replacement. Saunders asks him his name. Alfred Baker. “Glad to know you, Alfred Baker,” Saunders says.

Like “Rear Echelon Commandos,” this episode looks at the replacement. The difference is that this episode focuses on the view from the squad leadership position, dealing with the loss, not wanting to get to know those who are about to die, with the hope of softening the loss when it does happen. The message here is that that doesn’t work for Saunders; he should at least know the names of those he will send to face death.

I did find the episode enjoyable, though predictable. Saunders did some brooding and scolding. Hanley got to be commanding. I called Rick Jason a low-budget Gregory Peck; that’s not meant to be demeaning; it’s a good thing. He reminds me of Gregory Peck, but he never achieved the same level of fame and recognition. He doesn’t seem to have the same “presence” as Peck, but I find him similar…and he may even be better looking.

There were none of the things featured so noticeably in earlier episodes: no candles, churches, clergy, or kittens in this episode—only a chicken. Braddock’s comic relief was limited to catching the chicken and calling for the Lieutenant; I never noticed what finally happened to the hen; I suppose that she got away. Kirby got to be all mad and bratty like a teenage girl, but without the eye rolls and hair shaking. Littlejohn kept a cool head. Billy Nelson seems to be the squad idiot. Caje was seen, but not heard much in this episode. There was no French spoken, only German and English. The camera work was good, but not quite of the quality of the previous episodes in my opinion. While it is a solid episode in the development of Saunders’ character, it won’t rank among my favorites.

As for the chicken, was it symbolic somehow of Delaney’s struggle? They had a chicken in their midst. The chicken nearly gave them away to the Germans. Delaney nearly didn’t do his job as the BAR man, risking all their lives, finally acting in spite of his fear to take out the German gunners. I don’t know if such a connection was intended, but I like to think that it was.