Happy Independence Day

I have known two real-life war heroes in my life. Eddie Toti fought in World War II, and Jeff Miller fought in Vietnam. I used to be on Eddie's bowling team, and he always called me Bubby, although I think he called a lot of people by that name. I worked with Jeff for a couple years in my mid 20s, and he always called me B. They were very different in most ways, but also identical in other more important ways.

Jeff is the quiet type until he gets to know you. He is as funny a man as you'll ever want to know too. I worked in a tool and die shop when I was in my early 20s, and Jeff kind of took me under his wing, and taught me the ropes. There can be a lot of rookie hazing at a small job shop, and he kinda helped me to avoid a lot of that stuff unless, of course, he was the one pulling the prank. He used to run an NC Mill that ran on a tape that had to be programmed. He was the only guy who knew how to do it, and when we got work for The Moog, he did the programming, and tool setup after hours, and always volunteered me for the overtime. This was always fun, as we had the shop to ourselves, and our reward was always a couple of beers for dinner.

His best prank on me was when he pulled a fuse, and convinced me that it was some sort of relay switch going bad. Long story short, he had me behind the machine with a screwdriver, and told me to touch it to this certain piece and tell him if it sparked. After the initial shock, the muscles in my arm twitched for about an hour. He didn't quit laughing for about a week.

Jeff didn't talk about Vietnam much at all. I do know that he enlisted because some recruiter told him that he would work in the machine shop behind the lines for the duration of his tour. Of course when he got there and explained to the guy that he was supposed to be a machinist, the guy just laughed, and the next thing he knew he was humping an M60, which they called The Pig because of its weight. He used to laugh at how that recruiter bamboozled him.

Another story he once told me was that when he was almost done with his first tour, his first child was born, and money was tight. Well, they offered him a cash bonus to enlist for another tour, and because he needed the money he did it. Knowing Jeff how I know him, and having 20 years more wisdom since he shared these stories with me, I'm not really sure if he was being truthful or humble. I know he never liked to let the truth get in the way of a funny story, though.

I know one other thing, about Jeff's days in Vietnam. He walked point for most of his two tours. The man is five-foot-nothin', weighs 140 pounds soaking wet, and walked point every single day. He once gave me a book to read. It was called The Thirteenth Valley. Jeff told me that in his opinion, it was the closest thing to what Vietnam was really like. I have read it twice in my lifetime.

Jeff is a hero to me, and I would never tell him that, because he'd just give me the old one-finger salute and laugh at me, but I call him on Veterans Day most years when I have his current phone number. He always says the same thing to me. "I knew it was you calling me." Jeff never once bragged about anything he did in Vietnam, and never had a bitter word to say about how our troops were treated when they got home. As for me, I think it is a stain on America's history the way our troops were treated when they came home from that war, and I am heartened to see that there are those who have made great efforts to rectify that situation. One of the most heartwrenching memorials this country has, is The Vietnam Wall in D.C.

I knew Eddie from my bowling team. My buddy and I, who were in our early 40s, wanted to join a team, and we ended up teaming with three guys in their 70s. A really nice grandfatherly guy named Don, who was a retired teacher, and a true gentleman named Bob, who never missed a Notre Dame game, and was actually at the Rudy game, and then there was Eddie. He was a World War II veteran, and him and his wife owned a travel agency.

Eddie was the kind of guy who everybody loved, and he never had a bad word for anybody. His wife actually used to book Bob Seger's travel, and he sailed with him occasionally. Of course when I first met him I was skeptical about that, but he used to always tell me "Bubby, if he ever does a concert again, I'll get ya those backstage passes you asked for." Eddie used to tell me stories about the war, too. He told me about the day that every guy in his economics class at Northwestern University went down one day and enlisted in the Army after class. Just like that. The war was on, and they decided to go as one, and fight the war. I truly believe that when they call them The Greatest Generation, it was with examples like this in mind.

Eddie used to like to play a little cards, and bet on the ponies as well. Every now and again I would go to Northville Downs after bowling and we would catch the last couple races. It was times like these that he sometimes told stories about the war. To hear him tell it, it was no big deal, and he usually made himself out to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He once told me about a march in Italy or France, I can't remember, but they were going through some woods coming to a town, and he says, " Bubby, I'm walking, and like an idiot, I'm looking behind me, and Boom! A German tank round hits a tree right by me, and I get hit by the shrapnel." He goes on to tell me how he ended up making it to the basement of this house, and they had all this canned fruit. He then spends the next half hour talking about how they canned their fruits and vegetables, and how good they tasted, and then he says, "the next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital with this really cute nurse standing by my bed."

The guy would spend 30 seconds telling you about the battle and being hurt, and then spend a half-hour going over every detail of a jar of peaches. He always made it out to be no big deal.

Eddie's wife Betty got sick one day, she had a very short illness that he didn't talk about much, and then she died. You could see the sparkle leave his eyes when that happened, and within a year, Eddie passed on, too. The docs I'm sure know the disease or type of cancer he got, but they're wrong. Eddie died because he just wanted to be with Betty again. Some might say he died of a broken heart, and that would be true, as well. Either way, he is back with Betty, and that is a good thing.

As it turns out, Eddie was not lying about knowing Rockin' Bob Seger, because he was at Eddie's memorial. Of course I knew Eddie wouldn't lie about something like that, but he did lie about other things. He lied about his service in World War II. Turns out, the things that he said were no big deal, and the "stupid" things he always seemed to do, were really a pretty big deal, and not stupid, but heroic. At Eddie Toti's memorial I saw four decorations that he never spoke a word about in all the years I knew him. Two Purple Hearts, and Two Bronze Stars. Those are kind of a big deal — no, they are a really big deal.

Eddie was a hero to me, and I never told him so. He would have laughed like hell if I were to tell him that. I always thanked him for his service on Veterans Day though, and he liked that, I think. I still think about Jeff and Eddie on days like Veterans Day, and Memorial Day, and I'm thinking about them this Independence Day, as well. Anytime I see the Stars & Bars waving proudly on these holidays, I think about the guys who defend that flag of ours...

Happy Independence Day!