Cummings would have been far more suited as a UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) or "frogman".He would have been a great goalie for the Rangers, or maybe the Boston Bruins. Such were the shape and condition of his hapless feet. These two boats had each, a mind of their own. One went thisaway, the other went thataway. In itself, no big deal. Except for his high tendency to trip over imaginary items and stick the muzzle of his .57 recoilless rifle into the dirt.
One day the company had to remove the old paint from their steel helmets. While in the field they used these helmets as cooking utensils, wash basins and the steel pots took quite a beating. With paint remover they began to prepare them for repainting.
Their platoon sergeant, Haynes was a Southern Gentleman if there ever was one. Never one to raise his voice, his gentle manner belied his soldiering ability. What most of these sergeants achieved with brute force, this man doubled with clemence.
After the morning session was over the good sergeant placed his clipboard on top of his locker. Later in the day the sergeant reached to get his papers, someone had put an open can of paint remover on top of his stuff. Not knowing of the can of fluid, Haynes' eyes became victims to the searing, acid-like liquid. Brilliant colors filled with pain reverberated inside his head as he fought to retain consciousness as a darkness unrelated to night hovered at the edge of his mind.
The pain caused the gentleman to lose it. He did not know whom had done this stupid thing but almost everyone else did!
Cummings swallowed against the cold, hard knot that choked his throat. They had never heard the man swear before. Haynes lambasted the day the perpetrator was conceived. He also blasted the mother, the grandmother and said anything to try and anger enough the guilty person to come forward. It did not work!
Silently Cummings resented the tirade in proxy about the validity of his parentage and of his mother's now ruined reputation, but remained as a muted dummy. No one told Haynes and if he reads this book he'll probably go to Maine to find my boy Cummings.
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