Saturday, September 29, 1962

The Longest Day

This story begins with Dad and I driving on the Eisenhower Expressway to the Woods Theater in downtown Chicago. Dad was unusually quiet which meant something was probably wrong. I was 11 years old, and this was the first time we had gone to the movie theatre together. He was taking me to see the newly-released movie, The Longest Day, so I was excited. The movie had been billed as the most accurate account of the D-Day Normandy Invasion of June 6th, 1944. It featured an all-star cast of John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Eddie Albert and Red Buttons. Perhaps the not so fond memories of D-Day were on his mind that Saturday evening.

Dad was quite intent on seeing this movie.

I had heard bits and pieces about his time in the service, but not much about the war. Most of what he shared was about his time as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Read more about William Bonnamy Sr.

Arriving at the theater I was taking it all in, a fancy building with crushed red velour seats. I was impressed with the Woods Theater. The movie was in black and white and almost three hours long. Certainly long enough to check things out so I decided to use the bathroom as an excuse to walk around in the lobby.

The theater was absolutely silent you could hear a pin drop, everyone was engrossed in the movie.

You could hear a pin drop

I was amazed how quiet it was in the theater. Surprisingly, so many people in one place you could hear a pin drop. When I returned to my seat, the scene in the movie was about the soldiers using small metal clickers they called “crickets.” Used for identification of friend or foe, one click was the challenge and two the proper response. I thought that was pretty cool.

Later in the movie Red Buttons portrayed a paratrooper hanging from a church steeple in Sainte-Mère-Église, France. The Red Buttons scene, of course, is the Hollywood version of paratrooper John Steele’s predicament. Steele jumped with “F” Company of the 505th Parachute Infantry and landed on the church rooftop in the Sainte-Mère-Église town square. Steele was a combat veteran having been wounded in action the prior year in Sicily. Reportedly, Steele cut himself loose with the help of two German soldiers and was briefly captured. I don’t remember much else of the movie except the Red Buttons character and the image of a dead enemy soldier with his boots on backwards.

As Dad sat silently watching, comments about his airborne days are going through my mind. Some of it made sense, other parts eluded me. Dad would say things like, “All American” or “All the Way,” “Nervous from the Service,” “You’re in the Army now they got you,” jokingly. Or “You’re in the Army now, you’re not behind a plow, you’re digging a ditch, you’ll never get rich, you’re in the Army now.” I still laugh thinking of him singing that tune. As far back as I remember dad spoke with pride of his service with the 82nd Airborne. It was once said there’s no such animal as a typical paratrooper. Dad certainly wasn’t typical; his paratrooper persona was always close to the surface. Unpredictable yet dependable and absolutely afraid of no one. That’s how these men were trained, individually and collectively the 82nd Airborne trooper was the symbol of American courage.

The drive home

Driving home from the theater, dad was quiet. Sitting beside him in silence, I wasn’t sure if I should say anything or wait until later. But I was amused with the metal cricket thing and mentioned to dad that it is was pretty neat. To my surprise, he didn’t want to hear about that metal cricket. Raising his voice, he said, “Why are you asking about that for, it didn’t happen, I don’t remember anything like that.” So I just looked out the window and kept quiet. Later, it occurred to me the movie may have conjured up unpleasant memories and he was in no mood to talk. Another soldier’s son once told me his dad had no use for his “cricket” and tossed it upon landing, noting the enemy was clever and would return a click with a bullet.

This movie was my first insight into what dad might have experienced during the war. I knew it was a Hollywood version but nonetheless left me with a lasting impression.