A Tale of Two Soldiers by Max Gendelman

Author:Max Gendelman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62652-290-9
Publisher: Two Harbors Press

Chapter Seven

Home and Healing

Time has a way of solving many problems. So it was. The terrible return voyage finally ended, and I promised myself I would never get on a boat again. But that, too, time solved, for I got to love taking cruises. What a wonderful way to enjoy life.

Upon arriving in New Jersey in July 1945, we were told we would not stay there long. We were to be processed, given medical examinations, and then sent to other bases around the country. It was in Paris, with the help of the USO, that a message was first sent to my mother and father that I was alive and would be coming home. What a great feeling that was. My mother was hysterical again but this time with the joy of actually being certain that her zinnelle (son) was well. I was finally able to talk to my family.

“Hello.”

“Esther, this is your brother, Max.” I heard a scream and a yell to my mother.

“Mom, come quick. It’s Max.”

I heard another scream, followed by Mother’s crying as she picked up the phone.

“Momma, I’m home!”

“Mein scheine kind [my dear beautiful son]. I want to see you, to touch you, to kiss you. Where are you?”

“Momma, I’m back in America, in New Jersey, and I don’t know how long I will be here.”

“We don’t care. We will come to see you, if only for a minute. Please find out when we can come and where. Please, I can’t wait. I will go to the rabbi to tell him the good news. We will cry together! Esther, come and talk to your brother. Mark down all the information that he will tell you. We are going to see him. Esther, schnell [fast]!”

I explained to my sister that I would find out if there was enough time for them to come to New York and, if so, when and where we would meet.

I did get all the information and was able to get it back to the family. They were able to get a flight out to meet me for just a few days before I was shipped out again, this time to a VA hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

Our meeting was, to say the least, very emotional. My dear, beloved father couldn’t hold back his tears, letting them flow freely down his rugged cheeks. We all kept hugging one another and asking the same questions over and over. I was brought current about the family and all our relatives. My little brother, now grown up and a handsome young man of fifteen, wanted me to tell him all about the war and my capture.

“Shel, come here and let me hug you again. All the stories will have to wait. There is too much to tell, and now is not the time or the place. Remember, you are the ‘big son’ now that I am not around. Promise to take good care of your mother and sister and listen to your dad.”

“I promise, but you have to promise, too, that you will come back home soon, for good.

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