COS And eFFeCT
memoir of a Soldier
BY COS BARNES
i am always amazed at what I
PHOTOGRAPH BY CASSIE BUTLER
learn from other people whose experiences were so different from mine.
Tom Shaylor, a friend at church, had a 30-yearcareer in the Army, the last two years of which he served as senior aide to Gen. Omar N. Bradley, at that time the last living five-star general. Tom is writing his memoir, and he tells of all the celebrities he met with the general. “The first task I had,” he said, “was to talk to Mary Tyler Moore Studios about special projects involving the general. I went to all luncheons and dinners with him and he insisted I sit at his table. I met many celebrities including Esther Williams, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Danny Thomas and Bob Hope. There were also Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, George Burns, Harold Robbins, Irving Wallace and John Huston. Huston came to my home on one occasion to talk to me about leadership for a project he was working on.” According to Tom, both the general and his wife loved horse races and always wanted to bet on the daily double, the first race of the day. The men’s routine was to go to the race early and send the limo back to bring Mrs. Bradley in time for the fifth race. “She was a great handicapper, and won many times,” Tom said. “If she could not attend she would have me place her bets. Mrs.
Bradley was a successful screenwriter. She wrote a number of episodes of The Untouchables.” Tom continued, “Gen. Bradley believed the most important word in the dictionary was humility. He was soft-spoken and never raised his voice to anyone. Once when we were showing the movie Patton, I asked the movie star Karl Malden what was the most difficult thing he had to do to portray Gen. Bradley. He told me to keep his voice soft when he was supposed to be angry.” It should make for a most interesting memoir. Tom has stories about Korea, Vietnam, Saigon, Ecuador and Puerto Rico. You can even ask him about Dinkins Mill. As for romance, happy Valentine’s Day. One of the most interesting valentines I ever received was from my husband many years ago. Returning home from a business trip on Valentine’s Day, he sheepishly handed me a card. He’d arrived so late the drugstore had sold out of Valentines so he’d substituted a card with no hearts decorating it. It had no shamrocks or leprechauns either. Instead it bore a picture of the Jolly Green Giant. “Let me be the first to wish you a happy St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. PS Cos Barnes is a longtime contributor to PineStraw magazine. She can be contacted at cosbarnes@nc.rr.com.
PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2013
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