My father, John Bruskin, served in WWII, and received two Purple Hearts when he was blown out of the tanks he was driving. While in the military he used a service they provided to record a series of “45s”, 7-inch vinal records, and send them to my mom, Gertrude. This “poem” is a compilation of his messages to my mom from France and other military locations. His hopes and anguish are palpable.
He had been a young Jewish activist in the Communist Party in Philadelphia in the late 30’s but left the Party, disillusioned by its top-down structure. Working in a radio repair shop when WWII broke out, he entered the service to fight fascism and ironically endured antisemitism while being trained in Georgia.
Although the notion of PTSD didn’t exist then, my father was clearly impacted for the rest of his life. He died young at 61 having been a TV repairman his entire life. The war never left his consciousness. I remember while growing up our summer “vacations” were yearly trips to gatherings of The Fourth Armored Division, held in a variety of cities, giving my father a couple days with the guys to reminisce and leaving me and my sisters bored and playing on the elevators. He read every book he could find on the war and watched every news reel documentary shown on TV.
Like many from the “greatest generation” the defeat of Nazism and the ascendancy of the US as the world’s superpower didn’t do him much good. He essentially worked himself to death, died without health insurance or even a bank account. The hypocritical notion of “Thank you for your service” continues today and vets struggle to earn a living and recover from service in endless US initiated wars. The best we could do as “patriots” is to end US militarism and thank the teachers and nurses and many others for their service in making our country function.
The Dangers of Doing Away with Monsters
(RECORDED WORDS OF JOHN BRUSKIN DURING WW II)
Gert,
Monsters are roaming the earthDinosaurs, leaving anguish, pain, death and sorrow in their wakeThat’s why I’m somewhere far awayFighting to get rid of these creaturesSo our children will never see such thingsIt has to be done now, right?
It’s not an easy lifeWe all try to keep our chin upMillions of usNo complainingNo getting sad, you know
Don’t worryI’m going to surviveGet that one-way ticket home Some dayPretty sure
We can start over where we left off Like that wonderful day when we were so excited When we permanently joined as man and wifeThe nicest day of my life And yours too, huh?
Sure, we’re poorBut we’ll manage A little place of our own, our dream spot Our beautiful little baby gal FrancieMaybe another one later
And I have you. That’s what makes life worth living.
So that’s itWe don’t want muchThe simple things in life We don’t ask for more
But it’s out of the question todayAnd that makes me very sadEspecially after seeing the baby for the first timeShe’s so cute She’ll be a fine girlLike her mother is Like her mother always was
So be a good soldier GertKeep your chin up You are strong You got common sense You understand what’s taking place
I feel from the bottom of my soul This thing will be over We will be together and never be separated.Perhaps it’s inevitable for many of us to go. We all hope and pray it don’t happen.But if it happensWell, you understand.Don’t you Gert?
…
Gene Bruskin is a retired 45 year veteran of labor and international solidarity work. He has served as a USWA Local president, spent two years as Jesse Jackson’s labor director in the 1990s and 10 years as Secretary Treasurer of the Food and Allied Service Trades of the AFL-CIO. He was the UFCW Justice@Smithfield Campaign Director organizing 5,000 meatpacking workers in North Carolina in 2008. During the Iraq war he was a founder of US Labor Against the War and has done extensive international labor solidarity work for struggles in Central America, South Africa, Cuba , the Philippines, Iraq and Israel/Palestine . He recently helped establish the National Labor Network for Ceasefire in Gaza. He is currently mentoring Amazon workers in various locations Since retirement from AFT in 2012 he has written and produced 3 musicals, and his current production is called The Return of John Brown. (www.thereturnofjohnbrown.com)
