We here at First Draft believe in recycling so I decided to repeat this Memorial Day post for the third year in a row. Just call it the trifecta:
The veteran I’d like to remember on this solemn holiday is the late Sgt. Eddie Couvillion.
My family tree is far too tangled and gnarly to describe here but suffice it to say that Eddie was my second father. He served in Europe during World War II, not in combat but in the Army Quartermaster Corps. In short, he was a supply Sergeant, one of those guys who won the war by keeping the troops fed, clothed and shod. Eddie was what was called in those days a scrounger; not unlike Milo Minderbinder in Catch-22 or James Garner’s character in The Great Escape.
Eddie’s favorite military exploit was running a army approved bordello in France after hostilities ended. He always called it a cat house and bragged that it was the best little whorehouse in Europe. One can serve one’s country in manifold ways…
Eddie died 5 years ago and I still miss him. He was a remarkable man because he changed so much as he aged. When I met him, he was a hardcore Texas/Louisiana conservative with old South racial views and attitudes. At an age when many people close their minds, Eddie opened his and stopped thinking of black folks as a collective entity that he didn’t care for and started thinking of them as individuals. Eddie was a genuine Southern gentleman so he’d never done or said an unkind thing to anyone but confided to me that the only one he’d ever hurt by being prejudiced was himself. I was briefly speechless because we’d had more than a few rows over that very subject. Then he laughed, shook his head and said: “Aren’t you going to tell me how proud you are of me? You goddamn liberals are hard to satisfy.”
Actually, I’m easily satisfied. In 2004, Eddie had some astonishing news for me: he’d not only turned against the Iraq War but planned to vote for John Kerry because “Bush Junior is a lying weasel and a draft dodger.” That time he didn’t need to ask me if I was proud of him, it was written all over my face. It was the first and only time he ever voted for a Democrat for President.
I salute you, Sgt. Couvillion. I only wish that I could pour you a glass of bourbon on the rocks and we could raise our glasses in a Memorial Day toast.
i still have only a e-pal is a vet of GW1. no georgee vet. so, a toast to the Gumm brothers, especially bob, who served in the pacific, my 2 great uncles, Al + clarence, clifford schoenbeck, who didn’t make it back, AND my essential services, had to stay home grandpa’s, tho grandpa a was late drafted and only served in boot camp. thank you atom bomb. uncs ken, karl + aunt karen thank you too.
Thank you for sharing the story of Sgt. Eddie Couvillion. He, from your description, seemed to be a fine man who learned throughout his life.
Rest in Peace sir and Thank you.
He sounds like my neighbor, Bob, who is 86 and very conservative. He was stationed at Ft Moultrie in SC when it was still in active service, and from his house he can see the old fort.
A few years ago he stopped me for a chat, and in the course of the conversation he blurted out that “Bush is a goddamned war criminal.” Like you, I was gobsmacked.