Memories down the lane - Combat

Once in a while I would dive into the ocean my memories and bring back either the beautiful jewel of events or harrowing episodes of tearful saga. Mid 70’s was a season of good and interesting TV series, especially for school going kids. I was about 11 years old. Almost everyday at 7.30pm, my cousins and I would sit in front of the TV to watch our favorite series ranging from Space 1999, Bionic Woman, Six Million Dollar Man, White Shadow, CHiPs and definitely that famous Vic Morrow starred Combat.

Combat hold a special spot in my heart as well as for my cousins’ and friends’ too. The story of how American infantry soldiers penetrated the enemy lines in Europe during WW II was indeed very interesting and entertaining. Led by the well respected Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow), the American infantry soldiers walked across the land in Europe to identify enemy’s stronghold and wipe them out by staging series of well planned attacks. We didn’t not bother to ask why only the Americans must win the war and not the Germans as well. We didn’t know or cared to delve much into some of those cheap thrills, bloopers and tricks such as how can a wounded man kept on moving for miles through the terrains and forest., despite losing so much blood and finally come out alive.

Sergeant Chip Saunders with his heroic appearance was my favorite instead of the calm and compassionate Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason). Sergeant Chip Saunders always led his platoon to victory and took charge of almost every situation during a war situation. How they trailed the tracks and marks left by the Germans and destroy the enemy once and for all, left indelible marks in my mind.

Combat had a very strong impact on me, my cousins and friends to the extent; we made our own wooden rifles and would enter the nearby forest by dividing our groups into two. I had two beautiful wooden rifles made of discarded wood collected from the construction sites. We would produce the machine gun rattle orally when firing at enemies. Sometimes, the verbal rattle, would be followed with some wild seeds hooked at the end of rubber strips pulled along the barrel of our wooden rifles and released at appropriate time to hit the target. I still remember one day when we used the wild seed as bullets, not knowing its harmful side. But it was not long, before we realized a few among us had been scratching their bodies from head to toes. The juice from the seed resulted in itchy sensation when it come in contact with the skin. Since, I was practically hiding all the time, I was not fired at and escape the onslaught of itchiness. Apart from that, the hit can be very painful and quite dangerous too, as the speed the seed travel can blind one’s eye if one is not careful. Thank god that no such incident happened to us.

Running up and down the hills and across the forest for hours, searching and killing our enemies provided us with high speed game which requires a lot of stamina. Though the heroes who fought the enemies valiantly, do not appear on television anymore, the memory of them is still fresh and alive within me. Just like many things in life, this interest too slipped into the silent eternity, occasionally surfacing to color the monotony of life.

Errors under your tender care.
Mistakes are mine.
Corrections are yours.

© cyclopseven 2007. All rights reserved.