Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

I'm a Lucky Guy ( Continued from page 55) outside the hospital, and I was plenty nervous. Like any disabled man, the first place I headed for was a bar to give me a little false courage. At this bar I met up with a tough old sergeant. He took one look at me and said, “Gee whiz, son, you got trouble.” I said,' “Yeah.” He said, “Can you still handle a drink?” I said, “Yeah.” Then he said, relieved, “Oh, hell — then you’re all right!” That made me laugh. I felt suddenly better and I grabbed a drink in one hook and drank to his health. I’ve been feeling progressively better ever since. Actually, it’s because I can do almost everything with my hooks that I got the role of Homer Parrish in the picture “The Best Years of Our Lives.” On the set, once the actors got used to me they forgot I didn’t have hands. I remember one day Fredric March, Dana Andrews and I were waiting around for a shot. Fredric March was talking about men’s wedding rings. “I keep losing mine,” he said. “Since I’ve been married I’ve had to buy three new ones because I can’t keep them.” “Me too,” I said, grinning. March swung matter-of-factly to Dana. “See, Dana? He has the same trouble,” he said. Then, “Hey, who do you think you’re kidding, Harold? You don’t belong in this conversation at all!” This sort of thing happens all the time and every time it gives me a kick. But in the beginning, I never thought anything would give me a kick again. I REMEMBER so clearly the day the accident happened. It was 2:30 in the afternoon on June 6, 1944; I was sitting on a keg of TNT in the embarkation point Camp McCall, North Carolina. I was a sergeant in the demolition squad of the 515th Parachute Troops and how excited I was because in a week we were going to shove off for Europe! By that time I’d been “pushed out” of a plane fifty-two times, with pounds of TNT strapped to my back; and in spite of what happened TNT is the safest thing to have around. The irony of it is that I shouldn’t have been on duty that day at all. I had taken over another sergeant’s instruction class so he could take a three-day pass. Well, one minute I was sitting there on that keg of TNT (which luckily didn’t go off),' showing ten privates how to attach a fuse to a half-pound of TNT. The next minute there was a terrific explosion — thanks to a defective fuse. When I came to, both of my hands were gone. Oddly enough, my wrist watch never stopped ticking and none of the other fellows was even scratched. It was just me. I lay in that hospital bed looking at the bandages at the ends of my wrists, and I thought about everything anyone would think — about my girl back home in Boston, Rita; and about my future life. My past life didn’t promise any big money for the future, you see. My widowed mother had done nursing all her life to raise my two brothers and me. When I’d graduated from Rindge Technical School in 1933, I became a butcher for the First National Stores — the same meat department I’d delivered packages for all during school. I’d left the job right after Pearl Harbor and now of course I could never hold it again. Besides, there was Rita. . . . I was pretty depressed for awhile. I still was when they transferred me to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C., where I was to learn how to use mechanical hooks in place of my hands. But I hadn’t been there long before my ^ Guaranteed by ^ Good Housekeeping If DCf CCtlVt OR — ££_^0l/tRTISt0 At leading stores everywhere INNER-CONTROL Skillful designing and quality fabrics combine to enhance your figure and give you that heavenly feeling of freedom from restraint. There is a Starlight Bra for every figure type including teen age and long line. Also wired bras with detachable straps. L. & W. BRASSIERE CO., NEW YORK 10, N Y Symbol Of Real Value In Slips Al leading stores or write, UNITED MILLS CORP. 180 Madison Ave., New York 16 • Mt. Gilead, N. C. No-Hike*, United’s new, exclusive patented design that stays pat! No hitch no hang ... all flattery and fit. Luscious fabric trimmed. with dainty, sheer embroidery to grace your figure. Sizes 32 to 44. FREE CATALOG of HOLLYWOOD FASHIONS 100 pages of gorgeous misses' and women's styles — suits, coats, dresses, blouses, slacks, lingerie, etc. Also men's-wear, shoes, luggage, gifts, housewares, etc. Low in price, high in quality — MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE Send one dime (me stamps) to cover moiling & handling charges BETTY CO-ED OF HOLLYWOOD Dept. F-tB 6253 HOLLYWOOD BLVD. HOLLYWOOD 28, CALIFORNIA * BETTY CO-ED OF HOLLYWOOD, Dept. F-16 ^ ^ 6253 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 28, Calif. g | Please send catalog. I enclose c dime. | I Address I City m m m bi Jl P tm