Bob Drynan shares the story of “Dick Sutton (Unjust Justice

Dick Sutton

(Unjust Justice)

By Bob Drynan

In recent years I have made efforts to re-establish contact with the men with whom I served in the Army between 1957

and 1960. In that, with the help of many others, I have been successful. But one lost connection has completely eluded me. For over forty years I have lived with a sense of dereliction about Dick Sutton.

Life has many injustices. I believe that Dick Sutton’s story is one that would not occur in the Army today. It is encouraging that we have come so far in racial justice in the past sixty years, and it is only fair to state that the United States Army has led the way in effecting those changes.

My connection with Dick began and ended in Germany, in the 318th ASA Battalion, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. ASA stands for “Army Security Agency,” part of the Army Signal Corps and a military appendage of the NSA. Without describing in detail our mission, the group to which I was assigned was composed of German linguists. Our mission was intelligence related. Most of us were university graduates, or we had completed some advanced education and taken time out to fulfill our obligatory military service.

We had two separate chains of command in the 318th, our operational commanders in the intelligence mission and a structure that provided all non-intelligence-related support. The cadre of the latter was not cleared for access to what we did in operations, but still had direct control over us when we were not engaged in operational activities, a strange and not very effective arrangement. Hopefully it has since been rectified. The support elements provided cooks, clerks, police, maintenance and motor pool services, among others.

Dick was a private in the motor pool. He was Black. After all these years, I have difficulty recalling exactly how he looked, but impressions remain. About medium height, he was a handsome man. He had a medium build, athletic physique . . . maybe like a tennis player might look. My most powerful impression of him was his bright wit and his intelligence. On the base we had a Service Club, an arrangement where we could go to play cards or get a snack. It arranged excursions and provided a venue for a German-American Club where we could meet with Germans and make friends. They held bridge and chess tournaments, and Dick learned to play bridge and chess at the club. He was the battalion chess champion and one of our best bridge players. He made friends with a group of us from the German Language Section and we went into town together occasionally. I remember one occasion when a group of us went on a Lakeside picnic, somewhere near Nürnberg. We played bridge on a blanket and drank beer until it was too dark to see the cards.

Remember the late 1950s? The integration of the schools in Little Rock had occurred and James Meredith had been matriculated into the University of Mississippi by military force. The Black community in the United States was just beginning to assert its demands for equality of opportunity . . . for desegregation and acceptance. Being from rural Oregon, I had almost no contact with Black people until my first years of college, and then later in the Army. I accepted them pretty much on their own terms with very few preconceived ideas. We had Blacks on the University of Oregon track team where I competed. In the world of athletics, the criteria of acceptance were not based on equality, but on a hierarchy established by performance. The U.S. Army in many ways is a Southern institution. A few years in the Army, and most of us came out with a slight Southern accent that could not be associated with any specific region of the country, but had been acquired as part of military culture. A large share of our NCOs and officers hailed from Southern states. In other words, there was still a so-called redneck culture in the Army at that time. I don’t profess to know how Army culture worked in

the infantry and other line units. Nevertheless, I suspect by that time, that performance was becoming the measure of the man, not color. However, in ASA field units we believed that our support command was composed of officers and NCOs who were primarily rejected by line units. Apparently, such an NCO ran the maintenance section of the motor pool where Dick was assigned. Dick complained that he was always assigned the dirtiest, most unpleasant tasks. Whether this was fact or not, I don’t know. But Dick felt that he was being subjected to deliberate humiliation. The Army is a hierarchical institution. It imposes a segregation (by rank) that is sometimes very demeaning. Most of us who were enlisted and accustomed to being treated with respect (we were college kids!) felt demeaned in the Army. All soldiers gripe. Among ourselves we discussed our resentment, particularly at being ordered about by those we thought of as our intellectual inferiors. Oh, the arrogance of youth!

Common enlisted men, NCOs, and officers all used separate mess halls and bathrooms, gathered at separate clubs and lived carefully segregated lives. The reasons are obvious, but the segregation to Dick must have seemed doubly offensive to a bright young Black man. He knew he was bright and resented being treated as an inferior by those whom he regarded as beneath his intelligence. With us, Dick had no such problems, because those of us with whom he associated had no strongly preconceived attitudes towards Blacks and treated him as an equal. We respected his intelligence and most importantly, he knew he was our equal! We liked him.

Nevertheless, Dick lived in a separate world from ours. On Herzo Base we were the elite. On the base there were linguists in virtually every language associated with Soviet Bloc countries, much more challenging languages to learn than German, but we were the ones who could speak the local language, were employed occasionally as translators for the base command, and, of course, were thought to have better access to the fräuleins . . . a constant obsession with all young soldiers far from home. Dick lived most of his life among the support troops, the guys who did the dirty work.

One day as he went through the chow line in the enlisted men’s mess hall, Dick became embroiled in an altercation with one of the cooks. The dispute was taken out onto the parade

ground where the matter was in the process of being settled in a manner usually reserved for differences that can’t be resolved by anything other than testosterone.

The local base police showed up. They were not trained MPs, but men assigned to the security of the base. Their actions were probably inappropriate, since they arrested Dick and released the mess cook, a white man. Dick was taken to the guardhouse and there he went berserk. He decked the Sergeantof-the-Guard and took a swing at the Officer-of-the-Day before he was subdued. Now he was in deep trouble. And he knew it. As the story circulated, he attempted to take his own life while he was in the detention room. It was said that he attempted to hang himself with his belt, but was pulled down before he succeeded and was stripped to his underwear and again left alone. He made a second attempt with his T-shirt, and was again subdued, this time with a sedative. The word was soon out that Dick was to be tried by General Court Martial. A General Court is empowered to impose the maximum levels of punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

I had occasion shortly before the court martial was to take place to run into our company commander in Herzogenaurach under unusual circumstances. We were alone and both were drinking cognac and coffee, and an informal conversation developed. In the forms reserved for military justice, the captain was convening officer for Dick’s court martial. He was the person who would draft the charges for which Dick would be tried. Trying to broach the subject of Dick’s circumstances, I asked him a related question about the UCMJ. His immediate response was that he could arrange a pass from duty to attend Sutton’s trial so I could see how it worked for myself. He stated that he was going to “throw the book at that nigger!” His attempted suicide was not to be taken into account, according to the captain. I thought that was a matter for his defense officer, but decided not to make any comment. I excused myself soon after and left. I did not attend the court martial.

The company commander was old Army, World War II and Korea. He had previously been an enlisted man and had obtained a commission along the way. He was about to retire and return to his home state of Georgia. The officer’s corps also had its share of rednecks.

Dick was convicted and condemned to six months in the stockade, and given a Bad Conduct Discharge. It might have been worse, but a BCD was the kiss of death (or unemployment) in the civilian world in those days.

When I next saw Dick, it was after he had served his term in the stockade. He had been returned to Herzo Base for shipment to the United States. As it happened, I was also returning home at the same time. I was the senior enlisted man to be transported by train from Nürnberg to Bremerhaven, where we would board a troop ship. I was placed in charge of Dick and the others. Dick was manacled to my wrist, and later to his seat on the train. I was given a pistol to wear. It was unloaded; maybe I was supposed to drop it on his toe if he got out of line. We talked all the way to Bremerhaven, and he described his experience in the stockade. I can’t remember the details of his experience, except for one sexual one that I will not describe. The experience was debasing and brutalizing, but as I look back on it, I have the impression that he somehow had come out of it intact. The sexual experience that he related was laced with humor. It was Black humor, but it was humor.

When we arrived in Bremerhaven, I delivered Dick to a naval officer and I never saw or heard from him again.

Dick was from Chicago. Every time I have read or heard something about military prisons I have been reminded of Dick. Many times I think of him when I reflect on my years in the military service. In those days, we had what was known as “universal military service. ” Our country existed in a hostile world that demanded that all U.S. male citizens should be prepared to serve in war. Unfortunately, there was no provision to deal with those of us who were psychologically unsuited for military service, save military prisons, BCDs, and Dishonorable Discharges. In civilian life, I believe that Dick Sutton had the potential to become a valuable member of society and lead a successful and fruitful life. His conviction and incarceration in the Army, and his subsequent BCD may have destroyed that potential. I pray not.

I have always wondered if Dick was able to pull himself together and lead a productive and happy life. He was so bright. He could have accomplished almost anything. Was he able to shed the bitterness of the experience? Did he have a family? Is he alive today?

I feel a sense of guilt. We were friends; not really pals, but we had served together. I didn’t get his home address, and I made no effort to establish a basis for future contact. I turned him over to that naval officer, and forgot him . . . No, I didn’t forget him.

Bob Drynan

The Resilience of Our Mexican Friends

By Leah Jewall From the Ojo Archives

[Ed. Note: With all the natural disasters occurring worldwide, and especially in Canada the USA and Mexico, I thought it to be appropriate to revisit this story.]

Friends from San Ignacio talk about the price of rice in the local had stopped by for tea. market. Fifteen minutes later the A neighbor told me he couldn’t torrential downpour started, and find his dog, but he heard he had been now two hours later I’m writing this seen in San Ignacio. There was no bus with my bare feet in a puddle of water, service, there were landslides, people listening to the sounds of drumming were staying off the roads, and so he and chanting floating in my window walked there in the rain. He found his from my neighbors across the street. dog, then walked all the way back, My friends had left hurriedly, as I did joyful that he had located his pet, full my best to sop up the water blowing of gratitude and without one word of in through the windows and trickling complaint. steadily down the walls. When the Now you take the Taquería Cheos. downpour had subsided, I heard ac- This has to be a prime example of tivity and happy, carefree singing in never giving in and never giving up. the street; those who had been forced A good part of the kitchen remains into seek shelter were now making their tact, so they moved a few of their red way home. tables across the street outside the car

For many Mexicans the events of rental business next to a computer the last couple weeks have not been place, and they go back and forth to disastrous or life changing; rather they the kitchen, serving their customers. view these natural occurrences as Open for business, no problem. nothing more than an inconvenience. I observed people crossing the The Mexican people accept natural bridge in the first few days when the disasters as a normal part of life, and river was still raging just a few feet adjust to the change in rhythm as beneath the broken cement. Young needed. women carrying infants of a few

I asked a friend who lives near a weeks crossed two thin boards to get stream in San Ignacio if she had had across without missing a beat. Small a problem with flooding. No, she re- children played near the edge, their plied calmly, “but the hillside came bikes teetering precariously. down on our house.” The damage was Emily Carr, the Canadian artist and significant and she’s talking about it writer who spent so much time with in the same tone of voice she’d use to the indigenous people of the Pacific west coast, comments on this noncombative harmony with nature in contrast to her own frustration in her book, Klee Wyck, published in 1941. “I’ve learned to defy the element’s meanness towards my canopy, materials, temperament. Indian people and the elements give and take like brothers, accommodating themselves to each others’ ways without complaint. Indians are comfortable everywhere.” When I asked a Mexican friend why he had waded across the river that day when the water was waist high and the current still so strong as it roared to the ocean, he replied, “Because I was in a hurry to get to the other side. You do what you have to do.”

Carol D. Bradley Email: cdbradleymex@gmail.com Phone: 33-2506-7525

“The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.” e.e. cummings

Lakeside Living has been weathering the storm of life under COVID-19. We are learning to know ourselves and how our lives have changed and will continue to evolve in what is becoming our new normal; social distancing, mask wearing, temperature checks, hand washing, or, should those of us who continue to isolate and learn to live our lives on-line, stay home and stay safe. These remain difficult times for our local venues—restaurants, theaters, musicians, artists—continuing to deal with limited seating and the uncertainty of the steady rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19 bringing on another lockdown.

Charitable organizations, after an initial outpouring of support, are now losing their fight with the growing need to help vulnerable families. They need your support wherever you can help.

If you can, and using the safety protocols, go out and support venues and restaurants of your choice, your chosen charity, follow your favorite musicians. Leave your positive reviews. They need you. Many will not survive without you.

CDB

The Lake Chapala Society hosts Open Circle every Sunday at 10AM, a popular community gathering in Ajijic, to enjoy a diverse range of presentations.

For more information see their website: opencircleajijic.org.

OPEN CIRCLE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 6, 2020:

Care will be given to protect the health of all attendees through limited seating distanced six feet apart, obligatory use of masks, temperature checks on entry, and hand sanitizers. Because seating will be limited to around 100, a reservation system may be necessary. Chairs will be socially distanced on the LCS south lawn. A raised stage is set up for the speaker.

November 1. A World with Alzheimer’s

Presented by Kassandra King, BA, NHA, RCFE

Kassandra’s presentation will bring new perspective to Alzheimer’s based on observations of how “losing touch” with “agreed-upon reality” can, at times, be a relief for the person experiencing cognitive change.

Kassandra’s interest in the geriatric population began as a volunteer at a young age. She enjoys the wisdom of elders and uses her natural abilities to connect with persons who have cognitive impairment. With a BA (University of North Texas) and post-graduate certification in long-term care administration (Texas State University), Kassandra worked as a Kassandra King licensed nursing home administrator at multiple care facilities. As Public Policy and Education Director, Kassandra served at two chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association. The term “new normal” is present throughout the guidance from her published book Getting REAL About Alzheimer’s – Rementia through Engagement, Assistance, and Love (Plainview Press, 2014).

November 8. Your Life Is a Battlefield. Your Weapons: Power, Control, and Domination

Presented by Daniel Acuff

Dr. Acuff will explore how you and the important others in your life use power, control, and domination to win, get ahead, and avoid losing in the game of life. He will analyze each of the weapons that you and others utilize in this battle, and will show how you also apply your physical body along with intellectual, emotional, social, and ethical powers to gain control. You’ll be surprised to discover how these forces play out consciously and subconsciously in your everyday life. Dr. Acuff’s Ph.D. is in philosophy, sociology, and education. He has been a seminar leader, radio talk show host, and marketing consultant for more than 40 major Daniel Acoff corporations. He is author of fifteen books including three

philosophical/spiritual works of fiction: God Lied–What’s Really Going on Here, The Mysteries of Quan, and Golf and the Zen Master.

November 15. Soldaderas: The Women Warriors of the Mexican Revolution

Presented by Jim Cook

Women played a crucial role in the Mexican Revolution. Although they are often portrayed merely as camp followers of the various armies, they also served as frontline combat troops. As their roles evolved, women proved they could be as fierce in battle as any man. Some even rose to command male regiments. Jim’s presentation will describe this evolution in roles and discuss some of the Revolution’s most famous soldaderas.

Jim Cook received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science and his master’s in public administration. After retirement in 2007, he and his wife Carole moved full-time to Mexico. During the following fourteen years, they have traveled throughout the country, photoJim Cook graphing people and places while studying Mexico’s complex history. Jim has written extensively about the Mexican Revolution in his photo-journal blog, “Jim and Carole’s Mexico Adventure.”

November 22. Ayurveda and Aging

Presented by Peter Steven Malakoff

Ayurveda is the oldest medical science in the world, at the root of Tibetan, Chinese, Persian, and Western medicine. According to Ayurveda, “Old age is a disease born of Time.” Our lives reside in the body of Time and our body, like everything that grows, eventually decays and dies. Buddha said: “Suffering is inevitable,” and he also said, “All suffering is not necessary.” In this way, the disease of aging is inevitable, but it may be manifested in a timely or untimely, comfortable or uncomfortable, disease-free or disease-filled manner. Herein lies the Ayurvedic approach to aging... it does not prevent death but prolongs life and health, offering understanding and practical wisdom on how to live our elder years in the best possible way. Peter Malakoff Peter Malakoff is a religious Studies scholar who lived in India for nearly ten years. In 2004 he received his Ayurvedic Sadhana Padavika Diploma from Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur, India.

November 29. Fascinating Stories Behind Mexican Street Names

Presented by David Ellison

David Ellison has long had a debt to pay to Los Niños Heroes, the martyred young cadets who defended Chapultepec Castle in 1847 during the U.S. invasion. A gifted raconteur, Ellison will explain his debt and how he will pay it with his forthcoming book that introduces expats to Mexican history. He will regale the audience with captivating stories from that book-in-progress about some of Mexico’s inspiring heroes and colorful scoundrels, including the “rest of the story” that never makes the textbooks. This is history and her story like you’ve never heard it before.

David Ellison recently retired after 36 years in education. He was a teacher (history his favorite subject), mentor teacher, school administrator, eduDavid Ellison cation columnist, and community activist. He was honored as the New Haven Unified and the American Council of School Administrators Region VI Teacher of the Year in 1996.

December 6. Change Your Mind to Change Your Brain

Presented by Richard Clarke

Brain research shows you can grow and change your brain, using its natural plasticity to improve your life. You can slow down aging, rejuvenate your immune system, and be happier, more energetic and fulfilled. Richard will discuss recent research findings, including how areas of the brain grow and change with meditation, including

Richard Clarke improving the immune system and slowing the aging of Continued on page 34

the brain, body, and skin. He will also recommend simple ways to start today to slow the effects of aging.

Richard Clarke was a Silicon Valley guy who worked for IBM, National Semiconductor, and Teledyne Semiconductor, and founded Western Switching Power and Silicon Valley CRM.

A long-time meditator, he holds meditation training courses and Ramana Maharshi satsangs. He co-leads the LCUUF course “From Age-ing to Sage-ing,” and presented weekly “HOT Science” at LCS. He has published about 20 books and pamphlets, available on his free book download site richard@infinitepie.net

Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club

The Bridge Club recently ran a charity game in honor of Don Ross, who was a long-time Lake Chapala bridge player. Don passed away from complications of dengue fever, and his baritone voice and infectious laugh will be missed by us all. His wife, Janet, asked that we have a charity game for our local Red Cross. We raised 10,750 pesos which was critically needed to help our community.

Below is a photo of Bridge Club President Louise Morel, Vice President Donnie Van Rooy, and Member at Large John Betz, presenting the check to Sub Administrator Victor Javier Benitez Puebla. A staff of Red Cross paramedics were also on hand and we applaud them for their dedication and selflessness. They often are the dividing line between life and death. They have saved countless lives but can only do it with the support of people like the members of the Chapala Bridge Club. Yoly Martinez, president of the Chapala Red Cross, expressed appreciation and thanks to all of us for our involvement and commitment to the community.

Tickets: $150 Reservations: barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com Showtime: 4 p.m. Box office: opens at 3 p.m. Seats are held till 3:50 p.m. Located: #261 on the mountain side of the carretera in Riberas del Pilar across from the Catholic Church. We will be following all the state’s health guidelines: use of masks, Sanitizers, and chairs socially distanced. All audience members are required to wear a mask. Reserve early, seating is limited. Please Like, Follow and share our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/barestagetheatre2018/ Little Lakeside Theatre presents:

By Norm Foster

Directed by Georgette Richmond

Show Dates: November 13-15, 20-22

Cast: Darlene Sherwood as Iris

Tina Dawn Leon as Natalie

Brian Fuqua as Charlie

LLT’s third ART (Ajijic Reader’s Theatre) show: Lunenburg

A philosophical comedy about healing and coming to understand oneself. There are lots of laughs, but not through humor that shocks. Rather, it’s subtle comedy that envelops you in its warmth.

Lunenburg has all the laughs of Foster’s best, served up with an extra helping of character and heart.

Play Description – options:

American widow Iris Oulette has inherited a home in Nova Scotia from her recentlydeceased husband. Surprisingly, it is a home Iris knew nothing about. So, she and her best friend Natalie travel up to Lunenburg to see the home and to find out as much as she can about her husband’s mysterious dealings in the lovely coastal village. What follows is a series of twists and turns, love and laughter... and a winsome neighbor named Charlie.

Reviews:

Foster’s writing is smart and funny, his characters engaging, and the laughs are guaranteed. His plays are perennial crowd-pleasers. - (OrilliaMatters.com)

For more information on this event and all things Bridge at Lakeside: https://www.bridgewebs.com/lakechapala/ or like their Facebook page: Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club. Bare Stage Theatre presents . . . Here on the Flight Path by Norm Foster Dates: Fri. 27th, Sat. 28th and Sun. 29th Director: Roseann Wilshere Set on adjoining balconies in a big city apartment building under a flight path, the play follows John Cummings as he interacts with three women, Fay, Angel, and Gwen, who become his neighbors over a three-and-a-half-year period. Hilarious and, at times, touching. “The measure of Foster’s genius, his ability to suck us in with laughter then calmly turn the knife, gives the best of his comic plays a wildly beating heart.”

Cast: L to R, Emily Crocker, Roxanne Rosenblatt, Ed Tasca & Kathleen Morris L to R - Darlene Sherwood, Brian Fuqua, Tina Dawn Leonard

COVID-19 precautions will be in place for all performances with open-air seating in Angel Terrace at LLT; seating for approximately 40 individuals while maintaining a minimum of 6 feet social distancing.

Tickets will be 150 pesos; available by email at tickets@lakesidelittletheatre.com. Box office sale dates can be found at the LLT Web site –www.lakesidelittletheatre. com.