Vendor A. Allen reflects on the War and introduces new vendor who is a veteran

When I think back on the Vietnam War, I remember my Uncle “Bud,” Frank Snow, who was a sergeant in the Marine Corps. He was our only family veteran and back then the news covered the Vietnam War daily. I was always concerned about his safety.

I was so concerned that at 15, I would fantasize about going over to Vietnam and saving my uncle from the brutality and harshness of war and destruction. I even asked my mother if she could sign me up as a volunteer when I turned 16.

My mother wrote a letter to my uncle and asked him if he thought that was a good idea.

Of course, he wrote back and said, “No, now is not a good time.”

I wanted to see the letter and sure enough, he did say, “No.” I was disappointed.

He was wounded and came home and explained to me himself why it was not a good idea. He had been protecting young soldiers my age from the brutality and harshness of war himself. That encouraged my heart. I would listen to him telling war stories. He would tell a few but always said he didn’t like to talk about it.

He mostly told funny jokes. I think that was his way of forgetting what happened over there. It was his way of coping. My uncle is still a funny man.

I’m so glad he said it was not a good time to come because I know of many who lost their lives or came back as drug addicts.

I also had another uncle who was a veteran, Elijah Snow. He also didn’t like to talk about the war much and is also joker.

I think they both used humor as a defense mechanism to keep from thinking about the harsh reality of war.

Meet StreetWise vendor and veteran Robert Pope

Robert Pope is a new vendor, a veteran of the immediate post-Korean War era.

Pope originally signed up for the U.S. Air Force from 1954 to 1958 and was the only African American in his squadron. He said he wound up on kitchen police (K.P.) until he was tired of it. He was beaten and thrown down the stairs on more than one occasion. His major recommended that he resign before he got killed. Pope decided to take the major’s advice and wound up serving one year, from January 1954 to January 1955.

The Air Force had been formed a few years earlier and so Pope feels he was mistreated and abused because he was one of the first Black airmen. He said he is still fighting for his benefits.

Pope is now a vendor at Belmont and Sheffield Avenues. He says he works to make extra money for his grandbaby. He’s a real nice gentleman whose heart is big and whose personality is good as gold.