Valentine III His Story

A memoir written in 2000

By Valentine Claus III

A week after my Dad’s funeral, I picked this booklet up off my dusty shelves. It was certainly not the first time I read it, as I’ve always found his stories and method of storytelling interesting. His memoir jumps around in time and place but highlights his most vivid memories.

He wrote about the time in early grade school when the teacher was out of the room.  Ever the trouble maker, he was on top of the desks jumping from one to the other and he fell, leaving a permanent scar on his left knee.

He wrote about summer days spent at Riverview amusement park in Chicago – on 2 cent day, of course.

He wrote about the time he nearly burned his house down and very nearly killed his Dad while playing with fire at the family’s kerosene stove.

Of course, he wrote about the quiet little blond girl who sat next to him in Spanish class in high school. Oh, how many times we heard that story!  I don’t think any of us ever got tired of hearing about the way our parents met.  Although he dropped Spanish class after 6 weeks, the romance lasted about 75 years!

Again, it is not the first time I heard these stories. This time, though, a few lines jumped out at me that had not in previous readings. He was beginning to write about his time at Great Lakes boot camp.

“First night away from home I was in my bunk at dusk and could see the flag out the window. Taps were sounded and the flag slowly lowered. I had trouble holding back the tears. Maybe I didn’t hold them all back.”

A week ago, taps were played as the flag was removed from his coffin. The flag was handed to my mother who tearfully accepted it. His family gathered around, knowing how incredibly proud he would have been to know the kind of send-off he was receiving. As taps sounded, we had trouble holding back the tears. Maybe we didn’t hold them all back.