Jack Brukman was born in 1923 in Los Angeles, California. He experienced small town living near the beach. The weather was good and there were many young girls. Los Angeles was a small town prior to the war. His father was a carpenter and his mother was a homemaker. He had two brothers and one sister. The family lived in a mixed working class neighborhood. There were heated arguments between various ethnic groups. Street fights prevailed in his youth and even going into the Army. Brukman did well defending himself. There was concern with the rise of Germany and Nazism. His father hated Poland more than Germany because of the anti-Semitism there. Brukman's father did a dance of happiness when Germany bombed Poland. The hatred for Jews in Poland was unbelievable. When the Germans moved in, part of his family moved to Russia. The younger family members stayed in Poland. Brukman's grandfather paid Poles to hide the young children. When the money ran out, the Poles turned the Jews they were hiding over to the Germans. Those Brukman family members were all executed. Brukman's father lost a lot of his family in the Holocaust. His father estimated at least 50 of the younger generation were lost. The name of Brukman was well known in Poland. His grandfather was relatively wealthy because he had owned a sugar mill. Brukman grew up without cousins or uncles or anybody from the extended family. Much later in life, some relatives were found in Argentina. There were 50 lost members of the family located there. Brukman's father came from a family of 11 before the Holocaust. The older brothers received their draft notices before Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor stunned the family. They did not know where it was located or even what it was. No one traveled during those hard times. Brukman graduated from high school in February 1941. He had planned to go to college, but with the war coming on, that was out of the question. He simply waited to be called for service. All three Brukman brothers were drafted. Going into the service was the thing to do. Hardly anything was known about war. Joining the military impressed the girls. No thought was given to the idea of death and dying. Patriotism was the watchword, but that was before the individual had to face the gun.

Jack Brukman had not been anyplace before receiving his draft notice. He considered himself a mama's boy. Young draftees were thrown into boot camp with older men while they were only 18 or 19 years old. His mother had always taken care of him so he was intimidated by the responsibility that was required of him. He failed in some of his initial attempts and suffered the wrath of his sergeant. He felt totally lost for the first month in basic. He was picked on by some of the men until he discovered that he had to stand up and defend himself. The first real instance of this was when the supply sergeant refused to issue him the right size boots. Brukman took his case directly to the company captain. The captain heard Brukman out and went to see the supply sergeant who he reprimanded for his refusal to provide Brukman proper boots. That was the first stand up by Brukman and it did him well. He was a different soldier after that. His platoon sergeant told him that if he knew he was right, to go ahead and do the proper thing. It made a big difference in his second and third months of basic training. The experience sharpened his wits to take care of himself. After being drafted, Brukman was given a choice of the multiple branches of the military. He decided to take the Army Air Corps to avoid the infantry. His two older brothers were already in the service. One was in the artillery in Italy. The other was in the Air Forces in England. They did not want their younger brother to be rushed in service just anywhere. During his physical, a large scar was observed on his stomach. Brukman explained that, as a baby, he had mandatory surgery to correct an upside down stomach. Without the surgery, he would have died. He recovered without issue though the procedure was projected to be potentially fatal. The Air Corps physical examiner accepted the situation and approved Brukman's entry into the service. That surgery while he was an infant could have been part of the rationale for him being treated so carefully in his youth. His case was written up in a medical journal since he was the first to survive that surgery. From basic training in Mississippi, Brukman was sent to radio school in South Dakota. He was to be a radioman-gunner. The weather was harsh and he developed pneumonia. His sergeant was a strong proponent of physical exercise. The doctor told him to take it easy after his recovery, but the sergeant insisted that he perform calisthenics. Two days later, he was back in the hospital with a recurrence of pneumonia. He was hospitalized for 12 days. Brukman had a confrontation with the major in the camp. He was accused of not doing anything. Brukman responded that the sergeant forced him to do calisthenics and that resulted in his situation of having to be in the hospital. Brukman said he hated the camp. The major was stunned and committed to getting rid of Brukman. He had, however, qualified as a gunner and he was sent to Texas. He passed all the physicals but one day he woke up with a terrible headache. It was determined that he had migraine headaches. That eliminated him from flying. He was subsequently sent to Denver where he first became aware of the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. He would learn the duties of ground crew members over a six or eight week period. His responsibilities included weapons checks and loading as well as ordnance loading and securing. From there, he was sent to Great Bend, Kansas for officers and crews to practice take-offs and landings. That was Brukman's first experience with actually working a plane's guns and turrets. He became very aware that the B-29 had a lot of bugs in it. The bomb bay doors were dangerous. Bars were installed to prevent a short from unexpectedly fully closing the doors. If a person was caught in the doors when they accidentally closed, the individual would be cut in half. Attempts were made to get the glitch changed in the factory. The sergeant advised the graduates to not volunteer to fly on the B-29. He said the aircraft was high-tech but full of bugs and had many electrical issues. He told the men to stick with being a ground crewman. He also advised them to take care of the planes because when they came in, they were shoddy and if not properly attended to, could cause many boys to be killed. The plane was dangerous so the ground crew had to do the best they could so that the men flying the B-29 would have a decent chance of survival. Brukman was deployed overseas from Kansas.

Jack Brukman found everything to be out of whack for them when they arrived at their destination [Annotator's Note: the island of Saipan]. The airstrip was not ready. The Marines were still fighting the Japanese so landing by Brukman and his outfit was delayed by 28 days while they loitered on the ocean. Fighting on the north end of Saipan was ongoing when they finally landed. It was a new experience not to be compared with what being a soldier in the States was like. Before deployment, there were towns and USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] dances and other activities that just were not available on this new adventure. The South Pacific islands had bugs and the meals were so bad that Brukman lost a pound a day. Nothing was ready for the crew. They were given two man pup tents that were placed on a side of a hill. When it rained, water came into the tents. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Japanese] had poisoned the wells so there was only limited fresh water. Cleaning had to be done in the ocean. There were no latrines so the men had to dig their own. The dead Japanese had been buried in shallow graves. The bodies would be uncovered during heavy rains. Brukman and the others walked across dead bodies to get to the ocean. The gold teeth of the dead men could be observed. The smell and the bugs were very bad in the heat. He did not get excited about the situation. He just pressed on. It surprised him. They even critiqued the quality of the gold teeth in the mouth of the dead men. Some men built a floor in their pup tents to avoid getting wet with all the rains that occurred. Brukman shared a tent with a fellow named Shorty. Shoes had to be kept on with the socks tucked in while sleeping so that the centipedes would not bite them. Those centipedes were poisonous. The airstrip continued to be worked on for another six to eight weeks. The Japs were still sniping at the men after the island was declared secure. Many enemy soldiers were killed during that so-called secure period. Since no runway was available, Brukman and the rest of his ground crew unit had nothing to work on. They were just being soldiers charged with guarding the bomb dumps. There was a ten mile drive into the base to pick up supplies. They would pass Suicide Cliffs where the Marines had cornered the Japanese. It was fenced off because the Japanese would shoot Marines who attempted to save the civilians before they jumped from the 1,000 foot cliff. Brukman observed a young woman combing both her hair and that of her daughter. She did that for several minutes and then she calmly picked up the child and stepped off the cliff. Eight or ten people followed them off the cliff. The civilians had been told by the Japanese troops that the Americans would rape and kill them. Brukman had to learn to live with those type experiences. The Japanese were the enemy. He remembered his sergeant's advice in basic training to just do what he considered to be the right thing to do. If one stopped to think too much, the individual might be killed. At first, Brukman had no contact with enemy soldiers. Later, while on guard duty at the bomb dumps, he was jumped. As Air Corps, he was not trained for action. His rifle had a bayonet on it. After being knocked down, Brukman picked up the rifle and the enemy soldier charged him. The soldier seemed to run onto Brukman’s blade. Not able to withdraw his weapon, Brukman remembered that he had learned that it would be released if the rifle was fired. When he fired, it blew the enemy soldier away from the weapon. The bayonet released from the body. It was just another unexpected adventure. The guard duty was four on and eight off. In another event, the officer of the day was a lieutenant who drove up at night with his jeep headlights on. The jungle at night is extremely black. Troops are tense in anticipation of snipers. The area was lit up with the lights. The men around the jeep told the officer to cut those lights on his vehicle to circumvent incoming fire. The lights remained on so Brukman shot the headlights out. After his guard duty stint, two MPs [Annotator's Note: military police] took Brukman before the colonel. He had been accused by the lieutenant of trying to kill him. The colonel found out from Brukman that he was shooting at the illuminated headlights. The commanding officer said the case against Brukman was dismissed, but he wanted the lieutenant to stay for further discussion. That was another adventure that required quick action. Brukman reacted accordingly without thinking about it. He has lived by the mantra of taking action and avoiding hesitation. Indecision causes anxiety. Just do it and you will feel better and likely come out alive. That has served him well through the years.

Jack Brukman and his outfit [Annotator's Note: 498th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing] eventually moved from pup tents to four man tents. The men no longer had to sleep on the ground. The airstrip was completed and the first B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] were flown onto the island. All the brass were brought in for a celebration of the first B-29 landing on Saipan. More planes flew in and it was a big deal when airstrikes were flown directly against Japan. The problem was that half the planes that arrived were not actually ready for duty. The factories pushed out planes with the idea that the flight line ground crews would do the finishing touches prior to combat flights. That was not a good idea. The first planes that arrived had problems with their armament. The guns were oriented incorrectly and not capable of firing properly. There were faulty bomb bays not even connected electrically. The mechanics working the engines were scratching their heads. Each plane had to be reviewed for bugs. They were considered a hot ship because of the electricity and gasoline combination. It was unpredictable what they would do on the long duration flights. The general at the time flew in at 28,000 feet. Extra gasoline was loaded because it was unsure about the fuel consumption of the engines. The plane might run out of gas on a long run. Some actually did. At the altitude of 28,000 feet, it was uncertain that the targets could be hit. Around November or December [Annotator's Note: 1944], the first B-29 bombing runs over Japan were conducted. It was a slow process and planes often aborted the mission. The 3,100 mile trip to Japan was problematic. If a plane had difficulties, it would have to ditch in the ocean. Saipan was three miles from Tinian. On the first run over Japan, there were planes from Tinian, Saipan and Guam that merged together for the mission. There were probably over 100 ships. Of those, 17 were lost due to problems and not enemy fire. The ground crews would anxiously await the return of their plane and their buddies in the aircrew. One plane landed and its landing gear collapsed. The plane ignited and exploded. Few planes were lost due to enemy fire. Losses were mainly due to internal issues. The airplane that successfully flew 60 missions had a genius for a mechanic. The aircrews had to depend on their ground crews. They were frightened to fly the B-29s. The aircraft of Europe were far more dependable. The B-29s came in with wires that were not connected. A factory representative came to Saipan to see what the men thought of their planes. The personnel working on and flying the bomber gave them an earful, including four letter words. The personnel from the factory said they were under tremendous pressure to maintain schedules and produce the aircraft. Despite promises by the civilians, little was done until much later. Things did get better as the months went by. The planes would fly multiple missions over Japan every day. Enemy aircraft began to follow the bombers home and strafe the planes and facilities on the ground. They raked the island and shot up everything. They were suicide pilots. They crashed into the American B-29s on the landing strip after they ran out of ammunition. The Americans had offices in concrete blockhouses. The men took shelter in the building during the enemy attack. They felt they would be more protected there. The B-29s were fueled up and loaded with ordnance. A kamikaze that crashed into a B-29 caused an inferno. Fires were everywhere. Personnel were afire. Nothing could be done for them. The enemy aircraft came from Iwo Jima before it was secured by the Americans. The Zeros [Annotator's Note: Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft] would even come from the home islands. The pilots were considered special. One who escaped being killed was running down a runway with his silk scarf blowing in the wind. He was shot by the Americans. The Japanese pilots thought they would be going to Heaven. The Americans did not think they were going anyplace [Annotator's Note: Brukman chuckles.]. At 21 years of age, he witnessed all this and somewhere along this time he changed. He became callous and had little feelings about things because something shutdown inside of him. He avoided the pain of the experience. When he returned home, his mother asked what happened to her little boy. He replied that he died a long time ago.

Jack Brukman realized that the big problem was that they were bombing from great heights and could not hit the target [Annotator's Note: Brukman was a ground crewman for a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber of the 498th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing based on Saipan]. General Lemay [Annotator's Note: General Curtis E. LeMay] was brought in to solve the problem. He reduced the bombing run altitude from 28,000 to 7,000 feet and nighttime firebombing of Tokyo and Japan was initiated. The Japanese would retaliate by flying over the American bases and attacking them. Bombing raids began with about 100 planes but would later escalate to over 300 B-29s. Brukman knew Norman Dubb who was a member of the 873rd Bombardment Squadron. The young men had been neighbors in Los Angeles. The 873rd had started with nine aircrews and were down to just two. Dubb had been wounded and was anticipating going to a different crew after his recovery. Being assigned to another crew was typical practice after hospital recovery. Brukman always took the time to see Dubb off when he went out on a mission. After Dubb was assigned to a new crew, there was a mission with 25 ships flying off the island. Dubb was in plane number four or five while his original crew was in the first plane to take-off. That first plane blew up on take-off. Dubb must have felt lucky even though he felt bad for his former crewmates. The plane that Dubb flew on never returned from the mission. Many years later, Dubb’s dog tags were found. The discovery was reported in the Times newspaper. The plane had crashed on a Japanese farm. The farmer had set up a shrine to those killed and placed Dubb's dog tags there. That was how Brukman confirmed that his friend was dead. The Japanese farmer came to the United States and met the Dubb family. He was a very religious man and kept alive the memory of the doomed crew. Brukman visited his friend's mother but she refused to talk about her son. Dubb's nieces wanted to know all the details. Dubb had a 12 year old brother and Brukman told him about his older brother. Dubb died when he was 26 years old. He was always a sweet guy who tried to get Brukman to go to temple. Dubb was concerned with the losses of his squadron and felt that he would be next in line. Brukman would try to reassure him. On Tinian, every once in a while a couple aircraft would explode on take-off. The B-29s were a hot ship and they did not know what to do with them. They were a good plane but dangerous. There were many lost while flying over the Hump in China [Annotator's Note: the Himalayan Mountains] in China. The mechanic on Saipan said the engines were overloaded and could not carry the weight. If Iwo Jima had been captured before the B-29 raids over Japan, many crews could have been saved. General LeMay decided to fly at lower altitude over Japan to assure greater bombing accuracy. His idea was to expedite the end of the war. When the war ended, Brukman volunteered to fly supplies to the prison camps. It was supposedly a milk run [Annotator's Note: a mundane mission without danger] to drop the supplies over the camps. Barrels of supplies would be dropped using parachutes. Men were killed on the ground if the supplies were dropped at too low an altitude. On one of the runs, the plane had to stop at Iwo Jima because of engine problems. The island was a nothing place but 20,000 men were lost to capture it. It was a waste. Mount Suribachi was loaded with enemy forces. When Brukman flew on a bombing run over the island prior to its capture, it was supposed to be a milk run. The pilot flew in at 500 feet and the ship was hit by flak in an oxygen bottle. Brukman decided that was his last milk run. If they would have realized what existed on Mount Suribachi before the invasion, the B-29s could have fire bombed it. Brukman did not like flying in the B-29. By the end of the war, the planes would carry more weight in bombs than gasoline [Annotator's Note: Extra gasoline was loaded on the B-29s early on in their career because it was unsure about the fuel consumption rate of the engines on long range missions]. Many men had to be lost as guinea pigs. Brukman requested an opportunity to speak to the plane manufacturing plant personnel. He did not intend to compliment them but to indicate the problems that were being generated in their manufacturing processes. The planes were being pushed out like automobiles. It was big business and the task was to win the war. The ground crews had to make things right after the ships were delivered. Nevertheless, they never knew in the beginning what was causing the B-29s to blow. As time went by, the planes were improved but there was still the unexpected blow up.

Jack Brukman realized that there was nothing to do when he was off duty [Annotator's Note: while serving as a ground crewman for Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers in the 498th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing on Saipan]. It was hot, raining, and humid with lots of mosquitoes. He could sleep 12 hours but would awake still feeling tired. After a while clubs were built, but initially, it was very boring. There were a few card games and some USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] shows. Brukman saw Betty Hutton [Annotator's Note: Betty Hutton was a popular stage, screen and radio performer] and she was wonderful. He also saw Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney [Annotator's Note: both professional boxers]. The men depended on USO shows. There was also Tokyo Rose who played popular American music for them but interjected propaganda between tunes. The men were grateful for the music but simply laughed at her messages. When the B-29s returned, it was essential to check the bombing racks and to take the back plate off the .50 caliber machine guns to release the spring and prevent a gun from misfiring. Even if it was raining, it was important to get up on the plane to check the guns. Brukman has a hip problem that resulted from him sliding off the top of a plane while it was raining. He hit the ground and caused the problem with his hip. Nothing was broken but the injury has hindered his ability to dance the jitterbug the way he did before. One time a plane came back with a bomb that did not release prior to landing. The ship had to be kept in readiness for the next mission. Armament had to be checked out and ordnance loaded. The planes were not steady so they had to be checked for any potential problems. The mechanic had to pull the cowlings off and inspect the engines. The plane that flew 60 missions had to be worked and reworked to accomplish that feat. Brukman was a ground crew member for that plane. Aborted missions were hated. The idea was to complete the run of missions as soon as possible. The mechanic had to replace parts all the time. The rest of the crew also had to immediately check out the planes as they landed. In loading bombs in the rack, a sling would be wrapped around each one. It would be slowly raised and worked side to side until it was nested in and secured properly. On one occasion, while doing so, Brukman noticed a total quiet in his surroundings. He heard none of the normal noises that were constantly ongoing. At that moment, a bomb released from its sling when a pulley sent over from the States broke loose from the rack. Brukman suffered minor injuries. Had he not turned his head at that instant, he would have been hit on the head by the bomb. Instead, the 500 pound bomb missed him by one eighth of an inch. Men were lost due to the faulty bomb racks. It was his lucky day. He had his hand in a sling for two months while he recovered. All he could do was read books and laugh at the men who had to continue their hard work. He often tells his children that the difference in their creativity, birth, and life is just one eighth of an inch. They laugh at him. That was the closest to death that he came. He had another narrow escape when he was jumped on guard duty [Annotator's Note: not long after arriving on Saipan, Brukman was guarding a bomb dump when he was attacked by a Japanese soldier. Brukman bayoneted the enemy soldier as he approached him].

Jack Brukman could not tell the war was coming to a close. The airplanes he serviced as a ground crewman had been bombing the Japanese home islands for months before the Enola Gay flew its mission over Japan [Annotator's Note: a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945]. Brukman thought those bombers flying the earlier missions never really received the recognition and credit that they should have. A day before the bomb was dropped, a rumor spread that there was one bomb on Tinian that would end the war. The troops laughed because they had been bombing Japan for months. It seemed illogical that one bomb could end the war. There was no thought that the war would end so quick. The men were in a daily routine and thought little of the end of the war. When Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] died, it created depression on the island. The men did not know who Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: President Harry S. Truman] was. The feeling was that the war would never end. At one time, the men had facetiously written to Eleanor Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: the First Lady] to express a grievance about a superior officer. It was done in jest. She responded that she would look into it, but the men knew nothing would be done. When the war ended, the situation turned into a nightmare. The planes were immediately sent on missions to drop food and supplies to the prisoner of war camps in Japan. Brukman would not return home for two months. They worked harder than they had ever done before. Initially, ships were not available to take Brukman and his outfit [Annotator's Note: 498th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing] home. Eventually, he was taken aboard a small supply ship for a voyage to Honolulu. It took eight days to reach there from Saipan. He was extremely thrilled when he arrived at his destination and saw all the bright lights of Honolulu. After 15 months in darkness, he felt detached from all that normality. It was a strange feeling. The first thing he heard was that the war was over and that he should forget about it. He noticed a distinct difference in the way he was served at a restaurant. Military was not treated with as much respect as before the end of the war. Brukman was in Honolulu for five days. He was billeted in a nice hotel where the submariners were accommodated. They were treated nice and given new clothes. Brukman was excited to see girls around. It was tough being away from females at his age. He went from Hawaii to San Francisco on a civilian passenger ship. The military personnel were separated from ticketed civilians. There were about 50 military personnel and, for the first few days, it seemed they were in a prison camp. They were restricted from entering the civilian areas. The men got frustrated and marched into the civilian dining room and told the servers that they were not leaving until they had their meal. That issue was taken care of at that point. When the ship entered San Pietro, there was no fanfare. A woman was there with her two children. The youngsters ran over to the servicemen and put leis around their necks. The mother told the men that they were a little late, but the war was over. That was the greeting home that Brukman and his outfit received. It was a hard homecoming. Brukman's two brothers were soldiers who had seen combat. Brukman personally had a hard time getting resettled. He went to Westwood [Annotator's Note: Westwood Veterans Administration Hospital near Los Angeles, California] because he did not feel well and was very thin. The staff virtually pushed him out. One of Brukman's brothers took him back and told the staff that they had to see a doctor. Brukman's brother had fought Germans and he was not in a mood to accept being placated. The European veteran grabbed a doctor and forced him to take a look at his younger brother. The doctor sent Brukman to Camp Pendleton. Pendleton was where the men from the South Pacific were being treated. Brukman was thin and having problems eating. He remained at Pendleton for ten days. He was given a thorough physical. The physical showed that everything was fine. He was given a psychiatric examination and the examiner told Brukman that he could use a little treatment, but there were others in a far worse condition. Brukman was requested to go home and give resettlement another try for a couple months. The doctor gave him his card. Brukman was instructed to call the doctor if things did not work out. Brukman returned home and slowly recovered. He never had to call the psychiatrist for a follow-up visit.

Jack Brukman started law school using the GI Bill. That was interrupted by the sudden death of his father and the diagnosis that his mother had Parkinson's disease. She was only 50 years old. Upon returning from his studies one day, Brukman found that his mother was confronted by a stack of bills needing to be paid. She knew her two oldest sons had families they had to care for, and she wanted Brukman to attend law school. She was determined to try to make her way through the dilemma. Brukman told her that he was no longer going to attend school. Instead, he would get a job to help her. Knowing that being a taxi driver would yield quick income, he became a driver that night. He intended to drive for a couple months but that ended up being three years. He took care of his mother while she was sick. There was little time for anything else, including girls. She was severely handicapped with the Parkinson's. Years later, Brukman met a beautiful girl. Brukman did not have bad dreams after discharge. He was, however, very thin. A men's clothing store put him on a waiting list for the arrival of smaller sized clothing. He wore his uniform for a prolonged period as a result. One day while in a bank, a teller was rude to his mother. She started shaking. Brukman reached across the teller's counter and grabbed the man by the necktie, pulled the teller toward him and told him not to talk to his mother that way. The bank manager joined the group. The man in charge knew Brukman's mother. He told the teller to go to his office for a few words. The manager then turned to Brukman's mother and asked who the young man next to her was. She responded that he was her youngest son. The manager kindly responded to Brukman's mother that she could have an even larger loan than she was seeking. The manager told her that she was owed that. That was a kind reaction on the bank manager's part. About a week later, Brukman and his mother went to the butcher's shop. Brukman was 22 years old, but he looked to be 15. The butcher's wife said her son had been drafted and could not attend college. She then asked Brukman when he was going into service to which he replied that he was not. He said he did not want to. At that juncture, Brukman's mother told her son that the butcher had been weighing his hand all during the war when he cut the meat. Brukman's mother also told the butcher's wife to mind her own business. Brukman did not have dreams after his return from the war except for one. That one bothered him. It involved a young man who had been in his outfit. The young airman had returned from a raid where the plane had taken a direct hit. The flak had blown the young man's arm off. He was bleeding out and did not have much to come back to. After the plane landed everyone, including doctors, were there. The doctor said there was no hope for the fatally wounded young man. When Brukman looked at his friend, the man simply called out for his mother. Shortly thereafter, his eyes rolled back and he expired. Brukman has heard that young man call for his mother every day since that happened. The rest of the events were manageable. Brukman lost personal friends but never let it get to him. There are occasions when Brukman attends a joyous event and a terrible sadness comes over him. He feels an emptiness and loneliness from the war. He could be dancing and a morose feeling will overcome him. His wife never asks about what went on. She merely says to her husband that they should sit down and relax for a while. It is almost like a wet blanket covers him when the happiness triggers the sadness. He feels happy, but it seems to be fake because of all the sadness. The sadness is the reality. That sudden melancholy has been there through the years. He has learned to handle that just as he has managed the young helpless voice calling for his mother. Brukman and his brothers never discussed their war experiences. One brother liberated multiple Holocaust camps while the other flew 25 missions over Germany. They never talk too much about the experiences. When the older brothers try to encourage their younger brother when he gets down, Brukman tells them that his war was different from theirs. There was rain, bugs, mosquitoes and nothing to do but the incessant missions. Sleeping was uncomfortable. There was guard duty required on the island, unlike England. There was a constant shuffle. It was like water wearing on a stone. Something was lost, but it was inexplicable. Seeing the lights of Honolulu was like coming out of the darkness. It was a shock. The treatment at camp Pendleton was great. The South Pacific Marines were treated there so the doctors were familiar with the diseases from that part of the world.

To Jack Brukman, the most memorable incident of World War 2 was when his hearing saved him from being injured by a bomb [Annotator's Note: while on Saipan, Brukman was loading a 500 pound bomb on a Boeing B-29 Superfortress when a faulty release of that bomb nearly killed him]. Another incident was with a fellow named O'Brien who considerably outweighed Brukman. The other man had been making anti-Semitic jokes about Brukman. After leaving a funeral, Brukman pointed out two Stars of David to O'Brien who responded that they must have fallen off a truck. Brukman hit O'Brien in the head despite it being a funeral with officers and others being nearby. A fight ensued between the two. Using techniques taught to him by his older brothers, Brukman broke O'Brien's nose. Brukman received two weeks of KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police]. The officer who meted the punishment told Brukman that he had heard how the fight started so there had to be some penalty. After all, Brukman was a PFC [Annotator's Note: private first class] and the other man was a sergeant and outranked him. Because the officer heard what took place, he decided not to put Brukman in the stockade. Overall, the islands were beautiful and picturesque but there was still death there. There was also loneliness with the vast ocean surrounding them. Brukman saw the Suicide Cliffs when he left the island [Annotator's Note: Saipan]. It seemed so sad because Saipan was so small and so much had happened there. It was depressing. Brukman does not like to see the horizon today. It makes him sad. There was beauty and loneliness on the island. It had an effect on him then and it perseveres today. He served in the military because he was drafted. It changed his life by bringing reality to him. He was no longer a dreamer even though he would eventually write three books. Everything was basic, cold, hard, and bare bones in the military. Things had to be done right. It made him a strong realist. It has affected his writing. Reality was like a wet blanket. He had to take a job to provide for his wife and children. His father taught him to never lick the boot that kicked him. Brukman never has done so. He gave up a big job to avoid being a "kiss ass". His service in the war was his contribution to the country he loves. He has paid his dues. He has self-respect for his Jewish background. He has stood up to anti-Semitic individuals, particularly those who did not serve the country in wartime. Brukman's father was a carpenter and did a job for a neighbor. The price was five dollars. Shortly after Brukman returned from the war, he overheard a discussion between his father and the neighbor's wife. The neighbor was claiming that the work was only worth three, not five dollars. Brukman admonished the neighbor that he and his brothers had just returned from the war would not tolerate their father being abused or shortchanged. If the woman's husband said anything to Brukman's father, the soldier would take physical action against the neighbor. The woman paid the full five dollar price. The Great Generation is moving on and the youngsters do not appreciate much of what happened during World War 2. In some respects, we are stepping backward in terms of religion, neighborhoods and the presidency. The country is being destroyed piece by piece. Those institutions are the backbone of the country. The country is in trouble. Institutions like the National WWII Museum are important. Young people should be taught the lessons of the past. If actions would have been taken earlier, Hitler could have been stopped. Alternatively, country after country was given to him. The United States was armed with wooden rifles at the time. A person like Hitler has to be stopped. He has to be stopped before he becomes a monster. Action in 1937 or 1938, might have prevented World War 2. A little fire consumed the whole forest instead.