:04:02
The cotton grew tall that year,
the summer of 1942...
:04:06
...but I sure didn't.
:04:08
Matter of fact,
I stayed so small and puny...
:04:11
...l was a target
for the neighborhood bullies.
:04:14
Fortunately, I lived next door
to Dink Jenkins...
:04:17
... Yazoo's best athlete
and favorite son.
:04:20
Dink?
:04:23
Where do you think they'll send you?
:04:26
Probably Fort Benning for basic,
then overseas, I reckon.
:04:30
How long will you be gone?
:04:32
That's hard to say.
:04:36
If you're not home, who will
show me how to throw a curve ball?
:04:41
You promised to show me.
:04:43
Partner, you're gonna do just fine.
:04:45
While I'm gone, you'll make
friends your own age...
:04:48
...and who knows,
you might even meet a girl.
:04:54
Will!
:04:55
Suppertime!
:04:57
This was a time of large families.
:05:00
Four or five kids, sometimes more.
:05:04
So needless to say,
ours was already unusual...
:05:07
... what with me being the only child.
:05:10
My mother was lively and talkative.
:05:13
Certainly didn't fit
the housewife mold.
:05:16
And my daddy....
:05:19
Well, my daddy was
stern and overbearing.
:05:22
He was a war veteran
and had lost his leg in battle.
:05:26
And from most accounts,
it changed him.
:05:30
Sometimes it seemed that
along with that leg...
:05:34
...he'd also lost
a piece of his heart.
:05:49
You know l.C.? Colored fellow
at the service station?
:05:52
Sure.
:05:55
-His son came back from Europe today.
-Wonderful.
:05:57
In a box.