I remember Andy Garcia. Like it was yesterday.
And, the Garcia brothers who were the Sharks. I was a Jet. In 1967, in San Jose, for the San Jose Civic Light Opera, we were the West Side Story of San Jose.
And, yes, we had the distinction of almost going to jail for re-enacting the knife fight in an alley near First and San Carlos Streets for publicity for the event. Because the Garcia’s and most of the Sharks really came from East San Jose, then known for being on the tougher side of the tracks, there were real knives, chains, bottles and I presume some guns.
Fortunately, we were all focused on the scene when the San Jose Police Department raided the alley based on tips from passers-by. It was exciting and fun and, fortunately, not my introduction to the San Jose Police Department. That would come several months later when Ray Blackmore, the Chief of Police, hit my parked car and told me to forget the incident, ‘boy’. Well, that’s another story.
One interminable night, rehearsing the brawl after the knife fight, Andy, who had just finished beating me with a tire iron, sat down and told me his story.
Andy was a gentle and kind person with an easy smile. But, you could see the sadness and fear as he told me about being on a hill in Viet Nam. It was later in the day. His company was taking the hill when they came under withering fire from the Viet Cong. They dug in, each to his own pothole. Soon, the fire increased. Soldiers tried to run, only to be torn to pieces by the machine guns. Then the mortars came. The Viet Cong, one by one, picked off the soldiers dug into the hills. He could see the first mortar land, then, making the adjustment, the second mortar would obliterate the nearby pothole. The screams were horrible. The feeling of helplessness and the inevitability of death as one by one the soldiers were blown apart. After forty five minutes, air support arrived and the Viet Cong fled. Only two people survived, and Andy was one of them. I am glad he survived. He was a good friend.
But, I realized that you can’t wait until you’re up on the hill, and you have to depend on someone else to save you. You have to prevent the situation from happening. Once you’re on the hill, it’s a crap shoot.
This is why we can’t wait until Social Security is cut or eliminated, or Medicare and Medicaid is phased out to pay for the tax cuts from an Oligarch. The time to fight the Oligarch is now, when there is time and the avenues to make things happen.
Our democracy is way more fragile than I ever thought.