“CHAPTER FOUR
MEDITERRANEAN SEA, FALL 1942”
My Grandfather Franklin returned from war different from when he left. “Fascism,” he said, “is the final result of racism.” There was another problem. Shell shock, they called it back then. The blue satin-lined boxes with medals had not dispelled the heinous effects of even a justifiable war on Grandfather’s psyche. Corporal F. Grant had been a member of the 92nd Infantry. It was the only combat unit of entirely ‘Colored’ troops in Europe. From August of 1944 through the end of WWII in May 1945, they covered 3,000 square miles, capturing and killing more than 20,000 German soldiers, particularly in Italy. Twenty-five percent of Franklin’s fellow combatants were wounded or killed in action.“They planned to use us only as cannon fodder. But we could fight, having done it all our lives,” Franklin said. His two medals were among the twelve thousand given to the 92nd Infantry.
If Ellie and Vanessa touched him while he slept, Grandfather jumped up with the look of a person capable of murder. As an apology, following one such sleepless horror, he extracted from the bottom of his army footlocker an object wrapped in a square of foreign newspaper. It was twice the size of his thumbnail. When he unwrapped it, a hand-pounded silver cross toppled out. Franklin scooped it up quickly. This came from a friend in the British Forces wounded in a battle called The Siege of Malta,” Franklin explained. “I lifted the stretcher off the boat that brought him to North Africa."
“But where’s the Jesus?” Ellie asked.
“This is different from a crucifix. A Maltese Cross is a symbol for a group of people who provide service to those in need.”Franklin held the bobble up by the chain. It shifted, catching sunlight from the window. The reflection helped Ellie believe the cross was magical.”
Excerpt From: September Williams. “Chasing Mercury.” iBooks.
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“CHAPTER FOUR
~
MEDITERRANEAN SEA, FALL 1942”