The Quarterback

The Quarterback

When I arrived in Licola, Italy in the summer of 1971, my new CO and his wife, Linda picked me up at the airport and drove me to the base. 

Licola was a NATO base, so there were Navy, Army, and Air Force people there.  Most of these military men lived off base with their families.  I came with no family, no wife or kids.  So I lived on the base.  It was a lonely time for me.  It seemed most men were married and they would bring their wives to the base to do laundry, socialize with the other wives, or to have a drink at the bar.  I was the supply man there and the bar keeper.  I also had to learn to drive a truck with a shift because we made daily pickups for food, booze, and other supplies.  This came in handy when I bought a new beautiful beige Fiat with a top speed of 40 miles an hour.

Outside the base, there were not too many people that spoke English including the young girls that walked along the streets.  Sure they reminded me of Bloomfield girls who were usually Italian but I could talk to them in English instead of the broken pig Latin I learned in the seminary.

An Army friend asked me if I wanted to share an apartment. I said sure.  I still can see it in my mind. The bathroom had a toilet and shower and a bidet. I didn’t know what that was, so I used it to wash my face in the morning.  The front of the condo wasn’t impressive, but in the back I realized I was renting a beach house!  Looking out the kitchen window I saw the Mediterranean Sea. I was in heaven but I was still looking for an angel.

I walked along the road outside my apartment and there were dozens of Pizza Shops.  They all had black iron, wood-fed ovens. Everything was outside, so you could smell the aroma of the pizzas. When they gave you the pizza they would fold it in half and you would eat it like a sandwich.  The crust melted in your mouth, the sauce tasted like fresh salted tomatoes, and the cheese came from next door’s provolone cheese shop. The pear shaped wedges would hang from the roof with a thin rope while they aged.



One day, Linda introduced me to her baby sitter, Rosa.  Rosa couldn’t talk English, so I  had to  point to the sky and say Stella and Luna and she shook her head yes and then I came up with the only other word I knew, amore.  Well she gave me those eyes and I had my first date in Licola. She invited me to have dinner with her family. Her mother had passed away, so it was her father and grandmother at the table.  Did I ever say that I hated spaghetti?  After a glass of wine and looking at pictures of her father, I realized her father was a professional wrestler.  Her grandmother leaned over to me and whispered, “When you take my daughter to America”.  No one else knew what she said. And she gave me this big grin.  Well they drove me back to the base and I thought that was the most embarrassing date I have ever had.

Linda wasn’t through with me; she then introduced me to her niece Dana, who was here on a two week vacation.  She had long brown hair parted in the middle, with the thinnest lips I ever saw.  She didn’t seem interested in me much and I didn’t pursue it.  I was at Linda’s house the next day with about five guys who were drooling over Dana.  For some reason she took my hand and we walked back to my apartment.  We sat in the sand behind my house and talked.  It didn’t take long before I was immersed in her arms. I only know that Burt Lancaster and Debra Kerr would be applauding our imitation of their passionate moment on the shore with the waves rushing up on them from here to eternity.

The next day we were walking past the football field where AFSouth was practicing. I told her that I have to be a football hero to keep her interest in me. I sat her on the bench and approached the coach.  He asked me what position I played and I told him safety.  I never played high school or college football.  I trotted out to the defense team and made interceptions until the quarterback took exception and said “Who the hell is this guy”?  I made the team. Dana was impressed. So I walked her back to Linda’s. The next day she went back to the states and I never saw her again.

The second game of the season was against the Marines.  We had three quarterbacks on the team, but by the start of the fourth quarter the coach was calling my name looking for a fourth quarterback.  I hid under the bench until the game was over. 

The next day at practice, the coach came up to me and said “I saw you throwing passes and I thought you could be a quarterback. All three are injured.  I want you to work with the center and be ready for Saturday’s game against the Air Force.  He patted me on the shoulder and I stood there like Lot’s wifel who turned around in Sodom and turned into salt.

I went up to Tom and said I never played anything but touch football.  He gave me a long look and said “Rich; there are only two kinds of football players; guys with guts and guys without guts.  Which one are you”?  During the week, Tom was able to teach me how to take a snap, pivot, hand off, step up in the pocket, and hide the ball on the option play.

That Saturday, I played in a fog. The defense kept the game scoreless and I knew I owed them a win.  In the fourth quarter I managed to work the ball down to the two yard line. I took the snap, faked to the up back, and stuck the ball into Brody’s guts. I should have looked the ball in but a huge linebacker charged through the middle.  I pulled the ball back out just as Brody made his leap right into the linebacker’s crushing attack.  I hid the ball on my hip and bootlegged around the left end as everyone pushed, shoved, blocked and pulled at each other’s jerseys in the center of the goal line. Only the referee saw me carry the ball into the end zone. He signaled touchdown.  In the middle of the end zone Air Force players raised their arms in victory while our players shook their heads slowly, their hands on their hips, defeat in their eyes.  Even the stands were suddenly hushed. I screamed at Tom and held the ball up over my head. The whole AFSouth team charged at us hugging, jumping and piling on top of each other.  It was our first win in two years.

I ran over to the sideline and saw only Larry and the two girls on the bench. I asked where Linda was and he told me she had to go to the hospital because she had a fever and was dizzy.  Larry asked me if I was alright and he pointed to my leg. There was blood squirting out of my leg from two holes. I had been spiked.  The ambulance was there and they rode me down to the hospital.  At the hospital, they cleaned my wounds and gave me stitches.  I had to stay overnight. It was an Italian hospital and they failed to give me a Tetanus shot.  In the morning, the doctor told me my leg was infected and I might develop gangrene.  The nurse had no mercy on me and told me to mop the floor.  I was infuriated and walked down the hall. I remembered Linda might still be here. I asked where she was and I saw her sitting up in bed. She smiled at me and said that I was her first visitor. She began crying because Larry never came to see her.

We both survived that Italian hospital.  I was tending bar one night when Larry and Linda stopped in. Larry sat at the bar and Linda sat at the table in the corner. I put on a Frank Sinatra record and asked her if she wanted to dance.  She said yes and I felt a warm feeling building up in me. Her blond hair touched my face and so did her lips. When the dance ended, and she and Larry were ready to leave, she put a note in my hand.  She wanted me to meet her after her class at the NATO base.  When I got in her car, there was no turning back. Those little things I did for her meant so much to her, because she never had any romance in her life.

One day when I got off of night shift and I knew Larry would be coming to work, I drove to her house and she made me coffee. She was still in her nightgown when suddenly Larry opened the door and said he forgot something.  We all looked at each other like Rick, Ilsa, and Victor in Casablanca while the plane’s propellers began turning. Larry left without saying a word.  The next day, when I opened my door, there was a note that said, “Ski I am going to Rome to get away from all this. Please meet me at the Altore Hotel on Saturday.  I took a cab to Naples, bought a midnight blue negligee for her birthday, and hopped on a train to Rome.  When I arrived at the hotel there was a note for me; “Ski went to look for trains. Wait here for me in case I missed you”.  She loved my gift and wore it that night. In the morning we had cappuccino and toured Rome. Words cannot describe the beauty of the classic art that met our eyes. It was also the last time anyone would see the Pieta without a glass wall around it to protect it from another crazy man with a hammer.

We had dinner at a restaurant near the Fountain.  Then the weekend was over. I went back to Naples by myself.  Linda told me she had to go to Dublin, Ireland to talk to her good friend.  She said she couldn’t make a decision while I was still near her.

When I got to Naples I took a cab to Licola. I drove back to the base and told Larry that Linda went to Dublin.  I thought he was going to kill me but he started crying instead. I left him standing there and returned to my apartment.  I took a hot shower and couldn’t get her out of my mind.  When I awoke the next morning to report for duty, I discovered my tires were slashed and flattened. I walked to the base and was greeted with stern looks.  It didn’t matter who did it, there were too many that could have.

I waited and waited for her to contact me and one day a letter came. “Ski, I cannot forgive myself for what I have done.  I cannot go back to Larry.  I know he will keep me from seeing my daughters.  Yet I can’t come back to you because it is too dangerous for you.  I will always love you. You are my first love. You have given me more romance and memories to last a lifetime. Love, Linda”.  There was no return address.  And once again, I was alone.

The next week, I was sent to the commander and he gave me orders to report to Charleston, South Carolina for sea duty.  He bought my beautiful beige Fiat for $500. I had to close out my rental agreement with Stella.  She was sad, so I gave her all my gas and cigarette coupons.  “Grazie,” she said and hugged me. She said “Ciao” and I said “Arrivederci”.

As I sat on the plane, I realized that life is about the chances you take, the risks you take, and the decisions you make.  Life should be full of experiences good, or bad.  Regret only the chances you missed, the risks you shied away from, and the decisions you pushed away until tomorrow.