Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …
Almost every Friday morning after I leave my part-time job, I text my wife that I’m on my way and I pick her up so we can go out for breakfast.
I don’t even pull in the driveway.
I hit the garage door closer as she steps from the garage and I stop at the end of the driveway to pick her up.
The eatery we usually go to has some artifacts on the wall and one caught my eye the other morning.
It was an ad for a six-pack Nehi orange drink
Now, fans of “M.A.S.H.” may recall that Corporal Radar O-Reilly had a thing for grape Nehi.
But my memory was on Charles Benjamin Venable.
He was my roommate when we were both stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Sondrestromfiiord, Greenland.
The base was about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, well above the tree line.
Chuck was from Pineville, Kentucky which is about as far east as you can go and not be in West Virginia.
As a result, he got his nickname “Neck”, short for “Redneck”.
When I saw that Nehi orange advertisement, I remembered “Neck” was a fan of peach Nehi.
He’d have his family send him a six pack of peach Nehi and it was usually accompanied by a big jar of marshmallow fluff.
Since my wife has grown fond of peach iced tea, she bought a single bottle of it in the eateries’ store.
On the way home, I ask Neav to see if she could locate Charles Benjamin Venable on her phone.
We found out that he had made a career out of the United States Air Force with 29 years of active duty.
I also found out that he had been at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, where I attended aircraft maintenance school before being assigned to Craig Air Force base in Selma, Alabama.
“Neck’s” last reported home was in Tampa, Florida..
I also learned he had passed on October 22nd, 2018.
The Charles Benjamin Venable I knew was a somewhat wiry character with a dental bridge he would remove when talking and needed to make a point.
“Neck” always had some great stories about the hard-scrabble farm his family had.
He also shared with me that he “ran” a little moonshine in his younger days.
He and I ran after reindeer, or caribou which were plenty in Greenland.
We’d be in our 6-pack truck and would jump from it, sometimes even putting it in park and we’d run towards caribou, whooping and hollering until the reindeers would snort and trot away.
We even had a rock in our room with “C-R-A” printed on it with a black magic marker.
“Caribou Runners Association.
I think we even had a special rock-signing session when “Neck” was assigned to Korea.
Charles Benjamin Venable and I exchange a few letters but lost contact after I left the USAF in the spring of 1973.
Years ago, my wife and I were on a church mission trip and we were within a stones-throw of Pineville, Kentucky and I regret that I didn’t take the time to try and contact his family.
“Neck” got me interested in country comic Jerry Clower.
Clower had a character named “Bully” and “Neck” made that my nickname.
Many years later, I actually introduced Jerry Clower to the crowd at the Nashville, Indiana theatre.
One of my greatest memories was sitting backstage with Clower, talking with him before he did his show.
He was in his fire engine-red jump suit.
“Knock him out, John!”
Only Jerry Clower fans will get that.
I think Chuck had me figured for something other than manual labor.
One day he told me, “Bully! Whatever you do for a living, remember it’s good for a man to get a little dirt under his fingernails from time to time.”
I now know exactly what he means.
We spent a lot of time in our bunks at night talking, sharing thoughts and ideas.
The time I spent rooming with “Neck” proved to be a pivotal time in my life.
Our second daughter, Nikki was born while I was in Greenland and I underwent major surgery that sent me to an Air Force
hospital just before she was born.
It was then I decided to leave the Air Force and return to civilian life and a job where I never get dirt under my fingernails until I played in my garden or did yard work.
Charles Benjamin Venable, you made me a better man and I’m glad our paths crossed in the land of snow and ice.
Thanks for being my friend.
