Earl Renner

Save Them for the Junkman Earl Renner

Save Them For The Junkman, is a workinspired by actual events affecting and shaping the author's life,fictionalized and embellished for effect. Growing up, my brother and Iworked for (The Junkman) an uncle who owned a scrap iron and wrecking yard, awonderful man who often entertained us with war stories, which I foundenthralling, but suspected he "embroidered" with each telling.¿ To my eternal regret, only after his death,did I discover, he was indeed a great hero, and a greater man.¿ Among his affects was a moth-eaten uniformfestooned with cobwebs and medals.¿ He'dmade every combat jump in W. W. II, and one in Korea,where he'd been captured and held prisoner in the freezing hell of Manchuriafor almost two years.¿ Unattended,starved, his wounded arm had frozen, rotted off, wasting his once strong bodyto that of mere skeleton.¿ It is withgrateful heart, and fearsome pride that I use my own experience, andimagination coupled with his Homeric tails, and heroic deeds, as an inspirationfor this humbly wrought, but awesome narrative, and by doing so, perhaps, Save Them For The Junkman.