Where have all the heroes gone? Generally, strong, confident, silent, moral men stood proudly as our heroes during the twentieth century. Generically, our movie heroes personified that type. Alan Ladd, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power and Randolph Scott as well as Clint Eastwood performed as reticent, stalwart men, sure of themselves. The epitome of these movie icons, however, was exemplified by Gary Cooper and John Wayne. Their film images became our heroes, because they embodied what a man should be.
Nevertheless, I remember another quiet man. His persona appeared more like Gary Cooper than John Wayne. He was tall and slim. Always, I thought his walk and looks mirrored Gary Cooper as he appeared in so many "Western's."
Frank, my Gary Cooper look-alike, was born in 1897 on a farm in southern Texas some 28 miles southeast of San Antonio in a small town called Sutherland Springs. Actually the town was named for an Alamo hero, Dr. Sutherland, who scouted for Commander Travis in 1836 and fell from his horse after spotting Santa Ana's troops. Thus, Travis sent a disabled Dr. Sutherland to the southeast to muster more troops to fight the "Battle of the Alamo." The doctor returned to find the burning Alamo in Mexican hands. Later, Dr. Sutherland founded the town of Sutherland Springs.
In the 1890s, Frank's uncle, Jim, and father, John, in their early '30's, came to Sutherland Springs, Texas, because "The Springs" was most renowned. Ten hot and medicinal springs flourished adjacent to the Cibolo river (pronounced SA-will-o). Yet, Sutherland Springs was a dichotomy. "Old Town" paralleled the highway from San Antonio; nevertheless, one must turn left on a country road to "New Town," called the "Saratoga of the West," which prospered by the Cibolo river. "New Town" not only sported medicinal springs, but also the magnificent "Old South" styled, Sutherland Springs Hotel, which became the resort of Texas governors. Owned by Uncle Jim's' in-laws, the Williams, the spa burgeoned.
Before the turn of the century, Frank was born on a Sutherland Springs cattle, hog and chicken farm owned by his father, John. His mother, Amanda Medora Brown, was from a prominent Louisiana family. Frank grew up chasing cattle from the saddle of a horse and a handkerchief around his face to ward off the dust. He wore chaps over his legs because southern Texas grew cactus with brutal thorns. Quite similar to the Texas drovers on the Chisholm Trail, he wore boots with high heels to stay in the stirrups and to stay planted on the ground while throwing cattle for branding.
Frank was raised by a "Mammy," whose family lived on the farm. (Perhaps the term, Mammy, is not politically correct; but this is historical fact and life as it was.) His mother birthed ten children. How could she mother them all? Nevertheless, Frank loved his black mother as much as his birth mother.
In 1917, the first World War became imminent. Frank and his brother, Phillip, joined the war effort. Philip quickly became an infantryman in the Army. Frank joined the Signal Corps, a segment of which became the precursor of the Army Air Corps, later the Air Force.
After training on airplane engines, Frank was sent to Paris' Orly Field to refurbish warplanes.
While there working on airplanes and in the waning days of World War I when pilots became scarce, Frank was taught to fly those WWI bi-planes. The war ended, however, before he became a "bona fide" pilot.
As the young Frank returned home to Texas, he quietly signed on to the new Texas oil boom. He became an oil tanker (builder of oil tanks, thrower of rivets and riveter), which led the quiet man to Montana and back. Consequently in his journey, he came to the oil fields outside of Enid, OK. As fate would have it, the quiet man met a girl quite his opposite. He married, Mildred, a grade school teacher, who possessed not only the moral and lady-like qualities of the era; but, also the loquacious qualities of verbosity that he did not possess.
As the oil fields played out and as the Depression of the 1930's began, Frank settled down in Enid. He became a member of a WPA surveyor team (Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration). This team spent the 1930's surveying roads and bridges in Northern Oklahoma counties.
As World War II came on the scene, Frank, again, as in WWI, became a repairer of airplanes. He worked at Enid Army Air Field, later known as Vance Air Force Base.
Vicariously, he experienced the Korean conflict through letters written home by his son. He watched the beginning of television. And, on the television, he watched history and the John Glenn NASA historical event. Moreover, on the television, Frank watched the burgeoning of the National Football League to the dominant parity of "On any Sunday." (meaning that any team can beat any other team in any game.) On television, he watched the United States land a man on the moon. The quiet man experienced the most fantastic time in history.
Frank's life, this quiet man's life, spanned a time when he actually was a "cowboy" to actually flying an airplane in World War I to being a part of this country's oil industry; then, the WPA surveyor and airplane repairer in World War II. This man experienced the Korean War through his son's letters home. He experienced first-time television. And, on TV, he experienced the Vietnam War as well as NASA's putting men on the moon.
Certainly tall and slim like Gary Cooper, the quiet man raised a family, became a father and grandfather, yet maintained his decorum--strong, confident, silent and moral.
His kind were those people who quietly gave donations secretly with no one knowing. Quite unlike today when the pseudo-famous always must talk about how they want to give back.
God knows, years ago we respected men like Frank. We thought that they were real MEN.
Now, I ask, "Where are all the strong, confident, silent, moral men like Frank?"
"Where have all the heroes gone like my father, Frank?"
Burton Anderson Burton Anderson, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Korean War, has lived in California for about 50 years. He has a background in the aerospace industry. He may be reached at bandtp@aol.com. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.
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