Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 14

up investigation to an officer in the patrol
sector.
My partner and I had a warrant for Lar-
ry. Early one evening I saw him walking be-
tween some old buildings. I jumped out of
our patrol car and went looking for him,
expecting the worst. Was I surprised when I
found Larry completely sober. He politely
greeted me from behind a desk with “Good
evening, officer.”
I kind of stuttered as I said, “Larry, I
have a warrant for you.”
“That’s possible.”
“Well I have to arrest you and we have
to go to the precinct to do the paperwork.”
“Okay, just let me lock up the building
and I’ll be ready to go.”
He let me handcuff him without any re-
sistance or difficulty. We walked to the car
and I placed him in the back seat and my
partner and I transported him to the pre-
cinct for processing.
While at the precinct doing our paper-
work, Larry remained a perfect gentleman.
Sitting beside him was an intoxicated
younger man being very belligerent and
cursing at one and all. On his arm was a tat-
too of a United States Marine Corps Bull-
dog. Larry very nicely tried to calm the
young man down, telling him he too had
been a marine. The young man just turned
his vitriol on Larry who then looked at me
and smiled as he shrugged his shoulders.
After Larry was rebuffed by this young
man, he started to tell me about his time in
the U. S. Marines. I learned things I never
knew. He told me he had been a marine in
China before the outbreak of World War II.
During the war he was captured in the Phil-
S UMMER 2019
ippines by the Japanese military and held
as a prisoner of war in Japan until he was
liberated at the end of the war.
I suddenly had a new respect for Larry.
On future calls when Larry fell off the wag-
on and we got a call, I tried and get him to
one of his safe places. A safe place for Larry
might be a rented room, an abandoned
building or maybe the body of a truck that
kept him warm and dry. If he was intoxicat-
ed and causing a disturbance I offered him
a ride to wherever he was residing at the
time while my partner and I put up with his
verbal abuse.
My regular partner was off one day and
I was riding with a police academy class-
mate. We received a radio call; Larry was
disrupting the lunch trade in a coffee shop.
I coaxed him into the car and drove away
with him in the back seat. Boy was he in a
bad mood that day. My partner for the shift
looked at me with a look that asked why
are you putting up with this guy’s abuse?
After Larry was a safe distance from the
store, and he complained about being in the
patrol car, I let him go back to one of his
safe spots. The other officer wanted to
know why I put up with the abuse. I ex-
plained my reason and he suddenly under-
stood.
Larry’s alcoholism as well as the abuse
he suffered as a Japanese prisoner of war
eventually caught up with him. Larry
passed away January 9 th 1990 and was laid
to rest in the Long Island National Veterans
Cemetery. Many people may not have cared
for the Larry they met on the street. I hope
he is finally remembered for being the very
special United State Marine he was.
P AGE 9
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE