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A truly beautiful story. 'where are my tissues'.....
kat
Chapter Four: Don Malarkey A good man to take along ...
#17
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Posted 27 March 2003 - 10:50 AM
Kiwiwriter, on Mar 11 2003, 08:17 PM, said:
Amazing how Scott Grimes channels Don Malarkey. You look at Don Malarkey as an 80-year-old and you can see Scott Grimes playing him in his 20s. :D
You really can. You can really see Don Malarkey as a young paratrooper in Scott Grimes' face.
#18
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Posted 28 March 2003 - 01:50 AM
As emotional as Don can get, he still likes to tell his favorite stories over and over. In DC, Don was telling that Christenson was considered good looking but then he was considered better looking than Christenson but Burr was considered the best looking one. I told Susan that and she said that Don had told her that several times.
Gary
Gary
#19
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Posted 28 March 2003 - 02:05 AM
Gary, I heard that story once or twice myself!! Approaching my dotage, I recognize that it's a very practical thing to have the difficult parts of one's life filed way in palatable and useable bits. Likely, Don is no different from the rest of us, and like us, some bits never quite make it to that palatable place. But the luckiest day of his life ... and he has his Irene and that's reason enough for a big smile. And then he's just as handsome today as he was in 1944. BK
#20
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Posted 28 March 2003 - 04:25 AM
Kiwiwriter, on Mar 27 2003, 03:50 PM, said:
You really can. You can really see Don Malarkey as a young paratrooper in Scott Grimes' face.
ditto for FJH as Wild Bill
#21
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Posted 28 March 2003 - 03:29 PM
The casting was just amazing. But, Scott Grimes absolutely seemed to capture the true emotion of Mr. Malarkey.
#22
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Posted 09 April 2003 - 12:15 PM
Bk, Susan,
Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories. What still strikes me is the amount of friendship between the actors of BOB and the E-comapny vets. In all photographs and stories shared on this forum you can see there's a true connection between the actors and the vets. They all seem to be proud to have gotten the change to portray these heroic men in the series.
Really fantastic.
C U
Frank
Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories. What still strikes me is the amount of friendship between the actors of BOB and the E-comapny vets. In all photographs and stories shared on this forum you can see there's a true connection between the actors and the vets. They all seem to be proud to have gotten the change to portray these heroic men in the series.
Really fantastic.
C U
Frank
#23
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Posted 15 January 2004 - 12:32 AM
BK remembers much more of our singular encounter with Don Malarkey than I do. It wasn't a conversation. Don doesn't hear very well, so my attempts to respond to him were pretty much futile. But we were a privileged audience as Sgt. Malarkey poured out the things that were important to him. And from what I do remember they were the fraternity, and the malt shop, and Irene and love at first sight, and singing.
I very much wish I could remember more. I'm not quite sure what "plotz" means, as BK uses it, but it's very true that listening to Sergeant Malarkey was an emotional experience, and I wasn't recording the details well. Much as I wanted to ask him any number of questions, that was not his agenda, and we adapted. So BK and I listened. And squeezed his hands. And reacted to his stories from another place and time. And felt privileged to be there with him. And ultimately delivered him back upstairs to Irene.
And I'm very glad that BK remembers so much more of what Don Malarkey had to say.
I very much wish I could remember more. I'm not quite sure what "plotz" means, as BK uses it, but it's very true that listening to Sergeant Malarkey was an emotional experience, and I wasn't recording the details well. Much as I wanted to ask him any number of questions, that was not his agenda, and we adapted. So BK and I listened. And squeezed his hands. And reacted to his stories from another place and time. And felt privileged to be there with him. And ultimately delivered him back upstairs to Irene.
And I'm very glad that BK remembers so much more of what Don Malarkey had to say.
#24
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Posted 15 January 2004 - 12:57 AM
These are all great BK. Im glad i had a chance to read them.
#25
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Posted 10 March 2004 - 03:00 AM
Oh, dear Sgt. Malarkey.
I loved reading this thread. What a treasure of a man he is, and once again, the recollections of BK and Doug are as well.
This is well worth a sleepless night.
You know, as I read, I try to imagine what I might do in the presence of these men, and I think I might not even have the nerve to approach. I imagine myself standing at a distance, teary-eyed and mooning with my hand over my heart.
I loved reading this thread. What a treasure of a man he is, and once again, the recollections of BK and Doug are as well.
This is well worth a sleepless night.
You know, as I read, I try to imagine what I might do in the presence of these men, and I think I might not even have the nerve to approach. I imagine myself standing at a distance, teary-eyed and mooning with my hand over my heart.
#26
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Posted 10 March 2004 - 08:11 AM
homefront41, on Mar 28 2003, 07:05 AM, said:
Gary, I heard that story once or twice myself!! Approaching my dotage, I recognize that it's a very practical thing to have the difficult parts of one's life filed way in palatable and useable bits. Likely, Don is no different from the rest of us, and like us, some bits never quite make it to that palatable place. But the luckiest day of his life ... and he has his Irene and that's reason enough for a big smile. And then he's just as handsome today as he was in 1944. BK
BK,
When I met Don Malarkey at the L.A. premiere, that was THE first story he told.The second was the Liberation of Brussels, Belgium ... the story in which Burr came around the corner riding the top of a trolley car. Wild Bill, Malarkey, and Frank Pereconte all confirmed that one, they being the ones seated in a sidewalk cafe to observe the performance.
When I talked with Don Malarkey at the Scottsdale reunion, we both became very emotional. I, because Burr talked to me about Don Malarkey almost daily for years after we had both returned from Europe. Don, because I was telling him things he knew I could only have learned from my brother. I asked Don about the story that Dick Winters had split Don and Burr up when they were Sergeants because they were TOO close, and Dick was afraid if something really bad happened to one of them it would seriously affect the performance of the other. By then, Don and I both had tears in our eyes; Don turned to me, looking closely into my eyes, and said "This is the biggest reason I have for coming to these reunions."
In Burr's retelling of the Saga of Easy Company, Don Malarkey was a giant. When I met Don Malarkey, I shook hands with a giant. A gentle, Leprechaunish giant.
LongJohn
#27
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Posted 26 March 2004 - 04:15 PM
Thanks for the story, Colonel. I couldn't read your post without tears in my eyes. It's a wonderful story about friendship that to this day is stronger than ever.
Thanks, BK, for sharing all of your journals with us.
Melissa
Thanks, BK, for sharing all of your journals with us.
Melissa
#28
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Posted 27 March 2004 - 01:30 PM
BK and Susan, thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed the photos and the stories. I am impressed with how the actors truely seem to cherish the time they get to spend with their guys.
#29
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Posted 27 March 2004 - 01:33 PM
"When I met Don Malarkey at the L.A. premiere, that was THE first story he told.The second was the Liberation of Brussels, Belgium ... the story in which Burr came around the corner riding the top of a trolley car. Wild Bill, Malarkey, and Frank Pereconte all confirmed that one, they being the ones seated in a sidewalk cafe to observe the performance.
When I talked with Don Malarkey at the Scottsdale reunion, we both became very emotional. I, because Burr talked to me about Don Malarkey almost daily for years after we had both returned from Europe. Don, because I was telling him things he knew I could only have learned from my brother. I asked Don about the story that Dick Winters had split Don and Burr up when they were Sergeants because they were TOO close, and Dick was afraid if something really bad happened to one of them it would seriously affect the performance of the other. By then, Don and I both had tears in our eyes; Don turned to me, looking closely into my eyes, and said "This is the biggest reason I have for coming to these reunions."
In Burr's retelling of the Saga of Easy Company, Don Malarkey was a giant. When I met Don Malarkey, I shook hands with a giant. A gentle, Leprechaunish giant."
Another wonderful story, thanks for sharing LongJohn.
When I talked with Don Malarkey at the Scottsdale reunion, we both became very emotional. I, because Burr talked to me about Don Malarkey almost daily for years after we had both returned from Europe. Don, because I was telling him things he knew I could only have learned from my brother. I asked Don about the story that Dick Winters had split Don and Burr up when they were Sergeants because they were TOO close, and Dick was afraid if something really bad happened to one of them it would seriously affect the performance of the other. By then, Don and I both had tears in our eyes; Don turned to me, looking closely into my eyes, and said "This is the biggest reason I have for coming to these reunions."
In Burr's retelling of the Saga of Easy Company, Don Malarkey was a giant. When I met Don Malarkey, I shook hands with a giant. A gentle, Leprechaunish giant."
Another wonderful story, thanks for sharing LongJohn.
#30
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Posted 27 March 2004 - 02:32 PM
Melissa (BoB Queen),
Looking back on those years (1948-1950) when Burr and I were both back in the States, and the hours of chatting about his service with Easy Company and the 506th, I remember a handful of names kept repeating: Don Malarkey, Skip Muck, Dick Winters (usually referred to as Captain), David Webster, "Sergeant" Guarnere, Salty Harris, Bull Randleman, and "Lip" Lipton - in just about that order and magnitude. David Kenyon Webster and Burr shared an apartment the first year after separation from the service, and remained fairly close until David's untimely death, so his name was almost a household word.
There were a lot of other names I remember, such as Sergio Moya, but the were rarely repeated or mentioned more than once or twice. Sergio Moya was special to Burr, and I think he might have been my brother's (the machinegunner's) ammo carrier; Sergio was KIA in Normandy, and because his family lived near ours (less than 20 miles - we in San Mateo, the Moyas in South San Francisco) Burr asked our parents to please call on the Moyas and express his great sense of loss at the death of his good and close friend. (Moia? I'm not really sure now)
I went with my parents on that visit to a government housing complex, and remember Sergio's mother telling my mother, "Sergio said he and your son had to sleep with their legs wrapped around each other in order to keep from freezing, during training in England. Sergio really liked your son."
Evoked some pretty strong images in everyone's mind, and is something I recall with astonishing clarity even to this day.
I think all the Taccoa men shared that special kind of comaradeship, regardless of race, religion, color, or station in life. In my 28+ years of military service I served in several fighter squadrons that generated a high sense of camaraderie, but never anything as strong or as enduring as what my brother knew with the men of Easy Company.
They were, and are, very special men.
Y.o.s.,
LongJohn
Looking back on those years (1948-1950) when Burr and I were both back in the States, and the hours of chatting about his service with Easy Company and the 506th, I remember a handful of names kept repeating: Don Malarkey, Skip Muck, Dick Winters (usually referred to as Captain), David Webster, "Sergeant" Guarnere, Salty Harris, Bull Randleman, and "Lip" Lipton - in just about that order and magnitude. David Kenyon Webster and Burr shared an apartment the first year after separation from the service, and remained fairly close until David's untimely death, so his name was almost a household word.
There were a lot of other names I remember, such as Sergio Moya, but the were rarely repeated or mentioned more than once or twice. Sergio Moya was special to Burr, and I think he might have been my brother's (the machinegunner's) ammo carrier; Sergio was KIA in Normandy, and because his family lived near ours (less than 20 miles - we in San Mateo, the Moyas in South San Francisco) Burr asked our parents to please call on the Moyas and express his great sense of loss at the death of his good and close friend. (Moia? I'm not really sure now)
I went with my parents on that visit to a government housing complex, and remember Sergio's mother telling my mother, "Sergio said he and your son had to sleep with their legs wrapped around each other in order to keep from freezing, during training in England. Sergio really liked your son."
Evoked some pretty strong images in everyone's mind, and is something I recall with astonishing clarity even to this day.
I think all the Taccoa men shared that special kind of comaradeship, regardless of race, religion, color, or station in life. In my 28+ years of military service I served in several fighter squadrons that generated a high sense of camaraderie, but never anything as strong or as enduring as what my brother knew with the men of Easy Company.
They were, and are, very special men.
Y.o.s.,
LongJohn
