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Show Oh Say Can You See? 35 I climbed to the ledge as the f i re engine and two police cars sirened past. Even standing there, I could see only flashing red lights, the backs of heads and an occasional helium balloon d r i f t i n g , ownerless. "Daddy, I can't see." Somehow, he managed to pick me up in time. Ike, his uniform dotted with brass and ribbons, looked just like the News reel pictures at the Boulder Theatre. He smiled and waved just like on Newsreel too. I didn't need to see him after a l l . I already knew. I liked the high school band best. The flags and the band. "Children," my father said at the dinner table that night, "you are lucky to live in America." His blue eyes moistened as they always did when he talked about God and country. We a l l knelt by our chairs and Daddy said, "We thank thee for such men as General Eisenhower to lead our great country. Bless our friends and relatives. Help us to live in peace. Amen." I saw Ike again on Newsreel several weeks later. He was s t i l l waving and smiling, framed by the granite-like building blocks of the dam. He didn't look too big next to the dam. Neither did his friends. One morning, about 5:00 o'clock, our grey Plymouth drove in the opposite direction from the dam, toward Las Vegas, out by Railroad Pass where Uncle Jack played trumpet on Saturday night. Alice and I kept warm under a friendship quilt and read the embroidered names of Mama's old friends, waiting. " I t ' s time," Daddy said. "Watch. Don't miss this. We should be able to see everything, even i f i t is 75 miles away." |