They need to make a movie based on theses blogs, I'd go see it!:
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/08/guestblog-8-year-to-reach-summit.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2014/06/guestblog-1576-steps-by-jerry-augustine.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2014/09/congratulations-to-new-american.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/05/guestblog-veterans-story-i-jerry.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/06/guestblog-murder-in-small-neighborhood.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/07/guestblog-native-of-middletown-my-dad.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2015/08/today-by-jerry-augustine.html
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/05/freedom-isnt-free-thank-veteran.html
Jerry did what he had to do and was a great man in the war. He told me about dudes that wore ears and noses on them during the war. I think that is the photo on the top of the Veterans Story. That was about the most gruesome story I heard him tell me; besides this one:
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| Is that a ear? |
I have told this story to many people though out the years since Jerry told it to me when I was about 23 years old, but not half as good as the man himself:
www.middletowninsider.com/2013/05/guestblog-veterans-story-i-jerry.html :
Famous Battle
What stands out while serving the last five months of my service was being part of the largest one day battle casualty rate of the Vietnam war for the enemy. On March 21, 1967 Fire Support Base Gold or LZ Gold for short was attacked. It was also known as the battle of Suoi Tre. The camp was manned by two infantry companies of the 3/22 and an artillery battalion of the 2/77 totaling 450 men.
They were attacked by the elite 272nd main force regiment of the 9th VC Div. reinforced by two additional battalions that raised the hostile forces to 2500 troops.
The support base had withstood almost three hours of attacks with the help of the Air Force flying 31 sorties around their perimeter. The 2/22 with their APC`s (armored personnel carriers), and the 2/34 armor arrived and the rout was on. My “C” company 2/12 was just outside the perimeter and pinned down while the APC`s attacked firing their 50`s into the LZ. Beehive rounds from the artillery inside the perimeter were fired extensively. The rounds emulated a large shotgun shell. One such shot obliterated a quad fifty, (four fifty caliber machine guns mounted on a deuce and a half). A bunch of VC were trying to turn the weapon to fire it against the American forces. They didn`t have a chance. The rounds were fired into the ranks of the attacking VC. Some of the VC had claymore mine like devices strapped around their waists. They would run around in the perimeter and face their enemy and blow themselves up. Many of the dead were found to be carrying large amounts of drugs to help them carry out their goals. 647 enemy troops were killed that day not counting those dragged off. Bulldozers were brought in to bury the dead. I lost a good friend that day, Jim Brewer. He was one of the originals from Tay Ninh. He happened to be in the center of the perimeter when a direct hit from an enemy mortar found him. He totally disappeared.
I was telling the story about how Jerry used to carry dumbbells on his back while on patrol to someone once and the dudes I told it to just started laughing load. Jerry won Mr. New England partly because he was a great Veteran right out of the war. He was also a dedicated and huge award worthy body builder.
These type of magical people are and were plentiful in my home town of Middletown Connecticut. It is a part of me and my heritage that I look back on with a little tear in my eye. If you want to know why I am so intense (radical) it is because I came for people like this; real heroes in real life, not comic book super heroes, real hero's. It drives me and motivates me everyday of my life to walk a narrow road, to tow the line, like my old friend from Sparks used to say back in Middletown.
Tow the line.
I have to post these photo's from Jerry's blogs, because they are so cool:
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| That's my old buddy back when he was in his early 20's, I bet. |
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| As a artist I can tell you good Vietnam war photos are hard to find on the internet. |
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| I think that is Jerry in the middle. |
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| I think that is Jerry. |
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| Jerry was in the first edition of the book Pumping Iron. I think this photo might have been in Iron Man Magazine from the good old days; when it was black and white. |
I went a party hosted by his wife there once and his wife said to me secretly not to look up to Jerry so much because he wasn't that great. I said something derogatory to Jerry latter about his wife and he stuck up for her veraciously. This left a impression on me my whole life. I decided when I got married I would always treat my wife that way. I never told her this I think I will when she wakes up. I told her, she said; aaaawww. Jerry's wife was like a celebrity or something. She had us all trying to compete for prizes in their backyard for prizes. It was almost intimidating to my date and I. I was dating this nice church girl from Middletown at the time and we just hung back. I was quit the lady's man back then.
About 2 blocks from Jerry's Polish neighborhood was a about 2 blocks of beautiful brick and classic American homes populated by many of my Sicilian relatives. Many homes had those white cement statues in front; like you find at the true East Coast, Sicilian's home. These blocks were right on the edge of the city part of the town. You could walk right from the city to the woods and the huge Connecticut river, in Middletown. Middletown was how every American city should be. I am old enough to remember parts of Middletown the city; looking like that movie Gangs of New York. By the time I was about 13 years old all that was replaced by modern buildings.
When I was roofing with Jerry one day he kept saying how his little 6 year old son was a body builder. I never believed him. Latter we went to his house and his son did this body building pose and sure enough; he was a mini Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He had a White Trans Am he never drove. One time he drove it to the YMCA were I stayed and lifted weights for about 3 years. He also had a perfect red 57 Chevy he showed me one time in his barn. I think he restored it himself.
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| Me at YMCA about 3 years before I met wife. |
Jerry used to rile me up now and then. I used to have trouble bulking up. I just want to be bigger and bigger like Lou Ferrigno. I just could not do it no matter how much food I ate. I latter learned while my wife was in the army it is not just food that does it it is gain wight protein. I used to buy that stuff in big sacks at the PX. Jerry used to call me rickets because my name sounded like that. It always made me laugh. I still want to laugh about that to this day. He was a great roofer and worked himself to death every single day. I remember one time he finally gave me a compliment about my roofing skills. He kept needing more shingles than I could give to him. He kept shouting at me for more. We were almost done so I just started to throw them at him from the lawn about two story's up. He said something like you a great roofer it must be in your blood. I remember lugging 100 pound kegs of tar up a ladder in a job I worked with him on with another body builder from the gym. Even they were both bigger than me they made me do all the hard work. I makes me want to laugh now.
We went to this party at the steak house with the whole gang from the gym once and I surprised we weren't all arrested we were so rowdy. I ate all the free shrimp they had. I went back there with Jerry after a job and remember thinking I was bigger than him. This dude actually said to me that dude is huge who is he, like ignoring how big I was. I never saw that about him probably because I was so dedicated to the sport.
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| Here is photo of Jerry with Franco Columbu a great body builder. |
Franco Columbu was ripped. That is why I was never great; I could not understand it was not how big you are, it is how ripped you are, and that means being small like Franco. I could not bring myself to being lean and a weight lifter. That may have been a good thing looking back now. It may have helped keep me from chronic weightlifting injury's. The bigger you are the more weights you can lift easily.
Jerry used to talk about competing in older men body building contests, back then with me in my 20's. By browsing through the 1576 steps blog I see he has won recently. I would not want to compete is any sport against Jerry.
Like me Jerry worked out at home when I was in my 20's. He used to brag about his weight room. When I finally got to see it (no one was aloud in his house) in his dirt floor basement, I was non the less impressed. I latter learned the dark dingy hardcore gyms are the best. Although I started lifting in gyms only in my 20's I started lifting in my dirt cellar when I was about 13. I quickly turned to working out at home only when I go married; and to this day. If you have the discipline it is the way to go.
Not aloud in his house and one time I was starving after a roofing job and I was outside his house and he gave me a almost rotten peach; but that was Jerry to me. He treated like I was a stupid, dummy; and I like it.
Here is a memory for ya. I have been in Jerry's house 3 times once to see his gym, once when his sons were running around like maniacs, and one time when he showed me his pumping iron book. That day he was watching television but we had a job to go to. He was watching the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. I saw it for the first time then.
