Missing The Boat: War Stories of Thomas Alan Dirkin

27 viewed as play? “Look, son, if you thought what you were doing was anything but a game, you would probably crawl up in a ball and die.” We talked a little more. My question was posed with a broader intent, along the lines of war as pageantry. His answer revolved around the use of game play as a coping strategy-the survival game, the game of not submitting, the game of dodging bullets, the game of escaping. The alternative of allowing reality to bombard the mind is a losing battle for the central nervous system. Of course, not every day involved blazing fury. Many days of solitude were endured. But the sword of Damocles was ever present. So was the need to cope and hang on to a working strategy-gaming the situation. The Boxing Match: the End of Joy To pass the time, prisoners conducted a variety of activities to entertain each other. One was boxing. Most likely, the activity was sparring. My dad put on some makeshift gloves and moved around the makeshift ring. He broke his ankle. He hobbled around until it healed. Unfortunately, it did not heal well and the repaired bone was misaligned.

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