Remembering Bubbles and Billy
Remembering William "Billy" Cyr and Norman "Bubbles" Napierata.
Bubbles and Billy were on the same Boys Club basketball team as I was. We created our own team of five guys. I used to pick up the two of them as we walked to the Club. It was a good mile or so walk for me. I think all that walking I did to school and such made me the handsome guy I am today.
One of my favorite conversations with those two guys was about whether or not we should add a sixth man to our team. If we did, of course, it meant someone would have to sit down occasionally and no one wanted to. We debated what would happen if someone did not show up. How could we play with only four players? Eventually we came up with a brilliant solution: We asked a little kid to be on our team. He was just happy to be there with the big boys. We could throw him into a game for a minute or so just to be fair.
When we graduated from high school, Bubbles and Billy went to Vietnam where they would die in combat. The three of us were working class kids, the type that bears the brunt of war. What separated me from them is that I went on to college. That saved my life. I would eventually go to Vietnam, but on my own terms. No regrets there.
Here is Billy Cyr on the Virtual Wall:
Here is Bubbles Napierata on the Virtual Wall:
I learned about the death of Bubbles and Billy one Sunday morning while reading the Boston Globe. They had a special pullout section called "The Massachusetts Dead in Vietnam." They were listed by town. I looked for my town and there they were staring at me from their pictures. I knew then I had to get my butt in gear and prepare for how I was going to handle the war going forward.
Bubbles and Billy were on the same Boys Club basketball team as I was. We created our own team of five guys. I used to pick up the two of them as we walked to the Club. It was a good mile or so walk for me. I think all that walking I did to school and such made me the handsome guy I am today.
One of my favorite conversations with those two guys was about whether or not we should add a sixth man to our team. If we did, of course, it meant someone would have to sit down occasionally and no one wanted to. We debated what would happen if someone did not show up. How could we play with only four players? Eventually we came up with a brilliant solution: We asked a little kid to be on our team. He was just happy to be there with the big boys. We could throw him into a game for a minute or so just to be fair.
When we graduated from high school, Bubbles and Billy went to Vietnam where they would die in combat. The three of us were working class kids, the type that bears the brunt of war. What separated me from them is that I went on to college. That saved my life. I would eventually go to Vietnam, but on my own terms. No regrets there.
Here is Billy Cyr on the Virtual Wall:
Here is Bubbles Napierata on the Virtual Wall:
I learned about the death of Bubbles and Billy one Sunday morning while reading the Boston Globe. They had a special pullout section called "The Massachusetts Dead in Vietnam." They were listed by town. I looked for my town and there they were staring at me from their pictures. I knew then I had to get my butt in gear and prepare for how I was going to handle the war going forward.
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