Living Through the Scars of War--
A Second Chance at Happiness
Duke, by Dale Talbert, is a slender but strong collection of ten stories about love and war. The main character of all these stories is a Korean War veteran paratrooper named Duke Barney. He lives in Florida, where he's a businessman, speculating on orange juice futures. As the first story opens, he is married to a, pretty, lively woman named Sabina. In this story, the Barneys are having a reunion with two old army buddies whom Duke hasn't seen for forty years. This meeting releases a flood of memories--some happy, some angry--and it is these memories that make up the contents of Duke.
Aside from his marriage to Sabina, the central fact of Duke Barney's life is that he endured the Korean War, and that experience left two scars that continue to haunt him. The first is an abiding anger and disillusionment with the United States government, stemming from President Truman's decision not to allow General MacArthur to bomb the Chinese supply routes to North Korea. Duke sees this as the government's willingness to send men to wars that the government is unwilling to win.
The second scar is more visible. Duke lost half of his left ear in the war. It's a wound that he's sensitive about, partly because it's a disfigurement, more because it's a constant reminder of the war his government refused to win. Ironically, that disfigured ear comes into play in one of the later stories of the book, and it helps to rescue Duke from a downward spiral of despair and gives him a second chance at happiness.
Though the stories in Duke are about war, they are also about a romance between a semi-tough older man and a sexy but brainy younger woman, both vulnerable, both proud. Their love is forged in the midst of a business speculation that goes bad, but instead of failing, Sabina and Duke make a windfall profit on orange juice futures by "fading" government forecasters--one more government agency for Duke to chastice. After that Duke is unwilling to make a commitment to the romance, and he lets this wonderful partner slip away from his life. Because of that mistake he learns the pain of loneliness and regret. Years pass, and he can't get Sabina out of his mind or his heart. And then, one magical New Year's Eve, he finds Sabina in a grocery store. What is she doing in the grocery store? Looking for him. And he's easy to spot, even from behind, thanks to his trademark ear, the war wound from Korea.
And so the lovers are reunited, although there is still drama to unfold and problems to solve, for Sabina has spent the interim in a rotten marriage from which she needs to escape. Duke comes to the rescue, and the final story promises the happy ending that is foretold by the opening story in the book. That first story, then, works as both a prologue and a resolution. Full circle. Duke's life hasn't been a walk in the park, but he deserves, like this book, his happy finish.
Dale Talbert is retired from a career as a citrus grower and a commodity broker. Like Duke Barney, he served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry. He lives and writes in Vero Beach, Florida. |
