If you overheat on a government job, its you own fault, Ben said through his welcoming smile. It was hot…really hot, and sweat was dripping down Bens forehead and soaking through his shirt. I met Ben Tucker, Baby Ben as hes known, at the National Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi. He works on the grounds crew there and had put down his weed-eater to greet me as I walked by taking pictures of the headstones. It turns out that Ben takes care of the cemetery where he, himself, will someday be buried. In addition to 30+ years in the National Guard, Ben served for four years of active duty in an Airborne unit in Italy in the late 70s. I didnt know what Airborne was, but I knew I wanted to travel and I knew that Italy was far away from the United States, he said. I had the time of my life! Id go back tomorrow…Id go back today! When I told Ben why I was visiting the cemetery - to capture some stories of people buried in our national cemeteries - he excitedly replied, Well then, have I got a story for you! As it turns out, Ben has four uncles and a few aunties buried in Natchez, including his namesake, Ben Bell. When Baby Ben was 11 years old, he and his sister were over at his uncles house when the elder Ben got into a fight with his wife. The house in which they lived was shared by another aunt and uncle, uncle Eugene. Of course, Eugene told Ben he needed to stop fighting with his wife, and as Baby Ben tells it, both men were tough World War II vets, and neither would back down. So, naturally, things escalated. Baby Ben told me that as the two men went to get their guns, he and his sister hid under the bed. And then we heard the gunshots, BOOM BOOM! Yeah, they was gettin after it, boy. When the smoke had cleared, Baby Ben said that his aunt had run to her husband and held him in her arms when he said, That mother f@#*er done broke my arm. As it turns out, those were his last words, for the shotgun blast not only hit his arm, but also the old war wound in his side. Baby Ben Tuckers uncle, Ben Bell, is buried in Natchez National Cemetery, a stones throw away from another uncle, Eugene Hills - the man who pulled the trigger.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 23:58:33 +0000
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