Crazy 8's: Soldiers Still

Crazy 8's: Soldiers Still (A novel of interrelated short stories.) Dedication: For the soldiers The longer the Vietnam War went on the more soldiers came to the psych wards. Sometimes it seemed that more came than went. In my storytelling I have never nor would I ever use the real names of the soldiers. And here is another truth: I . . do . . not . . remember . . the soldiers' names. But I remember them. Jim Karantonis, Medic and Psych Tech, 1966-1969. (Crazy Eights was the favorite card game of the soldiers on the psych wards.) Synopsis It's October 1967 during the Vietnam War. Zack Tonakis (White) is a young medic/psych tech, who along with his buddy, Robert Turner, (Black), is assigned to the psychiatric ward of an Army hospital in the hills of Pennsylvania. The ward houses young soldiers who are depressed; paranoid; obsessive-compulsive; a sociopath; and even a catatonic. Others, like Joker Berkowski who's described as "crazy funny," are there for a "failure to adjust" to Army life. A major, not of the medical profession, was brought in on temporary assignment while a qualified replacement is sought. The major, a short-timer, wants nothing to jeopardize his coming retirement. His right hand, Sergeant Helms, views patients as cowards and phonies. An inept ward psychiatrist is of little help to the patients. An escape by a patient during a ball game prompts the major to shut down all outdoor activities. His mantra becomes: "Keep them invisible."

Crazy 8's: Soldiers Still (A novel of interrelated short stories.) Dedication: For the soldiers The longer the Vietnam War went on the more soldiers came to the psych wards. Sometimes it seemed that more came than went. In my storytelling I have never nor would I ever use the real names of the soldiers. And here is another truth: I . . do . . not . . remember . . the soldiers' names. But I remember them. Jim Karantonis, Medic and Psych Tech, 1966-1969. (Crazy Eights was the favorite card game of the soldiers on the psych wards.) Synopsis It's October 1967 during the Vietnam War. Zack Tonakis (White) is a young medic/psych tech, who along with his buddy, Robert Turner, (Black), is assigned to the psychiatric ward of an Army hospital in the hills of Pennsylvania. The ward houses young soldiers who are depressed; paranoid; obsessive-compulsive; a sociopath; and even a catatonic. Others, like Joker Berkowski who's described as "crazy funny," are there for a "failure to adjust" to Army life. A major, not of the medical profession, was brought in on temporary assignment while a qualified replacement is sought. The major, a short-timer, wants nothing to jeopardize his coming retirement. His right hand, Sergeant Helms, views patients as cowards and phonies. An inept ward psychiatrist is of little help to the patients. An escape by a patient during a ball game prompts the major to shut down all outdoor activities. His mantra becomes: "Keep them invisible." The refusal of the major to allow outdoor activities causes the patients to act out. A sympathetic ward sergeant compensates for the restrictions by sending the soldiers to indoor activities. But following a second escape the major expands the off-limits to include even the base chapel. The first short story "The Ball Game" introduces the soldiers who will have their own stories told in the collection. The main protagonist, psych tech Zack Tonakis, will follow the soldiers throughout the novel. Zack carries his own demons from the past: a violent alcoholic father. Stories include a trip to the mess hall and a food protest; a beer truck hijacking; a trip to the base bowling alley; an escape from the chapel; a Red Cross dance; ECT shock treatment; a pool game that goes awry: family room flashbacks; a suicide, and more. The novel's holiday conclusion delivers a message of hope and recovery for the patients, soldiers still.

Crazy 8's: Soldiers Still Crazy 8's was the favorite card game of the soldiers on the psych ward. I began my writing and performing career as a teenager in the '60s and recorded a record that I believed would make me a teenage idol. Not a hit and I became teenage idle. I failed out of two colleges. But it was also at this time I saw Martin Luther King, Jr. speak from the steps of the Alabama capitol in 1965 two weeks following the "Bloody Sunday" at the Pettus Bridge in Selma. Not in person but on TV. And it was Martin Luther King, Jr. who gave me a purpose in life. Too late at the time, and I got drafted for the Vietnam War. I signed up, became a medic and a psychiatric specialist. Following my three years of service, I returned to college, and with my VA benefits graduated, and went on for a Masters Degree at Howard University majoring in (What we students called) Black Studies. I received my first "white collar" job as Education Director for the West Virginia Human Commission. My next stop was with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. I was assigned on loan to The King Center in Atlanta GA. to help plan for the 1986 First National Holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. It was at the Center that I got to know Coretta Scott King, and Mrs. King got to know me. Surprisingly, she selected me, Jim Karantonis, born and raised in West Virginia, a White, Greek "Hillbilly" to direct the Washington Office for the first King Holiday. Only in America. (Stories to be shared later.) I went out on my own with Human Relations and Communications providing seminars on racial, ethnic and gender issues for public and private employers. In addition, I created the Freedom Trail Project to help teach the principles an steps of nonviolence of Dr. King. Ten years ago I undertook the final phase of my career . . . to write and tell the stories of the soldiers on the psych wards that I have never forgotten. I wrote a screenplay: Crazy 8's and was fortunate to have an agent. The late Lew, "of what's left of Hollywood" Weitzman. After a number of passes on the screenplay, Lew told me to write the stories. So I have. I have never, nor would I ever use the real names of the soldiers. And here is another truth . . . I—do—not—remember—the—soldiersʼ—names. But I remember them. I trust reading these stories will give you a different perspective of their experiences on the psych wards, soldiers still. Thank you for your interest in the stories I have to share.