Ron and Yellow car

This is the story of how Ron received a yellow car with a record player. I was 17 when Ron Bell received this dynamite car. Living in Detroit, my dad insisted upon domestic, mainly Chevy. So my junior year [1967], I purchased a car, slapped a record player into it and added such 'toys de jour' such as an echo chamber and things which easily allowed me to flip from sound to sound. I thought I was brilliantly cool. In those days, the unit was inverted with gyros to balance its stability...this allowed one to pop a 45 in and out at will without skipping. View this video: this is the real thing...not some kids acting cool and "....hope I die before I get old...." attitudes [The Who]. You might enjoy it and remember when life seemed easier, except in the jungles of South East Asia. We all saw constant 'body counts' on T.V., and I think that, in large part, drove the 1960s into a society changing mindset. It numbed us and the last thing we, as H.S. kids cared about was some drafted kid living the live in 'Nam's jungle on constant search and destroy missions....I didn't...that was our parents role, not the silly youth. Looking back, not much has changed to this day....political debates are out of the 20th Century, and politics seem to remain classically cyclical in nature. Your perspective will be appreciated. jfs

THIS WAS MY WAR

During my sophomore year at Pepperdine University, I wandered over to the Marine Corp platoon leadership program. I wanted to make my dad proud of me, since my sister graduated suma cum lauda. I felt I was the step child and dad wanted me to "serve my country". I signed up for the Corps PLC and was sworn in immediately in San Diego. Raising my right hand, I took the oath to serve the United States Constitution.

Since I was a pre med major, I knew the Corp had no medical school, although Marines are Navy and Navy has a medical program. I was informed every summer I would have to travel to Paris Island and get a Corp Jar Head appearance. So I informed the Corp that I was dropping out of the PLC program. This program guaranteed that I would graduate as a second Lt. and with combat experience I would return home as a Captain or Major.

I was immediately ordered to Pendleton to appear before a tribunal. A normal tribunal consist of Majors and light Colonels, but this time there were Naval Captains and two Admirals. They informed me that they could send MP's to Malibu and collect my belongings and start me off as a buck Private. I was scared. For some unknown reason they gave me a pass. I returned back to school and back to classes.

To this day, I sometimes actually regret never having served.

Babies & Fools

A "baby" at 17, this young bright black man turned down both a track and basketball university scholarship. His decision was to be a Marine. This is part of his story.

Columbus, Ohio 1964

We were good boys growing up in a section of Columbus called “the bottoms”. My twin brother Donald and I were two of few black kids in a poor white neighborhood. I thought they accepted us but later found out they were calling us niggers. We ate sugar butter sandwiches. We didn’t know we were poor.

Kenny and Curtis were our best friends. From age 7 we were together every day. As our high school graduation approached and Donald announced he was joining the Marine Corps, Kenny and I did not hesitate. Curtis did hesitate. He had a scholarship and was going to college. I had a scholarship too, for basketball and track, but my mind was made up. The recruiter told me I could play basketball during training. I was going to be a Marine.

In June of 1964 there was no war in Vietnam or anywhere else. I said goodbye to my family and my girlfriend Virginia and was going out to see the world. First stop-United States Marine Corps Depot- San Diego. My first ever airplane ride, I slept all the way.

It wasn’t until they shaved our heads that I realized what we signed up for. Boot camp was going to be hard. Donald wrote a letter to Mama saying how hard it was and she called the drill sergeant. We caught hell for it, had to scrub the bathroom floor with a toothbrush and do hundreds of push-ups. When boot camp was over we received our orders. Donald was going to Washington to be a bookkeeper. Kenny would be a cook at 29 Palms, an air base in the California desert. I was assigned to advanced training at Camp Pendleton north of San Diego.

August 1965 President Johnson was announcing an escalation of troops in Vietnam. Part of the First Marine Division, I shipped out to Vietnam. Chu Lai means July in English, the beach was named by American General Walt when his troops landed there. We had to advance off the ship onto the beach. In what felt like one motion I slipped, fell and was scooped up by another Marine coming off behind me. Soaking wet in full combat gear I got right to work operating the forklift, unloading the ships.

Various military duties were assigned to me but I volunteered for Combined Action Program. Marines teaming with American civilians and the South Vietnamese Army to supposedly win the hearts minds of the people. They turned out to be search and destroy missions. We encountered people in towns and villages and rounded them up. Men were blindfolded and interrogated by the civilians and the Viet Army. Women and children were yelling and screaming nonstop around me. Our job was to control them and guard them. Those were traumatic situations for me. My orders were to move the people to make room for the base camp. If they didn’t want to leave we would shoot up the place and they all died.

Babies & Fools Promo

Joe's Bones

My friend Joe M fought in Quang Tri in 1968, while digging a foxhole, found two carved animal bones. These bones date back several hundreds of years. Joe M was also awarded the Purple Hart and Silver Star.

CORPORATE EXEC TO FILM MAKER!!?

I was very happy traveling globally as the Airline's mega-frequent flyer...averaging about 150K-200K per year and a life-time 800,000 miles on my favorite airline, UAL. That all stopped when my then-company NASDAQ stock dropped from $ 140/shr to $ 0.08/shr. Angry at the laying off of my entire organization and my peers leaving, I decided to forever leave the necessary but volatile world of hi-and emerging technology.

My partner, Kimberly Switzgable, convinced me to become her executive producer for the non-profit film company she founded, Capriole Productions Inc, an IRS 501(c)[3] company. That I have been doing for the past 7 seven years.

I am now the executive producer of Tall Grass Production, Inc., another non-profit firm in NYC. Capriole Productions Inc. and Tall Grass Productions, Inc. is now officially joint-ventured.

For those just starting, plan to dig in, work hard, stay away from 1-2 day quick-kick seminars and align yourself with those who have decades, Peabody Awards and Emmy Awards. Never take the short way out...it's like attempting to wine the Power Ball Lottery, with a return of 1:170 million +- 10% accuracy rate.