This is not the story of heroes performing impossible feats. It is merely the story of four friends whose childhood ended together. My name is Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third, but I always preferred my nickname, Jughead. I was born on April 15th 1933 in the town of Riverdale, a suburb in New York City. As far back as I could remember I had three particular friends, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and ofcourse Archie Andrews. I know my childhood was not ideal, between the depression, America's entry into the war, but looking back does seem pleasant in hindsight. Time has a funny way of playing tricks on the mind like that. We had simple pleasures of stickball, of pretending to be superheroes. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on the porch with my father and grandfather, watching the fireflies in a summer evening. Our town was as patriotic as any at the time, we held paper drives, loyalty parades, learned how to grow victory gardens at school. It seemed the least we could do, since so many of the older children and adults went off to serve, not all of them came home. Looking at it objectively, it was probably the first few years after the war when we were the most optimistic. It was the brief period, before the cold war began, when we were still trying to maintain a friendly relationship with the Soviet Union, when we were prosecuting the nazies together at Nuremberg. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and gave us hope that civil rights were on the rise. And ofcourse, Ghandi was leading his non-violent revolution in India, when we had the hope that was was finally over for good. I'm not sure if that was our genuine hope, or merely wishful thinking. Either way, you can understand why I look back on these days with nostalgia.
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Ofcourse this optimism didn't last forever, and at the time I didn't think I would look back on highschool with nostalgia. I had the same problems adjusting to highschool as most. Had to adapt to new and harder classes, while adjusting to hormones. Me, Archie, Veronica, Betty, none of us had ever thought of each other romantically. For better or worse, that changed around the time we all started highschool together. I found myself having romantic feelings for both Betty and Veronica, and they each found themselves with romantic feelings for me. This might sound like every male's fantasy, it wasn't. Each girl also found themselves with romantic feelings for Archie, and ofcourse he had feelings for both. Thus highschool became, complicated for all four of us. I wish we could say we were all civil to each other throught, we were not. But, by our senior year, me and Betty were going steady with each other, as were Archie and Veronica. By this point, we were all friends again. The truth is, we were all worried about what came after graduation. College seemed like the best choice, but by that point we were already at war in Korea. The possibility that me and/or Archie might be drafted was very real, and very frightening. One day, just after my 18th birthday, I came home from school. My little sister, who we all called "Jellybean" was in tears. My father was holding a letter, it was from the War Department. Before he even said it, I knew what the letter was about. I had been drafted.
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I read the letter myself, a part of me still hoped that it was a mistake, or that dad and Jellybean were playing some cruel joke on me, they weren't. I was to report to Fort Dix for basic training on July 9th, 17 days after I graduated from highschool. As I said, we were as patriotic as any town, that didn't mean we were insane. I still remembered some of thos who were in 8th grade when I was in kindergarden going off to war, and not coming back. Anyone who says they have no fear of going off to war is either lying or insane. I talked with Betty about this, and she provided some comfort. There was an urban legend at the time, that soldiers who were married and/or had children, were less likely to be sent to a combat unit. Looking back, I don't even remember whether I proposed to Betty, or she proposed to me. But, we agreed to get married before I went off to basic training.
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It felt weird, my last few weeks of highschool. In many ways we were still just kids, yet I was engaged to be married, and about to go off to fight in a war. I remember on June 11th, studying for my final exams on the 15th, preparing to take Betty to the prom. I wondered why I was worried about finals, I knew the army wouldn't turn me away if I flunked my final english test. Still, it wasn't a bad distraction. I took my final exams on Friday the 15th, found out later I got mostly Bs and one C. That night, the four of us attended the regional finals for the highschool baseball teams. I ate hot dogs with a lot of mustard that night, more than a little wound up on my shirt, I knew I wouldn't get to enjoy this delicacy much in Korea. Riverdale won this night, 3-2. The next night, I took Betty to the prom, as Archie took Veronica. It might seem strange, going to prom then I had to report to basic training in 23 days. But I assure you, it seemed neccessary to enjoy what I could, while I could. During this night of listening to music that would now be considered "oldies" the four of us made a promise. We decided to make the most of the two weeks after graduation and before I went to Fort Dix. We made plans to travel to Boston and Pittsburgh, to see the Dodgers play in other cities, and to visit the coastal city of Wildwood New Jersey and swin in the Atlantic Ocean.
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I had always loved the warm weather of summer. It always made me think of two things, baseball, and summer vacation. But now, it just made me worry about what came next. On June 21st, the day before graduation, I stayed up late on our porch, watching the fireflies with my father, thinking about my grandfather, how he didn't have to live to see his grandson go off to war. Then on June 22nd we graduated highschool. So many old friends saying goodbye, not knowing if they would ever see each other again. Many made sincere promises that they would keep in touch, but only some would follow through.
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The next day, Betty, Veronica, Archie and me set off on our road trip. We knew we didn't have much time, had to make the most of it. We ate at a number of local diners, none were as good as Pops but some were still good. Couldnt afford motels, so we all slept in the car, not comfortable but we managed. We saw the Dodgers beat the Pirates in ten innings, and we saw them lose to the Boston Braves. We still hoped the Dodgers could win the pennant, even the World Series, even if I wouldn't get to see that. While in Boston we also visited Fenway Park, took pictures of ourselves in front of it. We had some hope of running into Ted Williams, no suck luck. On our way back home we spent two days and one night in Wildwood. In addition to swimming in the ocean we also visited the boardwalk, and the shooting gallery. Betty proved herself a pretty good shot. Archie joked that maybe she should go off instead of me.
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We arrived back in Riverdale late on the evening of July 3rd. There was a fourth of July parade planned for the next day, my parents informed me that I was being offered the chance to march in it. As an eagle scout I had marched in these parades before, and there were others in town who had also been drafted, we were all allowed to march in this parade. I hadn't exactly prepared, and I wasn't sure how I felt about the war in general. I was willing to do my part, and get my service over with, but it seemed unusual to me. It wasn't so long ago that we were allied with Russia and China against Germany and Japan. Now, we were allies with Germany and Japan against Russia and China, I wasn't even sure what the war was about. I told the mayor I was too exhausted, had to conserve what remained of my strength for basic training. I politely declined his offer.
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My family saw the July 4th parade and had a cookout this day. In many ways it was a going away party, I had only five days before I had to report for basic training. Me and Betty spent the next few days preparing for our wedding. July 7th, with two days to go, I had my version of a bachelor party. Me, Betty, Veronica, and Archie drove into Brooklyn for one last Dodger's game. The Dodger's beat the Cubs 3-2. On our way back to Riverdale we stopped at a movie theatre, saw "Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein." By the time we got back home there wasn't much daylight left, but we stopped at Pop's for one last cheeseburger. Back then, it did seem unusual for a man and his fiancee to celebrate a bachelor party together, I'm not sure if it's considered unusual today. But ofcourse, for me, it was celebrating the end of my childhood, it made sense for me and my childhood friends to celebrate together. I walked home, less than one day before I was to be married, and less than two days before I'd be in the army. Although I was a bit tired, I stayed on the porch for another hour with my parents and little Jellybean, just watching the fireflies. I had no clue if there would be fireflies in New Jersey, much less in Korea, so I wanted this last moment.
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Sunday July 8th, I woke up alone in bed, and I looked forward to the fact that I'd be going to sleep next to Betty. Believe this or not, Betty and I had saved ourselves for our wedding night. I know that seems ususual today, but it was our ideal. Not everyone lived up to this ideal even then, but then I've often wondered if today's teenagers really are as promiscous as they seem to brag about. At any rate, for much of this morning I just tried to stay out of everyone's way, let those who cared about ceremony to do what needed to be done. I just put my wedding suit on and waited until the minister said it was time to come down. Then I stood there, waiting for Betty to come, with Archie by my side. Finally Betty came down in her wedding dress, and even now I was amazed at her beauty. I had been nervous I would forget my lines, but despite a little stutter, I got them right. And me and Betty officially became husband and wife.
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Our wedding reception was fairly simple, a small party with family and friends. We danced, ate our wedding cake, and posed for a few pictures. It wasn't as elaborate as today's wedding parties, we were rational enough to save most of our money for the future. And that night, Betty and I lost our virginity together. We fell asleep in each other's arms. I could see the flicker of fireflies through the bedroom shades. This helped me forget, briefly, where I had to go tomorrow.
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I woke up early the morning of July 9th, me and Betty made love again that morning. We knew it would be our last time for, probably over a year. My mother made me a final breakfast of eggs and toast. Then we went to the bus stop, me, Betty, my parents, Jellybean. Archie and Veronica joined us there, a few final moments together. My mother, being who she was, made me a lunch for the bus to Fort Dix. I was not the only young soldier who waited with their respective loved ones, the only one fighting back tears. But, as much as we wanted to delay this departure, soon enough we had to leave. I had my mother's lunch in my backpack and a few comic books, but I knew that my childhood was over, forever.
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Basic training was hard but I adapted. I was indeed sent to Korea, specifically a medical unit. I'd hoped that even the communists wouldn't hit an Aid station, but between the confusion of battle, or the possibility of a north korean artillary officer with very bad aim, I knew that the possibility of being killed was greater than zero. In April 1952 Betty gave birth to our first child, a girl, she named our daughter Veronica. I had asked for leave to see our child but was denied, said they couldn't spare anyone at the moment. I found out that Archie was also drafted and sent to Korea, but we never saw each other there. By this point he and Veronica had been married, and I didn't even get to attend their wedding. I completed my tour of duty and was sent home in December of 1952. I regretted that I had missed the first 8 months of my daughter's life, but somewhat grateful that she wouldn't remember a time when I wasn't there. Betty was understanding about my nightmares. Having seen so many amputations, hearing about phantom pain, I would wake up in the middle of the night. I desperately turned on the lights, had to make sure that my legs were still attatched to my body. I'm not sure I could have survived this period without Betty by my side. Archie was wounded in April of 1953 and recieved a medical discharge. He would have a limp for the rest of his life. Things between us were never the same. In some ways, we could relate to each other more than either could relate to their wives. In other ways, seeing each other just reminded us of the war, and brought back nightmares. But we also helped each other through the hard times, and our friendship eventually became stronger.
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The four of us remained friends through our entire lives, raising our children and grandchildren together. Betty and I had more than 50 years together, as did Archie and Veronica. The good times were made better with our friendship, the bad times were more bearable. But, as happens to all, death came for us. For better or worse I am the last survivor of our group. I know that death will eventually come for me, and I have faith that I will be reunited with all of them. And for now, I cannot help but looking back on those days with nostalgia. Perhaps it is merely the mind playing tricks, that makes me think only of the good parts and forget the bad ones. But I have no doubt that it was our friendship that makes me miss those days.