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Wally Hedrick (page 2)
Family
I was born in Pasadena. My parents were a funny
duo. My father was Pennsylvania Dutch; he was a liberal. My mother
was a Southern belle, a Bible-thumping Baptist from Texas. My
father didn't really trust Southerners. I don't know how they
ever hooked up. Every morning at breakfast, we would re-fight
the Civil War.
They came to Southern California, because they
had this idea that California was this free and open place --
Hollywood and all of that.
Childhood
One of my earliest memories of Southern California
was of the Meglin Kiddies. It was a school that tried to turn
children into little Shirley Temples. You'd learn to tap dance
and speak. They would teach you how to look at the camera and
how not to look at the camera. It was awful.
School I went to Pasadena Junior College. I got
in with a bunch of strange-o people who were into folk music.
This was the '40s. Woody Guthrie was touring the country. Henry
Wallace was running for president. But the school was basically
run by two groups: the jocks and the girls who wanted to be Rose
Queen. The art department was devoted to designing Rose Parade
floats. To show you what a phony I am, one of my designs won and
they actually built it.
My group of friends was called the Progressive
Art Workers. It was made up of people who were interested in the
arts. I was investigated by the FBI because of the Progressive
Art Workers.
I remember the day that Wallace's vice presidential
candidate came and spoke at the school. The jocks beat him up!
The frat people applauded. We were horrified.
The Korean War
Me and my buddies, we thought we were real intellectuals,
so we decided to beat the draft by joining the National Guard.
We figured that all we had to do was show up and give them our
name. They'd pay us too. But when the Korean War started up, the
first ones they called was the 40th Infantry Division from Southern
California. I ignored the notices they sent me, and finally the
MPs came and took me away in a jeep. My parents just flipped out.
They had a nervous breakdown.
I ended up going over there and things were bad.
We replaced the 24th Infantry Division that had just been shot
to pieces by the Chinese. They gave us guns and told us to go
into these bunkers. I don't want to talk about it.
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