The brilliant morning sun beamed into my bedroom, and I vaulted out of bed not wanting to waste a minute of this bright sunny morning in Nebraska. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I rummaged through my closet for something to wear. Finding what I needed, I pulled up my pants, tucked in my shirt, and tore into the kitchen for my breakfast. Thinking about all the war news I’d been hearing on the radio and seeing in the papers, I wondered if any sense could be made of the cruel treatment shown by Hitler. I quickly devoured my cereal and a piece of cinnamon toast and launched out the door, heading for Donny’s house.
My goal this morning is to gather all of my friends to talk about the war. I stopped at Donny’s house, and he came to the door displaying his normal timid nature, looking like he was going to be blamed for something. “Is something the matter Bud?” I said smiling, “No Donny, nothings the matter, we just need to spend some time in the park.”
Donny Hawke, a tow head with bright blue eyes, seemed to always display his shy timid smile that exhibited fear of the unknown. Donny and I meandered along the back alleys, kicking cans and scuffing our shoes as we scampered along to gather their additional three buddies. Our next stop was to pick up Stanley. We spotted Stanley in his front yard and ran on toward him, both of us giving him bear hugs.
Stanley Sylvester, thin as a scarecrow had large round glasses and wispy-thin blond hair. Stanley said with a very soft voice, “I hoped we could get together this morning.” I said, “You bet Stan; let’s pick up the other guys and go to the park.” Stanley said, “What’s up in the park?” “I want us to talk about what’s happening in Europe?” Now the three of them continued their quest to gather the remaining two of the “Five Friends Forever”. Earlier in the year this group of five boys adopted that name to illustrate their friendship by standing by each other in any and all things, no matter what.
Donny, Stanley and I, quickly crossed the highway and railroad tracks, went on south for a block; we ducked into an alley with a heavy growth of trees – spread out tightly above them making it appear as a tunnel. Halfway into the alley they met their two friends coming toward them. Wally and Duncan scrambled in their direction with big grins on their faces.
Wally Buchanan, with his face full of freckles always seemed to have a mischievous grin. Wally said, “Hey guys, what’s up?” Duncan McGregor, the tallest of Bud’s friends always seemed to be more serious than the rest of the boys. Duncan lived relatively close to Wally and had become friends with Donny, Stanley, and I starting in the 1st grade. Duncan said, “Hi guys, let’s hurry on over to the park.” They went back across the tracks and highway and passed through the vacant lot on the corner next to their school mate, Marilyn Kirk’s house, scampering across the street to the park. The park was their favorite place to play – summer or winter – and they could build all kinds of adventures there. They picked a grassy area in the middle of the park and stretched out their young bodies in all directions on the nice soft grass.
I waited for a bit as they all settled down and said, “Do you guys think about the war in Europe?” Wally was quick to add, “Jeepers, I do Bud. Dad is really worried about the war.” “Well”, I said, “My dad is making a scrapbook, all about the war.” Wally said with a sparkle in his eye. “Hey, that’s going to be super.” “Dad’s scrapbook started in April 1940. It shows pictures about the Nazi armies invading and occupying countries in Europe.” The boys were now scowling thoughtfully. They thought about the German army, and Donny’s eyes seemed to get wider and wider as I talked about the Nazis and said, “Have you heard about the British Commandos? They are a very brave force of guys protecting Great Britain. They make daring raids against the Nazi forces.
We could pretend that we are like them, and form our own Gibbon Commandos. We could build our own secret headquarters. Anyway, we need a safe place to hide in case strangers or spies try to capture us.” About then Duncan said, “C’mon Bud, how can young guys like us build a headquarters? We don’t have any money.” I flushed, knowing Duncan would need more information to convince him. “If we dig a trench in the vacant lot across the street from the park, all we would need is shovels for diggin’. After we get the trench dug deep enough for us to walk in we can put some old boards on top and put dirt on them.”
Donny cautiously responded, “I like the idea of a trench, Bud. It would give us a place to hide, and we can dig a room off to the side for meetings.” “That’s a Great idea, Donny! We can make it just big enough for us guys and also cover it with boards. Don’t forget about theStranger that tried to grab me in the park last summer. I could have hidden there until he left the park. The row of trees at the end of the lot by Park Street could hide the entrance to the headquarters.” The boys thought about the Stranger and their fear of him convinced them of the need for building a good hiding place.
Donny jumped up real excited and said, “Bud, I know that Dad has a couple of sledgehammers we can use, and I helped him lay out footings for a garage once.” Wally said, “My dad has some stakes we can use.” Duncan added, “My dad has a long tape measure that we can use to measure our trench and room. I do think we need to be somewhat close.” “That’s great!” I said, “What neat ideas! Our own headquarters will be great. Let’s meet at the vacant lot after lunch.”
The boys all went home for lunch with promises to return, as soon as possible, with everything needed for the project. When they returned Donny said, “Wally, you can help me with a sledgehammer, and a handful of stakes.” Duncan and I went down the vacant lot in a straight line, measuring and marking where the stakes should go. Donny and Wally were planting the stakes on both sides of the proposed headquarters. When we got to the middle, we measured out a large room on one side and marked the stakes for Donny and Wally to place them accordingly. Finally, we all reached what would be the planned end, and pounded the final two stakes in place. I looked over the layout of the headquarters and said, “This looks great, Donny, now we can start the big dig.”
Four of the boys had brought shovels for digging the headquarters and prepared to start. Stanley said, “Guys, is there something else I can do, I’m not too strong for the digging part?” “You bet, Stan, you can haul boards in your wagon to cover our headquarters.” With a big smile and wild hand gestures, Stanley said, “Fantastic! I can do that. Where are we going to get the boards?” I replied, “I’ll ask Dad if we can use some that we have in our backyard and maybe our neighbor, George Pitke, will let us have some of his old scrap boards. I’ll ask both of them tonight.”
The boys worked diligently on their project. They utilized their time away from their chores at home, and within a couple of weeks they could finally see some progress. The underground headquarters ended up about fifteen feet long and around five feet deep with a room going off to the side close to six feet square. Stanley faithfully carried the boards in his wagon from the beginning of the project till the end of the digging and had built a tall pile of boards to cover the trench and the room. Finally, the digging was finished; the boards placed on the underground headquarters, and the dirt from their digging used to cover all of the boards. I gathered his group of friends together and holding hands they formed a circle. “We did it! The ‘Five Friends Forever’, have built the ‘Gibbon Commando Headquarters’.” The boys all cheered with several hip-hip-hoorays, throwing their caps in the air and jumping around their new hang-out.
Later in the week, I called the first group meeting to order. “This is our very first meeting of the Gibbon Commandos. Got any suggestions?” Wally was first and quickly said, “For sure, no girls allowed!” Everyone laughed and agreed, “No girls allowed!” I was reading from a British Commandos book he had received as a gift. “The British Commandos made a loyalty pledge, and I feel that we should make our own pledge for the Gibbon Commandos.” Wally said, “Okay Bud, but how should we word it?” I read them the history behind the British Commandos and how they made a pledge that bound them together forever. “A pledge should show how we feel – maybe something like this: ‘I (Bud Phelps) pledge my loyalty to the Gibbon Commandos and the United States of America forever.’. How does that sound?” All of the boys agreed with the wording, and each pledged his loyalty to the Gibbon Commandos, and the United States of America.
After everyone made the pledge, I suggested, “Let’s go over to the park and see if you can see our headquarters.” The boys headed for the park for a look-see. Duncan said, “With the row of trees in front, our headquarters is completely camouflaged. You can’t even see a hint of the entrance to the headquarters.” The pride of accomplishment was evident on their young faces as their smiles beamed at each other.
I wondered quietly to myself, ‘Will this Gibbon Commando Headquarters really protect us from the stranger that approached me in the park?’
