Half the German I Know

I learned on Hogan's Heroes.

Sure, Arthur C. Clarke's death yesterday, especially on the anniversary of Dad's passing, made a mark on me. He was a great sci-fi writer and even an impressive scientist in his own right.

Ivan Dixon, who passed away today, probably had a larger social impact on me as a young man. Before I became a serious student of WWII, SSG Kinchloe was an integral part of a behind-the-lines cadre who fooled the Germans, helped POWs escape, and sabotaged the Nazi war machine. It wasn't until much later that I discovered that blacks weren't integrated into the combat units, and were only relegated to support roles like the Red Ball Express -- hey, I watched every episode! Okay, these were all comedy venues, but they succeeded in accustoming me to a world a tad different to the racial strife I'd experienced in Bossier City, Louisiana. So, Hollywood didn't totally suck, at least in the late 70s, right?

"Suck" being a relative term, of course.