Reconciliation Road: A Family Odyssey

13. Passing through Eden

13 PasSing through Eden ' HE HISTORIC CHARLESTON STREETS are piled high with rubble, huge mounds of debris, mammoth tree trunks, large branches, pieces of roofing, decorative plants torn from formal gardens, remnants of wood shutters that once graced the windows of mansions . And the streets echo with the cacophony of construction: chain saws, circular saws, hammers, drills, radios blaring country music , the shouts of well-muscled men. A month after Hurricane Hugo, the city is clawing its way back. The worst destruction is outside of town, particularly on the islands that line the coast, but the city's damage is awful enough, with more than a third of its trees damaged or destroyed, perhaps 80 percent of the houses suffering roof damage of some sort. But amidst the storm's disarray and disappointment, the stalwart grace of this place still endures, a grande dame who has managed to survive fire and flood, hurricane and earthquake, and even civil war. On my way out of Charleston, I stop at an old plantation, where once-fertile fields are now reaping a bumper crop of suburban homes and cui de sacs. The stately house still holds its ground, but just barely, especially after the hurricane. Hugo has hit this development with particular fury, leaving few tall trees still standing. Workers are busy installing new roofs on the plantation house and its adjoining carriage house, while out by the curb stands a pile of dead vegetation eight feet high. It is here that I encounter the harried owner, Col. Walter B. Clark. 141 142 RECONCILIATION ROAD Pipe in hand, steady as he goes, Clark strides around this rush of activity, confronting the inevitable crises, barking instructions to the men on the roof with a brisk efficiency born of his twenty,seven years as an Infantry officer. General Harper had recommended that I visit Clark, who had once served as his aide, and it is readily appar, ent that I am now face,to,face with a full,blooded, unrepentant S. L. A. Marshall admirer. Clark had once spent four days ferrying Marshall about at Fort Benning, and he is not about to forget this brush with greatness. He has no use for Marshall's critics. "Listen, I don't get excited about when Slam Marshall was commissioned," Clark says. "I met the man. I retain the impression that he was a damn good man, a great man. His Men Against Fire is an Army bible. And I never met a Marshall detractor. I knew scores of people Marshall wrote about and I never heard a disparaging word about him. I was General Harper's aide at the Infantry School, I worked in the office of the Army chief of staff, I was a senior aide to the commander,in,chief in Korea. I was more exposed to the senior leadership of the Army than most officers. Slam Marshall was every' body's friend! He was admired!" Clark still proudly refers to himself as "a muddy boots soldier," this square,jawed, rough,hewn man who was wounded seven times during hand,to,hand combat as a rifle platoon leader in Korea and was awarded the Silver Star. His career ended up at the same place it had begun, at The Citadel, the South's own West Point, where as commandant of cadets he was still urging students to read Marshall's books just as he had done himself. Retired for twelve years, the fifty, nine,year,old Clark comes across like a bulldog unleashed. "It pisses me off that anybody would throw a rock at S. L. A. Marshall," Clark spits out. "It's like attacking an icon, goddamnit! When I consider the attitudes of those involved in this, people like Hackworth, it becomes bullshit. Slam Marshall was an honorable man who had such an impact on the Army. I get pissed! I get angry! I'll defend Slam Marshall until the day I die!" I listen to all of Clark's exclamations in support of Marshall and I keep thinking how many more men like this there probably are out there, men I will never get to meet, men of many ranks who were moved by Marshall's work and came to consider him a trusted friend, PASSING THROUGH EDEN 143 especially when it came time for combat. His lessons, they knew, saved lives. Clark is the counterpoint to Albert Garland of Infantry magazine , the answer to why it was that so many in...