Dad and the Mongoose

          Dad and the Mongoose

Suzanne Marsh

“What did you do during the war dad?” My dad could talk for hours about his time in the army,

Men he became friends with during that time. He was a Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Army, and he served proudly for a little over four years. Dad was drafted in 1941 just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served all over the world from Camp Hood in Texas to Hawaii. He was in Germany, Holland and France. There is one whopper of a story my dad used to tell at my urging; the story of Dad and the mongoose. I had no idea what a mongoose was nor understand the delight these creatures gave a lonely soldier stationed in Hawaii during World War II. Dad explained about the Mongooses being a dark brown, looking somewhat like a weasel, the only thing I knew about Mongooses was they fight Cobra snakes, not that I ever plan to meet one!

Dad was stationed on Oahu I supposed up in the mountains as an observer as well as a mechanic, whose job it was to repair jeeps, tanks, and anything mechanical. Dad used to say the nights were worse because of the humidity. Like most GIs during World War II Dad slept in a tent, he told me the story about Camp Hood the guy two tents down found himself in his sleeping bag with a rattlesnake. That was enough for me, where do I live? Texas, not far from Camp Hood, that became Fort Hood which has now been renamed Fort Cavazos. Dad had quite a time recognizing Camp Hood from when he was there during World War II, and the next time he saw it almost fifty years later, it grew. When it was Camp Hood they slept in tents, now there are barracks and homes. But I digress from the story about Dad and the mongoose.

Dad began the story of the Mongooses, a story that could always make me laugh, it does today as I write this story. Dad was in his tent and had just dozed off, when he heard a whoosh down the tent. Nothing scared my dad but the whoosh made him curious. What could be making that sound, dad figured it was simply the wind, not exactly. The following evening, there was that whoosh sound was back, dad waited to see if it happened again, it did twice in the same night. This went on for at least a week. Dad, in the meantime, was frustrated, sleep was out of the question. He simply had to find out what was making the sound. He had to wait several more nights, then he slipped open the tent, and there sliding down was a mongoose, its long brown body, stubby legs, and weasel-type face staring at Dad! He had interrupted their playtime. He figured to scare them off, get some sleep and all would be well with the world. Mongooses, love to play, so either the Mongooses left or Dad was going to have to find some other place for his tent, which was easier said than done.

Dad found a farmer not far from where his tent was and explained the problem. The farmer smiled as he explained dad could try to trap the mongoose or he could simply move his tent from under the tree. Dad thought about it, went back to his tent, and sacked out, he would worry about catching them later. Later came sooner than Dad expected, just past dusk the two little fiends began whooshing down the tent flap and having a marvelous time. Dad, how was not having a marvelous time at all, the mongoose would continue sliding down the tent flap until dawn. Dad began to plan a trap, he was sleepless in Hawaii. He returned to the farmer, and the farmer gave him instructions on building a trap for the mongooses, plural since they were a pair.

Dad was always inventive and the mongoose trap was underway in his mind. He drew a rough sketch of what it was going to look like. The farmer also instructed Dad that once he caught both mongooses, he could release them further away from his tent and all would be well. Since Dad was with a mechanized division making the trap was the easy part, catching the two mongooses was anything but. Mongooses by nature a curious, dad set his trap, a small piece of fish as the farmer had suggested. The trick was to get the mongoose inside the trap, and have the door closed behind it, trapping it.

Dad went to work devising his trap, he was determined no little animal was going to outsmart him. He apparently did not understand the mongooses. He had the trap ready in two days, and he built it in the shop. His captain asked him what he was building, and dad replied; that he was going to trap to mongooses that were keeping him awake at night sliding down the tent flaps. The captain just shook his head and carried on. My dad at times was a practical joker, I suppose his captain must have thought he was joking, in this case, Dad was not kidding. He went to bed that night just before dusk and waited, he had set his trap a short distance from where the mongooses slid down, thinking they would just enter the trap after they were finished sliding down. Dad was a Brooklyn, New York kid, you don’t see mongooses in Brooklyn of that I am certain. Dad waited patiently for the whoosh sounds, and sure enough, just after dusk, the mongooses came to play. They continued to slide down the flaps, turn around run back up the tree, and slide back down. Dad then realized he had put the trap in the wrong place. Dawn was just arriving as Dad dozed off, he was up again an hour later reporting for duty. He had thought while laying in his sleeping bag, that if he discharged his sidearm maybe the mongooses would run and not return. He tried that, he said he scared the mongooses when fired one round, and he never had any more mongoose problems! That is what my Dad did in the army while stationed in Hawaii during World War II.