Basura: Keeping promises column prompted memory

Re: the editor’s recent column about not keeping promises and buying goods made in foreign lands.

This piece brought to mind times gone by.

In 1999, I had occasion to be on US Navy property in Pacific Beach, Wash. There was a little exchange there, and I purchased a gift for my brother-in-law, Andy. There was no reason, other than I knew he would like it.

It was a cap, Navy blue, with big gold letters reading “NAVY.” John McCain used to wear just such a cap. When we returned to Michigan, I gave it to Andy. He loved it, and began wearing it almost non-stop.

I suppose it was about a year later when we were up north, visiting Andy and Diane, when he announced he had a gift for me. It was a cap with a big US Marine Corps logo on the front. I have a large head, and not all one-size-fits-all hats work for me. But this one did.

As I examined the cap, I noticed, to my delight, the irony of the tag; “Dry Clean or Hand Wash Only, 100% Acrylic Made in Vietnam.” I began laughing, and handed it to Andy to inspect. He’d not looked at the tag, and was surprised to learn the cap’s origin.

Perhaps he thought I’d be offended, but it was clear that wasn’t the case. I was laughing with too much gusto for that to have been the case. It’s still a cap I wear at times, and I still smile at the memory.

Sometime later I ordered another cap for Andy that he could rotate with the NAVY cap. It was a custom made embroidered hat with a depiction of his Navy ship, a destroyer named DD-Orleck, with his name and his MOS embroidered on the side. He loved that one too.

On the day of his funeral, I was asked if there was anything of his that I would like to have as a keepsake. I chose the ORLECK cap, which today has a place of honor on the bookshelves over my desk.