3/13/50...3/4/70
Remembering
Harmon J Bove Jr.
The Quintessential All American Boy
This
is a look back by Mrs. Tom's brother Peter. It was March 8th 1970 and the
sports page of the Burlington Free Press was filled with the usual stories
except for one. Big George Scott had led the Red Sox past the mid-west all
stars whoever the heck they were. Billy Kidd was getting an award for being
crazy on a pair of skis. Austin Carr broke the NCAA single game scoring record
with 61 points to lead Norte Dame over Ohio University.
However
the major headline on this day was a Tribute to Harmon J Bove my beautiful
cousin. Jules Brulater the sports writer for the Press wrote, "this is the
hardest column I have ever had to write". Harmon was 19 and gave his life
for his country in a war we still have trouble understanding. Harmon was like a
brother to everybody he meet. Brulator wrote that he gave warmth, knowledge,
advise and true friendship to all that came in contact with him.
Harmon
was arguably the best athlete in Vermont upon his graduation turning down a
full scholarship to Nebraska (the defending National champions) to play
football and signing with the Houston Astros right out of high school. Harmon
and I graduated high school in 1968 he in Burlington and I Rutland. It was 1968
and the war in Vietnam was still raging away and we were losing our children at
an awful rate of attrition. It is well documented that the war was not very
popular especially on college campuses. Where I was fortunate to find myself. Harmon
was all about duty, honor, country.
Harmon
was called up to the big league soon after arriving and putting on a Houston
uniform. In typical Harmon fashion he didn't want the guard to interrupt his
focus with the team so he joined the Marines. He marched bravely into the
darkness to fulfill his duty. I never saw him again, he didn't get to play on
that big stage that awaited him on a warm spring day.
I
don't think Harmon was afraid of anything with the exception maybe of our Aunt
Elmer. It was 1966 and Harmon came to live in Rutland for the summer where we
both worked for our Aunt Elmer at the 7UP bottling plant in Rutland. Harmon and
I became very close that summer. We both shared one real fear, the wrath of
Aunt Elmer. She was a women rooted firmly in a man's world in the late fifties
and early sixties. She ran a bottling plant with a iron fist. When she was
riled up she could expound with a profound rhetoric akin to any railroad
conductor.
It
was a hot summer Saturday and the plant was closed, except for the anticipation
of a truck load of sugar that was to arrive. Aunt Elmer left Harmon and I alone
to see to it that the sugar made its way up the small conveyor and to the
second floor of the plant. There were 100 bags to arrive and they weighed 100
pounds each.
While
waiting for the truck to arrive , we became board. So we started to use the
conveyor like a skate board something that had just been invented. Well sure
enough the conveyor stopped running and we were scared to death of what Elmer
would say when she returned to find the sugar on the main plant floor. So
Harmon and I carried 100 bags of 100 pounds of sugar to the second floor. I
will never forget it! There was still the dilemma of the conveyor and
confessing to its demise.
It
seemed this might be one of those times where discretion be the better part of
valor and a small white lie would be of no consequence, so we told her that
just at the end of the mission to hoist the bags to the second floor the
conveyor stopped working. She walked to the room under the stairs and flipped
the breaker and the bloody thing started right up!
They
named the football field after Harmon and numerous foundations shot up in his
name. In his compelling accounts of the Vietnam War. Gene R Dark dedicated his
book The Brutality of War to Harmon
Bove. The images are so vivid that they tear me apart thinking about my
beautiful cousin, who's courage and kindness serve as my reminder all these
years later. It was March 4th 1970 he was 10 days short of his twentieth
birthday on a foreign soil, Quang Nam Province in South Vietnam. It seems surreal
to me but I'm sure not to the men who stood beside him. In the many tributes I found about Harmon, One of the men that served next to him said "he just wouldn't stay in the rear"
Apple Time and Tonya
As
promised here is a little more complicated apple celebration, but worth every minute
of the preparation. The Mustard Fried Pork is a traditional southern dish done
on the plantations and always with venison, so feel free to substitute the
venison if you have it. My brother and his family serve it every Christmas Eve.
Mustard
Fried Pork Tenderloin on Apple Compote with
black pepper cider sauce
This
dish can all be prepared ahead of time.
Ingredients:
2
pork tenderloins
1
cup of brown veal stock ( ask your favorite restaurateur if he will sell you a
cup or get more and freeze the rest in an ice cube tray)
4 tablespoons of apple cider jelly
1
cup heavy cream
2
tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2
cup crushed black peppercorns
3
lbs fresh picked Vermont apples seeded, quartered and peeled
1/4
cup dry white wine
pinch
of fresh ground nutmeg1/2 cup all purpose flour
Jar
of French's yellow mustard
oil
for pan frying
Mustard
Fried Pork:
Cut
the pork into rounds 1 1/2 inch thick and lightly pound them. They are tender
so no need to pound thin like veal, just a few gentle thumps. Now coat the pork
with black peppercorns. Be generous with the pepper( not to worry trust Mrs.
Tom on this) Then dredge the pork in the generous gobs of mustard until the
meat is totally and evenly coated. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or even better
over night.
Fry
just before service. In a hot skillet or fry pan pour enough oil to coat the
bottom of the pan... heat the oil to fry temperature, test by popping some
flour in the oil to make sure it is ready to sizzle. Take the pork from the
mustard and dredge through the flour and
into the pan. Fry about 90 seconds on each side.
Apple
Compote:
In a
skillet melt a tablespoon of butter and sauté the apples until they have are soft. Add two tablespoons
of cider jelly and the white wine, stir until the jelly melts and let it simmer
slowly. Pour in the 1/2 cup of heavy cream, stir until the apples are well
coated. Season with S&P and nutmeg, reserve warm or at room temperature.
Black
Pepper Cider Sauce:
In a
small sauté pan combine the cup veal stock and 2 healthy tablespoons of cider
jelly. Over a medium high heat reduce until 2/3 of cup remain. Be careful the
sides of your pan don't burn because of the sugar in the jelly. Whisk in the
butter and a tablespoon of black peppercorns. If it gets too thick add a little
warm stock.
Presentation
place the compote in the center of the plate and lay the pork around the base
of the apple almost standing like an Indian t-pee, then drizzle your sauce
around the base of the mixture. I won't tell you to consider sautéing a little
warm red cabbage sautéed in bacon fat because the fat police will have my head
but the combination is epic!
