“REMEMBERING CHARLES DUNNING,” BY JOSEPH SCIUTO

It was back in 1982. I had just moved from New York to lovely Westwood Village in Los Angeles. Walking out of my building, if I took a left I was within a half of a block of the village. If I took a right, I was walking through the residential area of Westwood and looking at the beautiful homes. One would consider the Westwood area at that time to be upper middle class.

Like was my habit back in New York, I continued to take early morning walks and I usually walked from my Lindbrook Drive apartment straight into the residential section and down about two miles to Santa Monica Blvd. I would then turn around and walk back home.

On the day of my first walk, I looked across the street and saw a person who looked very familiar to me. It was the actor Charles Dunning who by then had already been in numerous movies, such as “The Sting,” “True Confessions,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” and “Tootsie.”

He was walking slowly and even from a distance I could see the constricted and focused concentration on his face and in his eyes. I simply figured he was going over lines for some movie he was currently starring in. I thought to myself that my really good friend, Tony, who got me the apartment was right when he said, “You could be walking down any street in Los Angeles and see a movie star.”

I continued my walks every morning, and every morning at just about 7am I ran across Charles Dunning, always walking alone, with that same look on his face and in his eyes. This went on for about three months and then I didn’t see him for about six months, and then the original cycle started up again and I saw him every morning for an extremely long time, walking alone, with that same look on his face and in his eyes.

Never once did I even consider saying, “Hello,” which as anyone who knows me is quite unusual because I will talk to almost anymore. I was scared that if I even slightly disturbed him he might have a heart attack or something equally as bad.

A couple of years later when my friend Tony and I moved from Westwood to West Hollywood I never saw Mr. Dunning again, except in his movies and on TV shows.

After spending many years working at the infamous West Hollywood Palm restaurant I became quite familiar with that constricted and focused concentration on customers’ faces and in their eyes. The look wasn’t always present, except when we sat directly across from each other, when the restaurant was just about empty, and they confided in me about their experiences during World War 2, Korea, and the Vietnam war. They were mostly former soldiers, a few war correspondents, and two were survivors of the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

The battlefield stories they told were horrifying, brutal, and inhumane as were the treatment of the two survivors of Auschwitz. It was as though they were transported back in time and reliving every horrible minute of their experiences. Their faces constricted and their eyes laser focused as though they were looking at a movie…a movie about their experiences…a movie that one never forgets.

It wasn’t until recently when I came upon a video about Charles Dunning that I was able to put two and two together. The man who I probably walked passed over a hundred times with that same look and expression, always walking alone, slowly, as though retracing every second of horrible experiences.

He was a decorated veteran of World War 2 and in this small video clip one could see the connection I was finally able to make some forty years later: Click link and then directly below it a small box will show up with another link: http://www.thisDate.com. Click that link.

www.ThisDate.com | Charles Durning was one of the most reliable character actors of the 20th century. He was also one of the most distinguished heroes of… | Instagraminstagram.com/reel/C_Ag

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It is worth repeating, “I saw things that nobody should have to see. I will take the memory of those boys who didn’t make it to my grave.”

Charles Dunning is a reminder of the sacrifices so many young men and women made in order to preserve the freedom we Americans enjoy. They fought against fascism, dictatorships, and authoritarianism. Apparently, those lessons were not learned when over 75 million Americans went to the polls and voted for a five time draft dodger. Sadly, now all Americans are suffering the consequences.

Sometimes look into the faces and the eyes of individuals who might seem lost, but are actually reliving experiences that nobody should have to see.