Wow, He was always a tough vet wasn’t he. I actually visited his grave site a long time ago in the 1990s up in Seneca county New York. Just a modest plaque in the ground mentioning his service. The guy was one of the rare ones who could actually be tagged as a bonafide genius as far as I’m concerned
I firmly agree. The man was a genius.
The link below tells about RS an Army active duty in WWII.
Serling served in the 11th. Airborne Division in the Pacific during WW2. His unit was involved in the fighting in and around Manila. He related a story of how him and his buddy were with their unit awaiting an airborne re-supply drop after a vicious firefight.
He and his friend were in a clearing as the drop came in and
his friend was standing a few feet from Serling when a heavy package on which the chute didn’t open struck and killed his friend. Serling said that affected very profoundly for the rest of his life ans he often employed this kind of dichotomy in his writing.
Like the story where Burgess Meridith plays the little book worm who loves to read.
One day, as a teller in the bank where he works he’s asked to retrieve something from the basement and a nuke goes off. He’s the ‘’last man’’ on Earth and as he’s ready to read a stack of books he drops his glasses and now he can’t read the print.
“There was so much time!’’ he yells in frustration.