I hate Valentine’s Day. Not because I’m single (I like being single!), but because it’s gotten so cheesy and commercialized, and all the valentines are just insipid and repulsive. 🤢 (And it’s much too pink. Sorry, but I don’t like pink.) (And it makes me depressed, especially this year.)

So instead, I celebrate my fictional valentine. 🥰

In my little corner of the world, the V in V-Day stands for Vic – Vic Morrow, specifically. He was born on February 14th, 1929, in the Bronx. I’ve only seen him in one role (though I want to watch Blackboard Jungle, where he plays delinquent Artie West), but this role is my favorite character of all time. Allow me to fangirl yet again over the amazing, the one and only . . .

. . . Sergeant Chip Saunders.

Yes, I’ve squealed over him before. Yes, I’ve posted pictures of his bushy-haired, scowly-eyebrowed, dead-aim awesomeness. No, I will never stop.

And because he’s a lonely sergeant fighting a lonely war over there in France somewhere, he needs a Valentine’s letter from a girl back home. 💕

Dear Saunders,

It’s hard for me to put into words what I feel about you. Where am I supposed to start? There’s so much about you that I admire.

You’re an amazing leader who knows how to work with all kinds of people, even the obnoxious ones whom you wish you could beat to a pulp. You push everyone – including yourself – to be the best they can, realizing that another person’s best won’t always look the same as yours. You know when to be tough, when to be kind, when somebody just needs left alone.

You’re compassionate and merciful. War doesn’t always leave room for mercy, but you do the best you can. You’re never prying, and you don’t have time for sob stories, but you’re ready to listen if somebody truly needs to get something off their chest. You’re so good at analyzing people and giving them the words they need to hear in their situation – whether they take your advice or not.

You care about people. That’s a dangerous quality for a soldier, especially a leader, so you try to keep it down. But under the surface, it’s obvious that you care. I’ve seen your eyes get a bit more hollow every time a fresh replacement gets killed, the desperation when one of your men is hovering near death. I’ve seen you risk everything to save the life of a stranger. I’ve seen you taking care of the enemy, troublesome French civilians, and obnoxious reporters. I’ve seen your deep exhaustion when you rub your calloused hands over your war-lined face.

You have the qualities every leader should aspire to. If there’s danger, you’ll be leading the charge, the first one to make a move on the machine-gun nest. You’ve stood toe-to-toe with incredible hazards and unreasonable officers alike, and never flinched from your purpose. If one of your men was hurt, you’d carry him back despite all his protests; yet you’d be the one to insist on the squad leaving you behind if your roles were reversed.

You can be grouchy, impatient, and at times unreasonable. But you’re under an immense amount of stress – and, after all, you’re human. The menacing bark in your voice when you yell “Shut up, Kirby!”; the hoodlum-like rebellion in your eyes when you glare at your captors; the irritable shake of your head when a persistent replacement won’t stop pestering you; they’re all part of what makes you the person you are.

Saunders, you inspire me. I love you for your tenacity, your fierce loyalty, your understanding and compassion, your unwavering sense of right and wrong. I wish I had half your strength and determination.

Sometimes I hear your voice in my head, telling me the things I need to hear but don’t want to, while your deep blue eyes convey more than words ever could. Sometimes the thought of your soothing Bronx accent calms me down when a random flashback takes me back to the car accident, when my stomach spins and turns to ice. Sometimes little bits of you sneak their way into my characters and even myself. Thanks to you, my characters have become better, stronger, more determined people.

You’ve become an inseparable part of my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

~your valentine

(I love his smile. It makes me so happy 🥰)

Yeah, yeah, I’m a weird li’l fangirl and all that. Do I care? Nope. Will I apologize? Absolutely not. 😛 (Besides, I need SOMETHING to keep me sane on a day that depresses me.)

So chuck those mushy cards outta sight, stuff your face with some overpriced low-grade chocolate (actually, don’t; it makes my teeth hurt), and go watch a good ol’ Combat! episode! (MUCH better than some stupid romcom.) “High Named Today” (Season 1), “The Bridge at Chalons” and “Bridgehead” (both Season 2) are some of our favorites of what we’ve watched so far. 😁

Meanwhile I’ll wear my custom-printed Saunders tshirt (done! ✅), cuddle with my four-legged valentines (done! ✅), and watch my own C! episode. 😁