Had I known You Were a Jew

by Bob Miller

It was a dark and stormy night in Las Vegas. When I walked out of the casino, my partner said as he got into his car, "Do your best not to kill anyone tonight, Miller." I didn't bother to answer him because that would have been a commitment. Our vocation required that we carry a concealed weapon, and I almost never went anywhere without it.

Somewhere near the intersection of Sahara and Las Vegas Blvd., I saw two men trying to beat up some old guy. I say trying because the old man was holding his own. I decided to just watch since he was raising some knots on the heads of these two guys. However, the odds and youth began to take their toll, so I made my presence known thinking the two thugs would not like the odds and leave. That was not to be the case. One of them pulled out a weapon and headed towards me. Big mistake on his part. My weapon was larger and far more deadly than his.

To make a long story short, the two would-be robbers left the area in need of serious medical attention. As I was taking the old man to the hospital to get some stitches, I said, "You're quite a fighter, old man."

He replied, "When you're a Jew, you'd better know how to fight or they'll kill you."

This really took me back. I was born and raised in the backwoods of Alabama and there were no Jews in that area, at least none that I knew of. Everything I had been told about the Jewish people wasn't good. So I said to the old man, "Hell, had I known you were a Jew, I wouldn't have stopped to help."

With big crocodile tears running down his cheek, he asked, "Why?" I didn't know why and told him so. We were close friends until his death.

About the Author

Bob Miller born in Florence AL, served as a pilot in Vietnam in 1968-69. He was shot down twice and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. He ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1992. He produced the television show, The Late Show (BLAB 2001), and worked as the golf pro on Holland America's ms Westerdam. Miller is considered one of America's most controversial writers.