This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise

This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise
In the Army truck in the Georgia rain he couldn't forget his brother who was missing
Status
Original Publication DateOctober 1, 1945
Salinger.org Rating
In the Army truck in the Georgia rain he couldn't forget his brother who was missing

Vincent Caulfield narrates this story which is like a stateside version of A Boy in France. He’s upset about the news that his brother, Holden, is missing in action.

This is part of a series of World War II stories focused on the Gladwaller and Caulfield families. It fits chronologically before Last Day of the Last Furlough and before A Boy in France and The Stranger.

Missing, missing, missing. Lies! I’m being lied to. He’s never been missing before. He’s one of the least missing boys in the world. He’s here in this truck; he’s home in New York; he’s at Pentey Preparatory School (“You send us the Boy. We’ll mold the man– All modern fireproof buildings…”); yes, he’s at Pentey, he never left school; and he’s at Cape Cod, sitting on the porch, biting his fingernails; and he’s playing doubles with me, yelling at me to stay back at the baseline when he’s at the net.

Trivia

  • Although “the kid from Valentine Avenue” insists he’s from Manhattan near the Bronx, Valentine Avenue is most certainly well into the Bronx
  • Vincent claims here that Holden is missing in action in the Pacific and would turn 20 in December 1943. However, the Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye, was 16 in 1949, so would have been too young to have fought in World War II.

Sources