Roscoe Alexander, one of the best Bridge players around here, will celebrate his 95th birthday on June 13. Born in 1913, on Friday the 13th, in Washington, DC, Roscoe shared some thoughts with me at a game recently.

"I stopped playing Bridge when I became a Life Master in 1972.", he said.

I retired to Florida in 1992 and met a neighbor, Jim Logan, in 2000, who re-taught me the game. My life really began at that point, and Jim has become my greatest friend who keeps me playing and alive.

That day, the Yankees were all in the Hotel, having a celebration dinner for having won the World Series that year. That team was arguably the best basball team of all time. Herb Pennock was so impressed with Roscoe, that he went into the ballroom and got autographs of all the players on the 1927 Yankees, and presented the autographed baseball to Roscoe later that day. What a gift for a young boy to receive!

Later in his life, the Army experience is memorable to him. He was in the Third Wave landing at Normandy on D-Day in 1944, but what he recalled for me is just as interesting. In 1942, Joe Louis, the Champion boxer, began a period of service in the Army and worked as a physical education teacher. Roscoe was bunk-mates with him. When they first met, Roscoe made Joe take the top bunk! Joe was a not-so-good poker player, and Roscoe recalls keeping Joe out of trouble by forcing him out of a game where he was losing big. Also in their outfit was Jackie Wilson, a fine boxer who won a Silver Medal in the 1936 Olympics, and was ranked #2 in the World at Lightweight by Ring Magazine in 1940, and #2 in 1941 at Welterweight. Wilson was also the first African-American boxer to fight a main event at Hollywood Legion Stadium, when he defeated Tony Chavez on April 26, 1940.

After the service, when he began to play Bridge, Dwight D. Eisenhower used to come visit the club where he played. Ike was one of the Presidents Roscoe most admires, but he remembers them from Coolidge to Bush. He didn't especially like Franklin Roosevelt, because FDR refused to sign a bill on his desk that would have prohibited race discrimination in the Army. Can't blame him. But he really liked Eleanor, as did the whole country.

Happy Birthday Roscoe, enjoy the pictures.

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