The photo is of Joe Guzman; Bombies did two tours in Vietnam. I could not find a photo of Rudy Rodriguez.
One of my friends, while growing up, was Rudy. He was part of a family that did not know when to stop fighting. They lived near where I grew up on Barrera St. in Molina, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Manuel, Rudy’s oldest brother, fought in the Golden Gloves in Corpus Christi, Texas. Manuel was like I am now, short and fat (could have been all muscle), so he was in the heavyweight division. His opponent was maybe a foot and a half taller and seemed to be all muscle. But when the bell rang, Manuel went at his opponent like a buzz saw, and he did that every round of the fight. He lost, but he got an award for the action and the thrills he brought to the crowd.
This story, however, is about Rudy. Rudy and one of my other friends, Joe Guzman. We called him bombies because he was built like a bomb, and his hands were harder than Roberto Duran’s hands of stone.
I don’t recall anyone ever wanting to start a fight with bombies. I found out about his hands because we would spar with boxing gloves, and when his hands hit you, they hurt.
I don’t recall why Rudy and Bombies started fighting, but they did. It wasn’t long before bombies had knocked Rudy down. Rudy got up and started fighting again. Again, he was knocked down by the hands of Bombies, and again Rudy got up and started fighting. Rudy must have been knocked down for the fifth time when Bombies raised his hands and said, ” I quit, you win.
Bombies did fight in the Golden Gloves one year. He was already out of high school and was working digging ditches. He had worked all day but still went to his match, or so he thought. It turns out that the winner of the first fight was going to fight again that night after a short rest. Bombies won the first fight and fought the second fight, and was probably winning when he just seemed to run out of energy, but he did not quit. His performance was so superb that he received the largest trophy that night. I asked him later what had happened he said he just got tired.
Sometimes, hands of stone are not enough; being able to take a punch and get back up may be enough to win the fight.
That seems to be where we now find ourselves regarding Iran; we keep hitting them, but they don’t quit.
This is a true story of life in Molina in the 50s and 60s. Well, at least for some of us.