"Operation on my Nose" by Wiley B. Hill, Jr.
In 1933, I was fighting for the light-weight amateur championship of Fort Benning, Georgia*. My opponent was Al Schneider. I had successively been the runner-up and winner in 1931/32. After a lop-sided fight against an octapus-fisted, supposedly amateur pug that emerged as a runner-up at the National Tournament at St. Louis. Joe Lewis won the light-heavy division, the same night.
Nevertheless, my battered beak didn't resemble a nose; it looked like a squashed tomato. Later investigation proved that Schneider had fought pro, prior to his army enlistment. That didn't rectify my demolished beak.
Eleven years, after consultation with New York's renown plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, shook this head ruefully. Jack Dempsey had his nose fixed, successfully.
Dr. Maltz finally consented, for a $400 fee, to try. During the two hour operation, Dr. M.M. muttered profanely as he probed about my probscis with his razor edge scapel:
"&%*#, scar tissue....scar tissue...nothing but scar tissue!" Profanity every other word, "Nothing but scar tissue. Piles and piles of it...Have you ever seen the like?", he questioned his cutting crew. "I've had a lot of pugs and thugs on this table, but this is the worst of the lot!"
Though sedatives deadened the pain....the insults didn't! I grimly thought of the fat fee I paid. In a brief second, the humor of the hour overcame offense, and I weakly croaked, "What did you find up there?...Gold?"
Written by Wiley Benjamin Hill, Jr., 905A Cloverdale Court, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. 32547
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