who could have been an accountant or a bus driver

The 704th Military Intelligence Brigade recognized National Denim Day, April 24, in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness month. Soldiers and civilians wore denim jeans as their duty uniform for the day in support of survivors of sexual assault. Who would have ever thought that females wearing jeans 13 years ago would be so significant, that we now recognize National Denim Day.

"Today we pause for a few minutes as a unit to raise awareness and to acknowledge this issue in our society, said Col. Anthony R. Hale, 704th Military Intelligence Brigade commander.

Denim Day came about as a result of a rape that occurred in Italy. An 18-year-old woman hired a driving instructor who drove her to an isolated area in the country, and then attacked her.

He wrestled with her until he got one of her legs out of her jeans, raped her, and then forced her to drive back to town. The case made it to Italy’s Supreme Court where the judge concluded that because the victim had on tight jeans, she must have helped the perpetrator take her pants off and therefore it was not rape, it was consensual sex. The case was thrown out of court.

“Sexual Assault awareness is pertinent to our mission” said Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Hill, 704th Military Intelligence Brigade victim advocate. “It is important for our soldiers to know that if an issue arises, the 704th Military Intelligence Brigade Sexual Assault Prevention Team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist.”

The recognition of victims of sexual assault didn't stop with just wearing denim jeans. The brigade held a formation at the post parade field to further stress the significance of preventing sexual assault.

Following Hale’s opening remarks the soldiers and civilians walked one lap around the parade field to symbolize walking a mile in the shoes of a victim of sexual assault.

The theme for this year’s Denim Day was "Let’s talk about it." Upon completing the one mile walk around the parade field that's exactly what the 704th did. In a horseshoe formation, Hale anonymously recognized 12 soldiers that were victims of sexual assault at Fort Meade this year. The soldiers were symbolized by a pair of combat boots being placed on the sole survivor table in the center of the formation.

The ceremony concluded with the brigade forming a human ribbon to symbolize we’re all in this together. The brigade raised nearly $400 to contribute to Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

I’m just antique enough to remember when Jonathan first hit. Or at least for me. It was the Jack Paar “Tonight Show” and no one had ever seen anything remotely like it.

A slightly chubby, amiable, Midwesternly looking man who could have been an accountant or a bus driver, nicely dressed in dark suit and tie, stepped out, a bit timorously, from behind the curtain and, on the spot and before our eyes, created a whole mad little world.

There were sudden, instant changes of character, gender and manner, each with a new face, a different voice, even different physique, it seemed.

Make that lightning character changes, switching in less than an eye wink from an old person to a juvenile, from tough drill sergeant to mincing hairdresser, from adult human to feisty feline, from bumpkin to society type to rube to sophisticate; from iron-jawed right winger to gelatinous liberal, from adult to child to repellently cute baby; each change so fast and total it was as if frames had been cut from a film.

Here was originality personified. And unprecedented.

Never had a comic done anything remotely like this. Jonathan was born full-blown from the head of no one. He was in no known comic tradition. No familiar style. No pre-existing category of humor. He stood on no predecessors’ shoulders.

Here, suddenly, was a comedian who never told a joke.

Into the world of humor a new planet had been born.

Later, when working for Paar, I loved watching Jonathan backstage at the show, near airtime and still trying to decide what he was going to come on as that night: A drunken kitty cat? The queen of the Vikings? A doorknob?

One night, probing in the costume room, he had found a sort of wraparound turban-shaped piece of headgear, helmet-size and seemingly made of dark, fresh earth with twigs and sprigs of little plants protruding. Jack didn’t know what was about to hit him.

Jonathan daintily flounced into the chair beside an astonished Jack and announced, giggling and crinkling up his eyes, “I’m the Spirit of Spring!”