Local veteran to stage memoir show in Southampton

Ed German is returning to the stage to tell the story of his life. The 76-year-old radio host will perform his one-man show, Deep Down in Brooklyn, at the Southampton Cultural Center. The production is based on his memoir and marks the first time in a decade that the work has been staged publicly.

German has worked as a radio host and producer at WLIW-FM 88.3 in Southampton since the 1990s. He currently hosts The Urban Jazz Experience and Friday Night Soul. A sold-out audience attended a single night performance of the show at Guild Hall in East Hampton last year. The new run will consist of two performances.

The show will take place on Saturday, November 7, and Sunday, November 8. Both shows begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are priced at $25. Veterans and their families will receive free admission. Bonnie Grice of Boots on the Ground Theater is directing the production.

German was born in 1950 in Brooklyn. He grew up in a cellar apartment in a building that was largely populated by Catholic and Jewish residents. He was part of the first Black family on that block. He recalled watching the neighborhood change as families from the South moved in. He remembered the quiet streets of summer and the arrival of ice cream trucks.

At age 17, German joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He and a friend dropped out of high school to enlist. They originally wanted sea duty to sail around the world. The Navy rejected them for being under 18, but the Marines accepted them. They trained at Parris Island in South Carolina. The Tet Offensive escalated in January 1968, just as German finished boot camp.

German was deployed to Vietnam by August 1968. He was trained as an M60 machine gunner. On May 10, 1969, his squad was ambushed in the jungle. He was shot in the back and knocked to the ground. He survived the ambush and was evacuated by helicopter. He was transferred to the hospital ship USS Repose and awarded a Purple Heart on May 13, 1969.

German said the performance is likely his final run. He noted that remembering and reliving certain events takes a lot out of him. He does not use a script for the show. He has notes but relies on memory to tell the story. The next step is for audiences to attend the November performances.