As you may have heard, watching this series for three years, Louie's dad was a war veteran. Yeah, I'm just as shocked as you are. He's so subtle about it. But in all seriousness, Andy Anderson's whole life was WWII, telling the most outrageous stories of his days with the Fighting Fifth, and how the war couldn't have been fought, let alone won without him. Pretty fantastic stories he tells, but I'm sure they're all true... right? Well, Andy's war stories were going to be put to the test and determine once and for all if he REALLY did everything he claimed, or if he's just full of hot air. It all began when Louie's school would be honoring the fifteenth reunion of the Fighting Fifth Regiment, which meant war themed activities all week, and best of all, each student would have to give an oral report on what their parents did during the war. Man, talk about the easiest A Louie would ever earn. When Andy heard Louie's request to tell him about the war, tears of joy ran down his cheeks. It was a request he'd been waiting to hear for 8 years. And for 13 hours straight, as Louie struggled to write as fast as he could, Andy wove a tapestry of the most fantastical war stories you ever heard: everything from learning German on the fly (literally) to open a stuck hatch to drawing a herd of cows to distract the enemy, for which he won a golden calf award. Louie's got in the bag, right? No way he can fail. Well, something unusual happened that night: when Louie mentioned the reunion, Andy suddenly got tired and went upstairs without another word. Funny, shouldn't a decorated war vet like him be excited to see his old comrades in arms again? Andy was acting strange, but no more than usual.
The next day, Louie gave his big presentation on his dad's war record to the class, and the moment he was done, the two Melvins pointed out several holes in the stories, such as Andy somehow managing to be on three different continents in one day within only a few hours of each other, and that he somehow fought in the Spanish American War before he was even born. Louie is sent to check the veracity of his old man's braggings, and finds him in the backyard, digging a bomb shelter. He says it was all true and that his teacher didn't believe him because he was jealous, and when Louie asks his mom, Ora simply says that Andy is not a liar, but an artist. Telling stories to build a certain atmosphere. Deciding to get answers from some outside sources, Louie goes to talk to the Fighting Fifth veterans, who are docked on a boat called The Cedar Knoll (despite the name 'Orca' written on the stern. Well, don't wreck it, because Quint is going to need it back to go hunt a giant shark soon), and none of them seem to have ever heard of Corporal Andy Anderson. He's not even in the group photo at the VFW. Something's rotten in the state of Wisconsin. Asking his dad about the reunion and him constantly dodging questions only seemed to further prove to Louie that he had been lying, and so, he carried his box of his father's "war junk" out to trash. So while Andy spends the morning in his bomb shelter reading the paper, Louie and his friends attend the reunion, and as he watches the men reenact a certain battle in a pasture, it seemed very familiar to him. The story was apparently true, but Andy wasn't the protagonist. Suddenly, the "Cedar Knoll" in the water suffered an explosion, due to the poor storage of combustables onboard, and some brave soul in a cow costume rows out into the lake to save the men trapped on the vessel. Pulling off the mask reveals... Andy! Fortunately, he manages to save all the veterans before the ship exploded, and then, at long last, the truth comes out: his fellow veterans refer to him as Corporal Keister, and he got that name because he was the platoon cook, who accidentally burnt his keister on the stove and his screams alerted the troops, just as an enemy invasion was imminent. If you recall from the Washington episode, Dwight D. Eisenhower recalls this very incident, but I guess Ike was too busy to attend this reunion. So, it was all brought out into the light: Andy was in the war, but he didn't see much action, so he inserted himself into the war stories to build himself up as a hero to his family and friends, as he was ashamed of the nickname Keister. Oh, and he wasn't in the photo, because he was the one taking it. After hearing all this, Louie was proud to call himself Louie Keister. Then came time to dedicate the statue of the Fighting Fifth, and sure enough, there was Andy... caught with his pants down. Literally. Don't look, kids. After that, Louie erected a new box of "war junk" dedicated to his old man: a picture of him as a cow, some foot powder, and ointment.
A very good episode, and a humbling one at that. It was something of a closure to Andy's war stories, as if they knew this would be the last season, so they decided to bring some light on Andy's days in the military and show the truth: despite being a regular Superman in The Big War, he was a cook, but he did end up saving everybody. Also, am I the only one who noticed all the veterans at the reunion were elderly, when they should've been middle aged like Andy? This episode is set in 1960 (fifteen years after WWII ended), so the men shouldn't be as old as depicted. Also, I think the animators were fans of Jaws, naming that boat Orca. So if you wanna see what Andy REALLY did in the war, I recommend this episode. It's one reunion you'll be glad you attended. He may be long-winded and a bit of an exaggerator, but when all was said and done, Andy truly shines as a hero... in the end.
The next day, Louie gave his big presentation on his dad's war record to the class, and the moment he was done, the two Melvins pointed out several holes in the stories, such as Andy somehow managing to be on three different continents in one day within only a few hours of each other, and that he somehow fought in the Spanish American War before he was even born. Louie is sent to check the veracity of his old man's braggings, and finds him in the backyard, digging a bomb shelter. He says it was all true and that his teacher didn't believe him because he was jealous, and when Louie asks his mom, Ora simply says that Andy is not a liar, but an artist. Telling stories to build a certain atmosphere. Deciding to get answers from some outside sources, Louie goes to talk to the Fighting Fifth veterans, who are docked on a boat called The Cedar Knoll (despite the name 'Orca' written on the stern. Well, don't wreck it, because Quint is going to need it back to go hunt a giant shark soon), and none of them seem to have ever heard of Corporal Andy Anderson. He's not even in the group photo at the VFW. Something's rotten in the state of Wisconsin. Asking his dad about the reunion and him constantly dodging questions only seemed to further prove to Louie that he had been lying, and so, he carried his box of his father's "war junk" out to trash. So while Andy spends the morning in his bomb shelter reading the paper, Louie and his friends attend the reunion, and as he watches the men reenact a certain battle in a pasture, it seemed very familiar to him. The story was apparently true, but Andy wasn't the protagonist. Suddenly, the "Cedar Knoll" in the water suffered an explosion, due to the poor storage of combustables onboard, and some brave soul in a cow costume rows out into the lake to save the men trapped on the vessel. Pulling off the mask reveals... Andy! Fortunately, he manages to save all the veterans before the ship exploded, and then, at long last, the truth comes out: his fellow veterans refer to him as Corporal Keister, and he got that name because he was the platoon cook, who accidentally burnt his keister on the stove and his screams alerted the troops, just as an enemy invasion was imminent. If you recall from the Washington episode, Dwight D. Eisenhower recalls this very incident, but I guess Ike was too busy to attend this reunion. So, it was all brought out into the light: Andy was in the war, but he didn't see much action, so he inserted himself into the war stories to build himself up as a hero to his family and friends, as he was ashamed of the nickname Keister. Oh, and he wasn't in the photo, because he was the one taking it. After hearing all this, Louie was proud to call himself Louie Keister. Then came time to dedicate the statue of the Fighting Fifth, and sure enough, there was Andy... caught with his pants down. Literally. Don't look, kids. After that, Louie erected a new box of "war junk" dedicated to his old man: a picture of him as a cow, some foot powder, and ointment.
A very good episode, and a humbling one at that. It was something of a closure to Andy's war stories, as if they knew this would be the last season, so they decided to bring some light on Andy's days in the military and show the truth: despite being a regular Superman in The Big War, he was a cook, but he did end up saving everybody. Also, am I the only one who noticed all the veterans at the reunion were elderly, when they should've been middle aged like Andy? This episode is set in 1960 (fifteen years after WWII ended), so the men shouldn't be as old as depicted. Also, I think the animators were fans of Jaws, naming that boat Orca. So if you wanna see what Andy REALLY did in the war, I recommend this episode. It's one reunion you'll be glad you attended. He may be long-winded and a bit of an exaggerator, but when all was said and done, Andy truly shines as a hero... in the end.
