The Twig Was Bent

He was just a ten-year-old in Penns Grove, N.J. when he set his mind on becoming Tarzan--or a movieland version of him. Hanging ropes from the tallest trees around, he spent hours swinging from tree to tree. As he grew up, he even began to look the part--tall, dark and handsome, with awesomely muscled arms and shoulders. At Villanova University, Don Bragg neglected rope swinging for pole vaulting, flew so high, despite his hefty 200 Ibs.. that two months ago he set the world's indoor record of 15 ft. 9 1/2 in. But Bragg remained a disquieted young man. He still wanted to play Tarzan in the movies, still used the nickname Tarzan. still had the canvas cases on his poles marked Don "Tarzan" Bragg.

Borrowed by the A.A.U. from the Army, Private Bragg. 23, visited France last month as an athletic ambassador. Excitable French newsmen were dazzled, saw in him the epitome of Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle boy. "Bragg, the Tarzan of athletics, knocked the breath out of the Paris public." gasped the Paris France-Soir. "If gentle Jane had kneeled beside him. and Cheetah had jumped to his side," thrilled the Paris-Presse, "nobody would have been surprised."

Finding himself in Ghana last week, on an athletes' tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Bragg seized his chance. On the first break in his closely packed schedule, he took off on a 100-mile trip into the tropical jungle. There he came face to face with a towering, vine-festooned tree. "Isn't this fabulous, Daddy!" he cried, and heaved himself aloft up a 60-ft. vine. Wearing a varihued. skirtlike Tahitian pareu that he fancies, Bragg spent a happy hour emitting Tarzan yells and swinging from branch to branch. "This is why I came to Africa," cried Bragg. "I could go on for days."

Down to earth, Bragg was even more certain than ever that some day Hollywood would ask him to be Tarzan. Said he: "I can play Tarzan better than anyone in the world."

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