"War Story” #3
Today has been a very busy day, and wouldn't you know it the muse has come knocking and said, "Pay attention to me! I have things you need to write down." So here goes.
It was in 1961 during my first assignment as a 2nd Lt. aka butter bar. I was fortunate in a couple of respects. 1) I was an Army brat, and 2) I had served four years as enlisted man in the Air Force. It was a pretty good deal upon graduation from high school. I have never been much of a planner and this opportunity arose and I took it. Maybe talking things over with the magistrate and my step-dad concerning a bum rap that caused me to spend a night in the county jail had something to do with it. Anyway, upon graduation I hightailed it down to the recruiter’s office and signed up.
Now we will leap forward a few years to the Fort Hood assignment with the 720th MP Battalion. As the lieutenant who had the most time in service I was lucky to be the highest paid shave-tail in the battalion. There was a joke going around that only the battalion commander made more money than I did. I wished. I had received my commission upon the completion of ROTC summer camp. I never will forget our Platoon Sergeant inviting me for a beer at the PX slop chute the night before my commissioning. He offered a toast to me on the last night I would be a man. You know the military custom separating the officers from the men? It was an honor for me for him to care enough to take that extra step.
Jumping back to Fort Hood let me get to the one small story that caused me to write this posting. Our company had about the best supply sergeant in the US Army. If we didn't have it, we didn't need it. He kept the troops well supplied. Around the supply room he had hung a number of signs. Each had a pithy little message one could carry through life and it would hold him in good stead. My favorite was this one, "You are not completely worthless, you can always serve as a bad example." And to think I almost was.
Life is good, no matter what. The goodness comes in discovering and learning the lesson.
1 comment:
I get a feeling your are gently finding the feel for your 60's stories. I am imagining that your memory is just giving itself a few revs so as to get the ball rolling, and is teasing us all. Can't wait for the next interesting installment.
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