Military Table of Content
K01 My first
Encounter with the Military
K02 Fort Carson
K03 Captain Click
K04 Court Marshal
K05 The Guard Unit
K06 It Still Makes My Blood Boil
K07 Inspector
K08 My Favorite Memory from Fort Carson
K09 A Weekend Pass
K10 Social Time
K11 Car Thieves
K12 The Exec's Story
K13 The Exec's Friend's Story
K14 Shrink
K15 GED Test
K16 Private First Class
K17 New Orders
K18 The Artillery's Turn
K19 The Drive Home
Return to Index
Table of Content
A03K01 My first
encounter with the Military
My first encounter with the military
came when I listened to the stories my dad's friends told after they
returned home from WWII.
My second encounter came the first two years I went to college,
with wounded vets, even though many vets were on campus, no vets were
in any of my classes the last two years. The wounded vets were
discharged as soon as they had recovered giving them the time to
adjust to civilian life, choose a school, and apply for the GI
bill.
Most of the other vets were not discharged until a year
after the Korean war ended.
Many wounded vets were in the core
classes and lectures and at least one was in each of my lab classes.
During the spring term one was my bench mate. We each did our
experiments on our the end of the bench and placed our books in the
center. We did our home work, helped each other solve problems, and
checked each others answers, but we did not socialize. When the class
ended we said good bye and we went different directions.
On a warm spring day I left before he
did, but he caught up with me, 'I have to talk.' I would listen to
three additional stories that began with that phrase. He chose an
isolated bench far from the side walks. He talked slowly without
hesitation or emotion.
We were positioned on low ridge line facing
the North Koreans on a parallel ridge line about 1000 yards away. The
valley between did not have any trees or rocks, there was nothing to
hide behind, anyone in the valley was a sitting duck. We had been
there for more than two weeks and had dug a trench behind our fox
holes all along the ridge. The trench was deeper than our holes so
anyone walking in it was below ground level. At intervals a drainage
trench was dug through dips in the ridge line back to the reverse
side. Only a few would stand guard, the rest ate and slept on the
reverse slope. We used the drainage trenches to move back and forth
and to bring supplies to our fox holes. On the night before my last
day a rumor came down the trench that the Chinese were coming.
I
was on guard before dawn when someone yelled 'there they are' and the
rest of my squad came running to their positions. I could not see
anything for a while, but then I could see heads, then shoulders, and
then our artillery opened fire, it was one round after another. The
dust and smoke covered the entire opposite ridge, I could not see
anything.
I was shocked when I saw a few Chinese
come running out of the dust and smoke. How could they have survived?
A short time later a few more, again and again. The artillery lowered
their range, but some still came. Then our mortars fired and we could
see the result but the rounds were fewer in number, more wide spread,
and didn't create as much dust and smoke. But some were still running
toward us.
When our machine guns opened fire it meant that we
needed to protect the dead spots in the machine gun fire and my squad
had aiming stakes to mark the dead spots. When one came between my
stakes I fired and as each one fell another took his place.
Then Chinese mortar rounds landed on
our position and everyone ducked down. It stopped very fast, our
counter battery fire must have knocked out their mortars. But their
fire knocked out one of our machine guns and now they could out flank
us. During that short amount of time the Chinese had regrouped and
were firing at us. Three of my buddies resumed firing, but the rest
of the squad remained down in their holes and the four of us were no
match. I heard one of them yell 'ammo'. I kept firing, but when I
reached for another clip, I was out ammo and yelled. When no response
came I ran down the drainage ditch, everyone was gone, no supply
trucks, no mortars, nothing. I yelled 'bug out' and ran down the
reverse slope. I gave no thought to engaging them in hand to hand
combat when they had ammo and we didn't.
When I reached the level land at the
bottom of the ridge my right leg was in front of my face as if I had
kicked a punt, I passed out. When I came to, two of my buddies had
one arm under each of my arm pits and were holding the rest of my arm
against their chest with their other hand. They were dragging me as
fast as they could run. My right leg hit a bump I passed out. Next, I
heard someone yell 'medic'. I was face down in the dirt, I could feel
the bodies of my buddies next to me, and I could hear their struggle
to breathe. I tried to raise my head and the pain caused me to pass
out. Next, it was like I was in a dense fog, I could hear a voice
saying repeatedly, 'you will be OK.' Then I could see shapes moving
about. He asked if I could see him, 'Yes'. He used a small light to
check my eyes, 'good, I will return in a few minutes'. I could see an
IV in my arm, then the rest of the room.
When I could sit up, I wrote a long
over due letter to my girl friend and told her my wishes, they were
not to mention anything to do with the war. Then I wrote a letter to
my parents. Soon I was writing at least one letter a day and
receiving the same. There were six of us in the room, all with leg
injuries. Above each of our beds were a chinning bar and two rings
that the nurses could lower. My right leg was put into a support that
then was attached to a counter weight so when I did pull ups I could
push on the bed with my left foot as I pulled and my right leg would
rise and fall with my body.
After our morning exercises we read
our letters aloud, it helped us to have positive thoughts which in
turn helped us to heal. In one letter my girl friend hit the jack
pot, 'You enjoyed biology in school, why don't you get a book on it.'
He returned, 'You will be going home as
soon as your heel heals. You must have been shot by a sub machine gun
from high above and at a 45 degree angle. That limited the damage,
only the last small bone in your heel was destroyed, all we could do
is remove the pieces. You will always have a small grove in your heel
and scars where the other three rounds grazed your calf and thigh and
you will walk with a slight limp. Do the best you can to avoid
negative thoughts to let your body heal first then you will be in a
better position to deal with the guilt you will feel about going home
and your buddies still being in harms way.
The next day our nurse brought me book
on the history of micro biology, it began with the advent of the
microscope and I was hooked. I don't know how many times I read that
book, but it kept my mind distracted from my guilt feelings and the
pain.
We were married soon after I returned and one day she saw me
about to enter a guilt trip, 'Why don't you grieve for your buddies
instead?' I cried immediately and I grieved for about a month. After
I recovered my guilt feelings seldom returned.
He stood, thanked
me for listening, and walked his usual direction away from me. At
first I could not see his limp, but as the distance increased it was
more noticeable.
The next day it was as if nothing had happened.
He never mentioned the war or military again.
He followed the
advice of his doctor and his girl friend, I followed the advice of
the wounded vets.
The one thing every wounded vet said during a
conversation if they had the chance was 'Stay in school as long as
you can and don't go into the army as a private'.
Every draft eligible male was required
to take two years of military science. At the end of my second year I
signed up for ROTC, a decision I would never regret. During my last
two years, I taught the lower class men what I learned in my first
two years.
Went to summer camp for six weeks after my third year,
to Fort Sill for three month training in artillery after my fourth
year and received a rank of Second Lieutenant.
The training at
summer camp and Fort Sill were routine except for a TOT (time on
target) at a fire power display at Fort Sill. It was quite a display.
Civilians were invited. My class was seated to the right of the
Civilians who were in the stands. Most of us brought our binoculars
to have a better view. We had fired on the same targets, but not from
this position.
The display began with the presenter
saying, 'I am artillery and this is my magic'. He moved his hand in
an arc from over his head to the ground. As he did so from the zenith
every five seconds a round would explode creating a fiery arc to the
target.
The TOT came in the middle of the
presentation. Every battery on the post fired on the target at
different time so that each round would hit the target at the same
time no matter where they were located. It was one massive explosion.
The presenter said, 'Nothing could survive' and after a brief pause,
'except a deer.'
The wind blew the smoke and dust away from us and
we could see a deer run first to our right and then it changed course
and ran on a diagonal to our left. That allowed us to see both sides
and we could see that the deer was running normally with no sign of
injury.
Return to Military Table of content
I arrived at Fort Carson at 7PM, pulled
into the main gate, came to a stop before a bar gate on the right
side of what looked like an over sized toll both. The front was all
glass from three feet above the ground with an open door on each side
about three feet from the front with a wall with a door in the middle
behind which was a waiting room with benches on each side that could
seat 6 with a door on the end. Visitors had to park in a small
parking lot and wait in the waiting room for an army bus.
A MP
came quickly to my car door, saluted, and held out his hand for my
orders. He made a hand signal and another MP came and put a red
sticker on my bumper with different symbol than the one from Fort
Sill. Enlisted men had a blue sticker and civilian employees had a
white one. No other vehicle was allowed on post. He handed my orders
back to me, saluted again and the bar gate was raised.
With my
orders was a map and detailed instructions on where I was to go. I
checked in with the desk Sargent, showed my orders, he gave me a key
and marked my map indicating the mess hall and a temporary BOQ
(Bachelor Officers Quarters), I would be assigned room in the new BOQ
as soon as a room was available. I parked my car, took a small hand
bag, went to my room, and slept. The mess hall was empty, the food
was good. Using the map I drove around A and B streets. I wanted to
see the new buildings which were the hospital, the BOQ, the PX, the
library, and married housing. After lunch I drove around Colorado
Springs, I wanted to know the location of the golf course, the lake,
and some of the restaurants. I returned for dinner, read a book, and
went to sleep. After breakfast, I checked with desk Sargent, 'Did my
new orders come?' 'No, but check back at 4 there may be a room in the
new BOQ' and he made suggestions.
I drove to the main gate. I
could see three military buses in a parking lot on the opposite side
of the fence from the civilian parking lot, I had not noticed it. I
parked my car and watched the civilians enter the gate house through
the open doors then walk through the waiting room and out the back
door and board a bus.
I walked to the gate house and asked, 'Could
I board a bus?'. 'Yes'. I did so, when the bus was full it went to
the parade field. I took a seat at the top of the stands. Soon a
color guard marched down the field followed by a military band and
then by 32 groups of 100 trainees, 10 X 10. It was their graduation
parade. This happened every other Friday.
After lunch I drove to
the air strip, it was about 20 feet higher than the barracks, I could
see all of them. Each battalion occupied a quadrangle. Each quad was
exactly the same. Four two story barracks on each corner parallel to
C street and D street with 6 one story buildings between the two sets
of four. The buildings in between were a supply room, a cook's room,
two mess halls, another cook's room, and another supply room. Each
barrack housed 100 trainees. Perpendicular to C street two one story
buildings were between the four barracks on each corner, the same on
D street. The four buildings housed the orderly room and the day room
for each company or battery. Each quad was much longer than wide.
There were 17 quads, but the MP's in the first quad did not train
basic infantry. This meant about 26000 trainees were on post at any
given time. I returned at 4, 'There is a room on the third floor.' He
handed me a key, I drove to the BOQ, unloaded my car, and walked down
to the day room. My name was on my mail slot and in it my new orders.
Return to Military Table of content
On Monday morning,
following directions, I pulled into the only empty parking spot. On
the name plate was 'Lt Riker'. When I walked into the orderly room
the clerk pointed to a door. I walked into his 'room' as he called
it, focused on the name plate on his desk, and reported for duty.
'Have a seat.' When I turned around to sit, two other Lt's were
quickly recognized. I knew I was in a special unit because we were
1,2,3 in my Fort Sill class.
'My mission is to convince you to
sign up for 3 more years, go with me to Germany sometime this next
year, and become regular army. I will ask you at the end of each
training cycle. Our last cycle ended on Friday and a new one will
start on Wed. All of the cadre are on leave until then, except for a
few. Someone must stay near the phone and in the mess hall. I expect
(rule 1) you to observe military courtesy, check the bulletin board
every morning, and the duty roster at least once every day to be
aware of any changes. A roster for each week is on the hallway wall,
below each page are boxes 1 - 9, in each one is the manual and lesson
outline for each class hour, make sure you remove only the manual you
need. The duty roster will have your name and the manual number. Your
main task is to observe the performance of the cadre and tell me of
any discrepancy. You will find desks in the room behind this one. You
are free to do anything you wish until 8 on Wed. Dismissed.'
We checked the duty roster. We didn't
have any classes the first two weeks. One week I had two and the rest
one. When we looked at the bulletin board we realized formal training
did not begin until the next Monday. A note said all training cadre 8
to 5 Wed, Thru, and Fri.
We walked to the day room, a pool table
to one side, a ping pong table in the middle and two tables with
chairs on the other side.
We turned around and walked out the
front door to the motor pool the other side of D street. Its area was
about half of a battalion quad.
We returned and went to our room.
'I don't care which desk is mine, you two decide. They put their name
plates on their desks and I put my name plate on the last desk. We
sat and talked. Captain Click stuck his head into our room, 'Would
you care to join me for lunch?' 'Yes.'
It was after 12:30 and we
were alone in the mess hall, the others had finished earlier, the
KP's were already mopping floors. While we ate, 'Why only six 105mm's
in the motor pool, only ten 2 1/2's ton trucks, and only 14 jeeps?'
'Only one battery trains artillery each cycle. Trucks are in short
supply. The infantry battalions only have a mess truck, no supply
truck. We let the infantry borrow a truck in exchange for trainees to
do KP other wise sargents would have to do it, not good for morale.
Do you three play bridge?' 'We are beginners.' 'So am I, how about
playing this afternoon? I did paper work this morning, so I am baby
sitting the phone until 4, no need for one of the cadre to be here
until then'.
We played in his room, 'Since you
mentioned trucks, we need to decide who is responsible for the third
jeep. Draw straws.' The other two drew first, both short. 'OK, you
are responsible for the jeep and driver'. It gave me priority, but
the others could use it when I didn't need it.
Captain Click told
about himself when we were dealing and shuffling. He was near the
bottom of his class at West Point, but he made captain before most of
his class. He liked military life, except for the paper work. He was
a friendly out going person. Bridge was his favorite, but we only
played on the Monday after the end of a cycle. Volley ball was next
followed by basket ball. He was not very good, but he was a team
player and very competitive. He didn't want any special consideration
and the cadre didn't give him any.
Wed at 8:30 the first bus load
of 20 trainees arrived. The First Sargent read their name tag and
yelled out their name as each one came off the bus and one of the
cadre with a card board name plate said follow me. The name plate was
inserted into a holder on a bunk and the trainee placed his duffel
bag on the bunk and followed the Sargent to the quad. The elements of
marching were taught one on one for the first twenty. But because
there were only 26 cadre and 40 squads, they needed to be able to
march as two squads as soon as possible or training would be very
slow. When the next bus arrived about 40 minutes later, the first
group was divided into 5 groups of 4 and the next group was trained
one on one. By the time the next bus arrived the first group was
marching as two squads. This was repeated 5 more times.
Thursday morning 7 cadre took two
squads a piece to march in the quad. That left only 19 for the first
bus which meant the last Sargent had to take 2 trainees. The second
bus meant the last 2 had to take 2 and so on. On Friday 14 cadre took
two squads a piece leaving only 12 for the first bus which meant that
8 had to have 2. By the time the last bus came 6 of the 7 had to have
3. Monday morning 20 cadre took one squad a piece to march in the
quad, 5 took 4 squads a piece and taught classes on how to salute,
military courtesy, rank identification, etc. The last cadre would
give the marching cadre a break. Every hour the marching trainees
would change places with the trainees in the classes.
The three of
us plus the exec were each assigned a barrack. The officers were to
watch their respect barracks during training. I stood outside the day
room at the corner. After lunch I noticed one of the marching cadre
did not get a break. When he march his squad toward the mess hall I
walked toward him and when he called the squad to a halt, had them
left face, and stand at ease. 'Sargent take a break, let me take the
squad'. He turned, saluted, I returned, 'Thank you sir' and went into
the mess hall. 'Squad Atten hut, right face, forward march, column
right march, column right march, column left march, column left march
and repeated the last four commands again and again until the squad
squared our quarter of the quadrangle and returned to the mess hall,
squad halt, left face, at ease. When I turned around the sargent had
been watching 'You had them marching like a snake'. 'Your squad is
marching beautifully, well done sargent'. He saluted, I returned, and
walked back to the corner of the day room.
The three of us took turns being the
mess officer, supply officer, and officer of the guard, we rotated
each week on the first two, guard duty was one day once each cycle.
The 12 barrack cadre would change places with 12 of the marching
cadre each cycle, the last two would be first in the next cycle.
The
non training cadre, the first sargent, the clerk, the supply sargent,
the mess sargent,and the drivers, the only privates in the battery,
did not rotate.
The cooks, the KPs, and guard duty followed a 2PM
to 2PM schedule for one day. The cooks had the next day off. The on
duty cooks rotated for two hours of phone duty from 4PM to 8AM.
Fort
Carson was built during the second world war and every old building
was wood. From a day room window, every building in the unit could be
seen in case of a fire.
During every training day captain Click
walked the perimeter of our quarter of the quad and would talk
briefly with anyone who was taking a break. He was seldom in his
room.
One Battalion would rotate to Europe and one would return,
three months later, the same for the Pacific and repeat. Most of the
enlisted would return to civilian life upon entering the US.
Tuesday morning Captain Click came up
behind me, 'Keep me company while I drink some coffee.' Instead of
taking the short route he walked to the center line between B and C
orderly rooms and then walked to the center of the quad where he
turned and walked in line between the two mess halls. We could see
the Battalion Commander chewing out a sargent. He pick up his pace, I
lagged behind. He stepped in between, turned his head and said,
'Dismissed' to the sargent, who quickly went into the mess hall. We
both saluted the major, he returned. 'Sir, who does that man report
to?' 'Why you captain.' 'Sir, I respectively request that if any of
my cadre does anything you do not like, you tell me and I will see
that they get the proper training. (rule 2) Thank you sir'. He
saluted and I followed and the major returned. We walked to the mess
hall leaving a bewildered major standing in the quad, he had never
been corrected by a captain.
'I think the snake charmer needs
something more to do.' 'Yes sir.' 'Would you be willing to be a
safety officer for another battalion?' 'Yes sir.' 'Tell the clerk.' A
sargent came in on break and he talked to him and I left. When the
clerk saw me he said, 'B battery of our neighboring battalion needs a
safety officer as soon as possible'. 'Tell them I will be at their
position after lunch.' I returned to the mess hall, about 15 minutes
before the trainees would enter, ate, returned to the orderly room,
and our driver was waiting.
With three safety officers instead of
two, the time needed to check two 105's instead of three to make sure
the rounds landed in the impact area, was about a third less which
meant they finished their schedule sooner.
When I returned there
was chaos. Six staff members from the Inspector Generals department
were questioning trainees. They did not learn anything more than I
did, no one would tell what had happened. Each trainee said something
like this, I didn't see anything, I was in the john, I was outside,
etc. Frustrated, the six left and everything returned to normal as if
nothing had happened.
At meal time the cadre and the officers
would wait by the far corner of the day room while the trainees lined
up to enter the mess hall. Some would play pool or ping pong in the
day room while they waited. Once the last of the trainees were in the
mess hall, the cadre would get in line followed by the officers. Then
the trainees who were waiting on the opposite side of the mess hall
would get in line for seconds. A center isle ran from the serving
line to a door at the end of the mess hall with a door on each side
next to the serving line. The trainees entered by one and exited by
the other. Two large tables on each side of the isle could seat 16
each. I don't remember how many rows, but more than six. The cadre
and officers ate in one row at the end of the mess hall next to the
door. By the time we finished the mess hall would be mostly empty.
The cadre would usually leave before the officers and that is when we
talked. Captain Click said, 'Eight of the cadre had failed their GED
test, would you three be willing to try to teach them from some
example tests?' We answered yes and he said he would arrange it.
I
was a safety officer for the rest of the week and the next week. On
Monday after teaching my third GED class I walked past the bulletin
board, Lt Riker is summoned to serve on a court marshall at 8:30
Tuesday.
At lunch, dinner, and breakfast I heard the story during
our conversation after the trainees left the mess hall.
A trainee from my barrack ran away
while on a prisoner work detail. He was a spoiled brat. His parents
never held him accountable for anything he did. It appeared to me
that he increased the severity of his actions to see how far his
parents would go to bail him out of any trouble. I didn't understand
why they could not keep him out of the army.
As long as two cadre
were present he would behave. He would step on the boots of his squad
or mess up their beds, etc. and blame someone else. Two weeks before,
after lunch he blamed another trainee who was on KP after he had
squeezed tooth paste into a footlocker. One of the trainees said,
'liar, you did it,' and hit him so hard he fell to the floor. It
wasn't clear what happened next, but soon many trainees were pounding
him. The platoon sargent came out of his room and yelled,
'Attention.' In his anger, he got up from the floor and swung at the
sargent who easily avoided the punch. Before the sargent could
respond, the other trainees had him back on the floor and beat him.
'Attention'. When he got back on his feet, he said to the sargent, 'I
am going to kill you'. Before the sargent could respond, the trainees
had him back on the floor, the sargent said, 'Stop, but hold him
down'. They did until the MPs came and took him to the detention
center. One of the MPs told the platoon sargent to disappear because
the IG staff would arrive soon.
Return to Military Table of content
Our driver dropped me at the door of a
small building. A MP saluted and read my name tag, 'Enter'. I was the
second one to arrive, the first was a Lt from the inspectors general
department. Quickly, another Lt, two captains, and a colonel arrived.
The colonel said, 'I am the judge, your four are the jury, the IG Lt
is a witness. After we hear the testimony we will return to this
building and you four will cast your secret ballots. if there is a
tie, I will break it'.
We left and walked about twenty feet to the
court room. I entered first followed by a captain, then the colonel,
the other captain, and then the other Lt. We sat in the same order
behind a long table at the end of the court room. Other than that it
was a typical court room.
I will omit the formalities. The colonel
nodded and the prosecutor said, 'Private X is charged with
manslaughter in the line of duty'. The sargent in charge of the
retention center was the first witness for the defense. 'From the
moment prisoner Y entered the retention center on Monday afternoon,
he was belligerent. In his cell, he eliminated on the floor instead
the toilet, he dumped his food tray on the floor, he spit at anyone
near by, he yelled obscenities. When he kept yelling after lights
out, we put him into solitary confinement. On Wednesday morning when
a guard came to see if he would eat he said, 'I will behave', the
guard left and returned with three others and said, "Prove it",
and he did. For the rest of the week and the next, he was a model
prisoner. He volunteered for work details'.
The second witness
The tower guard said, 'I was watching private X and two prisoners Y and Z on a weed cutting detail along a drainage ditch. The other two were watching details cutting weeds inside the exercise area and out side it. Y and Z started where the exercise fence met the perimeter fence at that point the drainage ditch went underneath the perimeter fence through 4 foot diameter cement pipe. Y started first, then Z walked 5 pace beyond him and started to cut. When Y reach where Z started he walked 5 pace beyond Z and they leap frogged in this way for about an hour. When Y next went around Z he ran away toward the end of the drainage ditch where it again went under the fence. I yelled alarm and the guard next to me pushed the button. They were far enough away that I used binoculars, but I could hear private X yell "Halt Halt Halt" then a short pause and boom. During the short pause Y dove into the drainage ditch out of my sight, but I could see dirt fly where his feet should have been. Almost immediately the sargent of the guard drove up in his jeep, he signaled private X to go down, he did so, placing his weapon on the ground in front of him. He signaled X to get into the back of the jeep, picked up X's weapon and put it into a holster on the side of the jeep. Before they returned to the center another jeep drove up with 4 MP's. One walked Z back to the center, one stood guard near where the 00 buck shot hit the ground, one jumped into the drainage ditch and stood near the fence side of the ditch, I could see his upper body, and the last MP stood about 20 feet away. I watched until 4 from the Inspectors General department came.
The third witness
The sargent of the guard told the same story as the tower guard, but added, 'Private X was placed under house arrest'. The defense introduced pictures of Y at the bottom of the drainage ditch, his body was in line with the direction private X shot, and of his nude body which showed only one pellet had hit him in the middle of his forehead and of the ground where the shot hit. Next he introduced the spent cartridge almost full of shot. The IG team had dug up the ground and put it through a screen to recover the pellets. This was strong physical evidence that private X had followed proper procedure. The colonel said, 'I think we have seen enough,' and he turned to each of us and we nodded. He then said, 'This court marshal is now in recess'. We walked to the small building, wrote our verdicts, and returned. After call back to order, he said, 'Private X please come forward'. Before he did his platoon sargent slid some money into his hand and stayed at his side with the defense on the other side. 'Private X you have been found guilty of manslaughter in the line of duty, let the transcript so show, you are now sentenced to a fine of $10'. Private X handed him $10. 'Let the transcript show that Private X was sentenced and the sentence was served. This court is adjourned'.
As we walked to the small building the
IG Lt asked me to follow him. He returned to the visitors section of
the court room where we were joined by the prosecution, the defense,
and the other IG Lt. He turned to me and said, 'We are expecting
politicians and lawyers to investigate what has happened. I want you
to tell your captain. We will call your clerk as soon as we know they
are on post'. As he was talking I could see private X enter a
military car and his platoon sargent wave good bye. The sargent
joined us and asked the defense, 'What is going to happen to
him?'
Before the IG Lt spoke he handed a ten dollar bill to the
platoon sargent, 'Private X is on his way to Ent air force base, a
military plane is waiting for him, destination unknown, he will be
transferred to another plane, and to another and will be delivered to
a military hospital where he will receive counseling. His real name
will never be on any manifest, and his false name will be different
each time, even for the hospital. He will be given a choice to which
overseas post he would like to go and he will be shipped out as soon
as possible. All of his mail to and from will come to Fort Carson and
sent and received in a special mailer to and from the pentagon via a
military courier. All records, including day reports, of him will be
placed in a box and marked top secret. Local law enforcement has
already been notified to be on the look out for any suspicious
activity near his family's home. We expect Y's parents to retaliate
and we are not taking any chances. He turned to me and reiterated
what he said about the politicians and lawyers coming to inspect.
Everyone left.
Because of this experience I have no sympathy for
protesters, no matter how noble their cause, who trespass on military
reservations. Not only are they putting themselves in harms way, but
they are putting a guard in an unenviable position, does he shoot if
they don't halt or does he face a court marshal for not doing his
duty.
The other two Lts had completed their
third GED class. Captain Click asked how is it going. We basically
said the same thing, not well. When asked a question they would
answer, but they never asked a question and they didn't seem to
understand. He then asked what can we do. The other two shrugged
their shoulders. I said I know I am doing something wrong, but I
don't know what it is. He said let's cancel until we can find a
solution.
There is more wait time before dinner than the other
meals. I was playing ping pong when a sargent sitting with his back
to me, jumped up and yelled I am to stupid for this. I missed the
ball and the sargent waiting to play winners caught the ball. I
handed him my paddle, walked behind the sargent at the table, and
looked over his shoulder. He was working on a sample GED test and I
knew why they didn't ask questions, they didn't want anyone to know
how stupid they were. I was unhappy with myself, why didn't I realize
this before. I continued to watch him write numbers and then I was
mad at myself. He could write the numbers, but he didn't know what
they meant. I had assumed they knew.
Have you ever analyzed the word assume, it is very easy ass u me.
I asked him, 'How did you get your
stripes.' 'Some one taught me.' 'Did anyone ever teach you
arithmetic?' 'No'. 'You are not stupid, you are under educated'. I
took two checker boards from the adjacent table and dumped the
checkers on his table. On his pad of paper I wrote the numbers 0 to 9
spaced out and placed the same number of checkers above each number.
He pointed at 0, I said it means there aren't any and showed him how
to add simple numbers using the checkers. He turned over the page and
wrote on the top of the next page 0 to 9 and placed the number of
dots above each one. I returned to watching ping pong.
What do I do if the the numbers add up
to more than 9? I showed him how to do simple subtraction and asked
him to subtract 10 from 15 checkers and wrote the symbols 10 to 100
by tens and wrote the words for each. 'Oh'. He quickly answered all
of the questions on that page. Next he wanted to know how to subtract
7 from 2. I drew a number line with 0 in the middle and the positive
numbers to the right and the negative number to left. The + means
count to the right and the - means count to the left. If the answer
is to the right of the 0 it is positive, you can write a + in front
if you wish, but most people do not, so if the sign is missing it is
positive. If the number is left of the 0 it is negative and you write
the - in front of it. He was delighted.
Over the next several days
he asked about multiplication and division. After I showed him, he
was satisfied and didn't ask any more questions.
On Friday the first of the politicians
came. Five more and a lawyer would follow during the next three
weeks. They received the same type of answers I had received when I
asked what happened. They left very frustrated.
During the next
week the trainees learned how fall in as a platoon and to march as a
platoon. When the sargent marched them to the barrack and said
'Dismissed'. They all ran into the barrack except one and he looked
like he was about to cry. Before I could move Captain Click
intercepted him. I could not hear what he said, but the trainee
walked with him across the quad. I went into the day room and watched
them return. The trainee was smiling and when they reached the
barrack, the trainee saluted and ran into the barrack. (rule 3)
While one squad was receiving shooting
instructions the other four squads received other training, one of
which was how to crawl under barbed wire. Next they had to crawl
under barbed wire at night with machine gun fire over their heads. If
they turned their heads toward the guns the sound increased and if
away they could see the tracers. They realized then, someone was
going to shoot at them, it was kill or be killed, and it was no
longer fun and games. All of the brave talk and bravado disappeared.
The change was dramatic, they knew they had to protect their buddies
and their buddies had to protect them. They were no longer
individuals, they were a part of a unit.
When the platoon sargent
said, as they marched to the field, sound off 1 2 3 4 your mother was
home when you left your right and continued with father, brother,
sister, and then count it on down 1 2 3 4, the trainees did not
respond. But the next time, after he said your left, a few said your
right and when next left came more of them responded your right and
when he said count it on down, they responded with 1 2 3 4. From then
on they repeated every thing after sound off. The next day the
trainees added their own sayings to your left your right, some were
very funny. Now they had something else in common, it reduced the
monotony of marching to the field, and it created a different
feeling. By the time they marched in the graduation parade the
feeling was very strong, even the visitors could feel it. The
military calls the feeling 'Esprit de Corps'. I felt it even stronger
during the parade when I gave the command 'present arms'. There was
one simultaneous crack as 100 hands hit the fore stock of their
riffles. I only felt that feeling once in civilian life.
The rest of the cycle was routine,
mostly watching. The week of bivouac was not much different. The
barrack officers and cadre had to walk the twenty miles, but because
the artillery had trucks, the training cadre rode and all of us slept
on cots with mattresses under a large tent while the trainees slept
on the ground in two man pup tents. Our main task was to ensure the
trainees did not pitch their tents where they would be filled with
water if it rained. After that, it was more watching.
The
following week went fast as the trainees prepared to march in the
graduation parade. After lunch on Friday they left and Captain click
held a review. He went through each page of the duty roster and asked
if we could do better. The cadre had done the training so often they
could not offer any additional suggestions. I pointed out a class I
taught was two hours long, but the manual had only two paragraphs
that didn't cover one page. He circled it with a red pencil. When the
review was finished, he said our next cycle will be to retrain a
national guard artillery unit that failed their readiness test, their
officers will be sent to Fort Sill. We will not need to supply
barrack officers or sargents. We will follow a duty roster for
advanced individual training in artillery. The roster is posted plus
the phone duty. We need to be ready for them a week from tomorrow.
Dismissed. We played bridge the next Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday Captain Click took the duty
roster he had circled in red pencil to battalion head quarters and
said, 'With you permission I would like to have this class changed'
and he received 'permission granted'. That allowed him to go to
division artillery head quarters and say the same thing which allowed
him to go to the commanding generals head quarters. He showed the
duty roster to the desk sargent, who then said you need to see
Captain Smith. He is in his office now and I will call him and tell
him you are on your way. When he showed Captain Smith the duty roster
he said that was supposed to be changed three cycles ago. I will see
that it is changed. On Friday every training unit received an update
page change to their duty rosters.
Return To Military Table
of Content
There was only 120 guardsmen and they
didn't need riffle racks so the racks and the top bunks were moved to
the second floor, that way only thirty bunks were need on the ground
floor of the four barracks.
At the end of the day on Friday of the
first week when Captain Click saw the guard unit marching back from
classes he told the first sargent to take all of the cadre to the
mess hall for coffee. He waited for the guard unit to stop in front
of the barracks and told their first sargent to have them assemble in
the day room.
The ping pong table had been placed on top of the
pool table and the other tables and chairs were folded and placed
against the wall. It was crowed, but still a little space in front of
the door going into the orderly room.
Captain Click entered via
the orderly room door, he could see the exec sitting at the clerk's
desk and the three of us in our room. He walked to the day room door
and said at ease before anyone could say attention.
'I know that
all of you have completed high school and some of you have advanced
degrees. One quarter of the training cadre are Filipinos, another
quarter are Mexicans, they served in world war II. All of the
training cadre served in Korea. Half of them have been wounded, some
more than once. One quarter cannot read or write, three cannot sign
their own names, but they know their job and they do it very well. So
I expect you (rule 1) to stop harassing, ridiculing, and making snide
remarks. If you don't I will have you up before six and you will not
go to bed until after midnight, you will be scrubbing floors, washing
walls, and ceilings, you will not have any free time. I want you to
play the game. (rule 1 again) DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME'. Almost together,
YES SIR. And did they play the game.
Return to Military Table of content
A03K06 It still makes my blood boil
After I returned home from active
duty the memory of the GED sargents and Captain click's statements to
the guard unit
returned because of what the politicians were saying. The politicians
were trying to
eliminate all military personnel with more than ten years of service,
they used the excuse 'We need new blood in the armed forces', that's
how my senators and representative answered my letters. What a bunch
of junk.
The three largest items in DOD's
budget are pensions, health care, and wages. The capitalists didn't
want to pay the pensions or the health care for men who had fought in
two wars! Capitalists do not like liabilities they like assets, an
aging vet is a liability because they need health care and will
collect a pension. So the capitalists told the politicians to
eliminate them and the politicians tried because the capitalists
contributed to their campaigns.
Even today when I hear the
politicians and the pundits say, 'Support our troops', I get mad, I
also get mad at my fellow citizens, why don't they put their money
where their mouths are and stop giving lip service to our vets and
the men and women in the service.
Ever since Korea the amount of pay,
housing allowance, and health services has not kept up with
inflation. But the public and the politicians will spend billions on
unneeded weapon systems and private contractors, I, just, don't get
it. In away I do, it's just plain
greed, no one wants to pay for it, they want to keep the money for
themselves.
Return to Military Table of content
Every morning at 8 I lectured on fire
control for an hour followed by an hour of practical exercise. During
a lecture an inspector arrived. My assistant handed him a clip board
with the lesson outline and pointed to the current topic. He noticed
one guardsman had his head on a table sound asleep. He walked to the
front of the class room, stood in front of the guardsman, and yelled
'Attention.' The guardsman leaped to his feet. The inspector ask him
a question and received the following answer, 'Page 4, paragraph 3,
line 6, and he quoted the answer and followed with, in paragraph 5
there is a typo and in paragraph 8 the is an errata in the back of
the manual that completely changes the meaning of the paragraph'. The
inspector asked another question that would not be covered until the
next week and he received the same type of a response. Not satisfied
he asked a question that would not be covered until the last session
of the class and received the same type of a response. He then asked,
'How many times have you read this manual' and the guardsman
responded with a quizzical look on his face, 'Why would I have to
read it more than once?' After a slight pause 'sir'. The inspector
stomped out of the class room, his heels banging on the old wood
floor.
Return to Military Table of content
A03K08 My favorite
memory from Fort
Carson
When the class ended I walked past the
bulletin board. A
note said the three of us were to report to the commander of division
artillery at the end of the work day. At 4:15 we reported. After
formalities he said, 'I am hosting a welcoming dinner for an old
friend of mine. She is bringing three nieces with her. I want the
three of you to entertain the nieces while I entertain the aunt. Can
I count on you?' 'Yes sir'. 'Good, meet me in the lobby of the
Broadmoor at 6:30 Friday. We arrived at 6:15 and he was waiting for
us, took us to the table he reserved, and told us where to sit. 'They
have a full schedule next week and they will be leaving on Saturday,
but if I need your assistance I will call you'.
The aunt and two
nieces arrived at 6:30 and the aunt explained that one was not
feeling very well. After dinner the ladies left for the powder room
and the colonel went to the tables he had reserved on the patio. The
three of us gathered to determine what we would do. 'You two stay and
dance with the nieces, my feet do not move with the music'. 'OK'. I
left.
The Sunday following their departure, the hostess of the
club seated us several tables away from where the colonel was dinning
with two aides and their wives. His back was toward us and he didn't
see us enter. We had brought our glasses of wine with us from the bar
and drank a little while we waited for our meal. The colonel was
telling a story and when it ended they laughed vigorously and the
wives left to tell the story to adjacent tables. The laughter was
repeated and then six women were telling the story to other tables.
We knew the
woman who came to our table. The colonel did not use names, but when
she said, 'The aunt told the colonel this story', we knew who the
story was about, but gave no indication. The aunt said, 'When we
returned to our apartment after the welcoming dinner, she was asleep
and on the coffee table stood a tall vase with a long stem red rose
with a note, "I hope the red rose removes your blues" and
below "when you are feeling better I will be glad to take you to
dinner, send me a message". She did saying meet me in the lobby
at 6:30 on Friday. When she didn't return by 10 I went to sleep, but
I woke in an instant when I heard a key in the lock. By the time I
put my on robe she had closed the door and I followed her into her
room and demanded, where have you been?' She said, 'It was fabulous,
it was the best date of my life, I will cherish it for ever'.
'Details, I want to know the details'. 'Auntie I was worried our
meeting would be clumsy because I forgot to tell him the color of my
dress. I didn't notice him at first, but when I did he was walking
directly toward me. (She was the only nervous young woman in the
lobby.) He introduced himself and offered his hand to help me stand
and then offered his arm. As we walked through the lobby he said, "I
would prefer to eat at a mom and pop place, it doesn't look good on
the outside, but is cozy on the inside", I said, OK. His car
didn't impress me it was old, but at least it was an automatic. On
the way he recommended a salad with a bright red French dressing,
lamb chops on a bed of rice with a clear brown sauce, the flavors
blended very well, and a dessert that looked ugly, but was delicious.
I said, I will try it.'
It did not look good from the outside.
We were warmly greeted by the hostess, led to a table, she stood
opposite from me while he pulled a chair for me to sit. Before she
could hand me a menu he said two of the usual. When she left I was
looking directly at gently burning fire in a small fire place, I was
delighted. The room was small, only 6 tables with plenty of room
between them. We were the only people in the room. Our waitress
brought our salads and decanter of water and asked if we would like
to drink something else. We both said water was fine. Soon she
brought the main course, it was the first time I ate lamb without
mint jelly. Before we finished, every table was occupied and when she
brought the dessert, it was ugly. When he saw my hesitation, he held
his spoon vertically next to his dish, I did the same to mine and we
both took a spoon full together. He waited until I had swallowed and
we repeated and after we swallowed we would look at each other and
laugh. I emptied every plate. The bright red salad dressing was very
good, the flavors of the main course did blend together, and the
dessert was delicious. Our waitress seemed to come from nowhere to
remove our empty dishes and we sat for a while. He said, after
dinner, I like to listen to music. I know a bar, it is a dump and it
is not much better on the inside. They have a small band, they are
not the best, but I like the music they play. My feet do not move
with the music, but I enjoy watching the others dance. How could I
say no? As I followed him to the door I could see many people in two
other rooms. When we reached the door I said fabulous before the
hostess could ask. He said give my compliments to the chef and she
replied hope to see you next Friday. He replied you will.
The bar was a dump and it wasn't much
better on the inside. He chose a table at the corner of the dance
floor next to the band. We listened to two numbers. The third one was
a rumba. I took his hands and asked him to stand while I moved with
the music, I didn't want to be alone on the floor. At first he didn't
move, but then his knees began to move followed by his body. As the
number ended his feet moved awkwardly. He remained standing and took
my hand when the next number began. His movement improved and we
danced. The next dance he improved some more, but something clicked
when they played a polka, we sailed across the floor in front of the
band and the other dancers gave us that area.
The only time we sat
down was for a short intermission. When the band started to play
again, I wanted him to hold me and I moved up tight against him, he
complied, and held me tight. On the slow dances we danced as one. It
was as if I was dancing on air. It was the best I had ever dance and
he was equal.
When the band stopped playing he took my hand and
walked up to the band and thank them for an enjoyable evening. One
band member said we play better when we can see someone is enjoying
our music. Another said we enjoyed watching you. Another said you put
on quite a show. We thanked them again and left. When we reached his
car he pointed up. The moon was behind the mountains. Auntie I have
never seen so many stars.
Auntie he treated me like a lady, he
never interrupted me, he waited for me to pause, and his comments and
questions indicated he was listening to me. Everything was as he
said, so when he said he had one more thing he wanted to show me
after I told him I should return because it was getting late. He said
it wouldn't take long. I agreed.
On the way, I said you told me your
feet would not move to the music. He said it was a rare night. (my
feet never again moved with the music) When the car stopped I was
looking down at the city, the lights were gleaming jewels, it was so
beautiful I cried. He slid next to me (before seat belts and bucket
seats) put his arm around my shoulders, took my left hand in his, and
I put my head on his shoulder. When I stopped, I straighten up, he
handed me his hankie. I dried my face, tucked it back into his coat
pocket, and put my left hand back in his.
Time was meaningless. I didn't notice
how long we had sat silently until the night began to fade. I said,
'My aunt will be furious'. He drove as fast as he could, walked me to
our apartment, I handed him my key, he unlocked the door, and opened
part way. I gave him a nice good night kiss and waved good bye as I
closed the door. Her aunt then asked, 'Did he do anything?' 'What do
you mean?' 'Did he behave himself?' She silenced her aunt when she
said, 'Did he behave himself! Why he was a perfect gentleman. Damn
it'.
My companions roared. The woman left.
One said you gave her a rose, I did know you had a romantic bone in
your body. I don't, but I knew she would be disappointed when the
others told her about you two handsome hunks. They put a hand on my
nearest shoulder and pushed me back in my chair. The other said you
didn't make a pass at her? Sex never crossed my mind. The other said
she would have been very vulnerable in her emotional state. The other
raised his wine glass and said here is to the perfect gentleman and
the other raise his glass and I raised mine saying I will drink to
that and we clinked our glasses together. We finished our meal with
an occasional chuckle.
Return to Military Table
of Content
A03K09 A week end
pass for the Guard
After lunch on Friday of the fourth
week Captain Click made arrangements with their first sargent to make
an announcement after he gave the command 'fall in'.
After they
were assembled, Captain Click said, 'I am proud of you. Everyone of
you have passed the class room proficiency tests. I am canceling all
classroom training and you are going to the field and do what the
artillery does, you are going to shoot, starting Monday morning at 8.
In addition each of you will have a weekend pass until you leave.
Dismissed.
Ten cadre held up a letter of the alphabet and the
guards men knew what to do, they lined up according to the first
letter of their last name to receive their weekend passes.
Our
exec made a request to the battalion exec to borrow a Lt for a week
for the next four weeks so we could rotate between three safety
officers and one forward observer. The request was granted so on
Monday morning one Lt rode with Captain Click to the OP (observation
post).
A cadre rode with the driver of each of the trucks and the
other three Lt's rode with our driver. Our exec was in charge of the
105s and led the convoy to the field after the ammo trucks returned
loaded.
The goal was to receive a fire mission request while the
convoy was on the road and to fire rounds to the target within two
minutes.
At noon the Lt who was on the OP
rotated to be a safety officer and one of the safety officers rotated
to the OP and we rotated the next day and so on.
By the time the
guard unit left all of the Lts knew the coordinates of all the
targets using a map.
The Lt borrowed from another battery
was also a bachelor from our class at Fort Sill, he told us about two
others in adjacent battalions. They lived on the first floor the same
as my two companions. It was weird that they never met the prior
three months.
Return to Military Table of content
The three of us enjoyed
a glass or two of wine after dinner in the mess hall, we went to the
bar at the club. Many married men had one or two drinks and left.
From then until about 9, it was a bachelor social time. The weird
thing was if I didn't have a glass in front of me, I could sit there
and no one would start a conversation with me the rest of the evening
when my companions were socializing else where. But if I had a glass
in front of me, it would be less than a minute before someone would
start a conversation. Weird!
I have often said that I never drew a
sober breath from July to mid Jan, but that was not quite true. I had
alcohol on my breath, but most of the time I was sober. I quickly
went from drinking beer and mixed drinks, because of to much water,
to drinking scotch and soda, to scotch and water, to scotch on the
rocks, to scotch during the first month. The advantage of sipping
scotch was that a single shot would last 2 to 3 hours, by then the
alcohol was metabolized.
I never could understand why anyone
could like any type of alcohol except for wine, I never acquired a
taste for the others. When my service was completed, wine was my only
alcoholic beverage, except for a beer after a round of golf on hot
day.
I sipped scotch to hear the stories the others told. I
learned many things which would later influence my thinking along
with my other experiences and reading.
Return to Military Table of content
The exec saw a Lt kicking a tire,
raising his hands over his head, and letting them fall. He pointed
and his driver wheeled within 30 feet of the car. We followed. The Lt
had stayed behind to burn the unused powder bags after his battery
left, when he returned to his car, his keys were locked inside.
To
lock the doors of a vehicle on a military reservation was so
incongruous, it struck our common funny bone and we burst out
laughing.
An infantry sargent was marching his platoon and call
them to a halt, came over, saluted the exec, and said, 'I am curious,
what is going on?. The exec retold the story and we laughed again,
but the sargent didn't join in. He said, 'That's not a problem' and
barked out two names. Two trainees ran to him. He said, 'This Lt has
locked his keys in his car, would you hand them to him'. They ran to
the car, place their hands on the trunk lid, counted 1,2,3, and
raised their hands and slammed them down against the lid. They
repeated three times and the lid popped open, one crawled in,
unscrewed the back of the back seat, pushed it forward until he could
reach the lock button, and raised it. The other opened the back door,
pushed the back of the back seat into position while the other
refastened the screws. He raised the locking button on the front
door, removed the keys, and both ran to the Lt. The Lt took the keys
and drove away. The sargent said, 'Thanks men', and as they returned
to the platoon he said they were car thieves, were caught, and put on
probation if they join the army and went straight. They did. He
saluted the exec. Before he could leave, the exec said, 'Wait', he
looked at the sargent's name tag, wrote it on the top of a page in a
small note pad he had removed from his pocket, wrote his name and
phone number on the bottom, tore the bottom off, and handed it the
sargent, saying, 'You saved that Lt a considerable inconvenience, I
will give you a deuce and 1/2 and a driver from 7 to 4 for one day,
call me when you would like to have it'. 'THANK YOU SIR'. We jumped
into our jeeps and left.
Return to Military Table of content
I was waiting for
him to pick me up. When his jeep stopped he walked toward me, 'Keep
me company, I have to talk'. I followed him back to the OP. He sat on
large rock, I on log. 'Every battery in the battalion was firing in
support of A company. They were trying to protect the flank of the
battalion to their right.
My friend was a forward observer with
the first platoon of C company, he called, "The reserve units
are running toward A battery", after a brief pause, "The
Chinese have over run A battery". I yelled, call battalion, no
answer sir, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. It was a code for circle the
wagons. The gun crews quickly unloaded all of the ammo, mounted fuse
delay for 1,2,5, and 6 105's. 1 and 6 turned to a 45 degree away from
the other 105's. My friend called, we are surrounded, high angle,
fuse VT, (a radar fuse so the round would explode about eight feet
above the ground) my position. 3 and 4 began firing on his position.
When all of the ammo was placed next to each 105, we reduced to two
on each 105 and all the rest took up firing positions between the
105's and the trucks.
The quad 50 opened fire toward B battery,
(four 50 caliper machine guns mounted on a half track) he could see
further because he was much higher. Then No 1 gun crew could see the
Chinese about 500 yards away and fired at a low angle so the rounds
hit the ground about 200 yards in front of the 105, the rounds
bounced off the ground, and the delay fuse exploded the round in the
middle of the Chinese. 2, 5, and 6 quickly followed. As did the
machine guns protecting our rear and the riffles followed suit. I was
loading No 5, but when I turned to pick up another round, I went
black.
I could feel hands on my arms and legs
and hear a shout, medic this one is alive. The hands put me on a
stretcher, the medic gave me a shot, and 'keep his head elevated and
move slowly'. I blacked out when they happened to move to fast
sideways. When I came to, I could not see and had difficulty moving
my arms and legs. I could not remember. They kept me doped and I
slept most of the time. My recovery was long and slow, but one
morning I could see and remember what the doctors said. They told me
to keep my head above the rest of my body at all times and to move
very slowly. The bullet had destroyed a part of my skull, but didn't
damage the lining of my brain, they were surprised. I had a severe
concussion, they had done all they could and could only wait for my
body to do the rest.
The quad fifty gunner learned I was alive and
came to visit. The Chinese came so fast he had to fire to fast and
the guns jammed. He jumped off one side and the loader jumped off the
other and was hit. He crawled between the tracks. He could hear
planes and the counter attack came fast, but not soon enough. When he
crawled out he thought everyone was dead. He said my friend was
alive, but in the psycho ward, but knowing that three had survived
reduced his guilt feelings about being the only one left alive. He
was thankful for that.
A few days latter the doctors told me
they were going to put a plate to replace the missing part of my
skull and put a skin graph on top of it.
Several weeks latter I
was allowed to walk short distances and exercise. It took awhile to
get my strength back and when I felt well I could walk any where
within the hospital, but they still wanted to monitor me for a while
longer.
Return to Military Table of content
A03K13 The Exec's Friend's story
During one walk I saw my friend sitting
at a table in a small open area. As soon as I sat he began talking
about
our childhood and progressed through the years. If I had not changed
my major twice I may not have been with you, as it was I was
surprised when I discovered you were the battery exec.
After I called for fire on my position,
I hid and didn't come out until I heard the medics. I heard the
planes and the tanks roar through the valley toward B company, but I
waited for it to become silent. I scanned toward your position with
my binoculars, the morgue detail was loading our dead on to trucks
and throwing theirs into a pile. It never crossed my mind that you
were not alive. When I looked toward B battery the number of dead was
more than I could count. Some distance in front of the quad fifty,
and between the battery and the ridge many bodies were scattered
about.
A medic said, 'Sir, walk the ridge to the gap and follow
the road back to the rear, you need to rest'. As I walked I expected
to see dead men in the fox holes, because of the noise from the
riffles, mortars, and artillery they never heard the Chinese come up
the ridge from behind them. I only looked at few, each one was shot
in the back. That meant more than 120 from C company alone, not
counting their reserve platoon. When I reached the road, I was
compelled to turn toward the other ridge, I don't know why. About a
half hour later I was on my hands and knees with the dry heaves. A
medic ran to me and tranquilized me. I was aware, but I was on happy
street and didn't regain control of my brain until several days after
arriving here.
The medics had removed all of the
wounded and all of the dead I saw were Chinese. Those killed by
riffle fire didn't bother me, they were no worse than the deer I
killed, usually a single hole with a little blood. But those who were
close to an artillery shell or a bomb were blown apart, that bothered
me because I was a participant. Almost every other step I would see
an arm or a leg and sometimes an arm with part of a shoulder or leg
with part of a hip. But what put me over the edge was a head face
down in the dirt without a body.
He screamed, 'I shouldn't have
said that', as he leaped to his feet. First one hand appeared to be
pushing something away and then the other. Quickly two orderlies were
one on each side of him. One spoke with a very gentle tone in a sing
song manner, focus on the table, the table is bare, there is nothing
on the table. He repeated over and over. At first he didn't change.
Then his hands slowed, then they dropped to his side, and the look of
horror changed to a glassy stare.
Then he said focus on the floor,
the floor is bare, there is nothing on the floor, now focus on taking
a step and he repeated with each step as they walked down the hall to
his room.
At first I didn't know what to think or what to do and
before I could stand one of them returned and sat next to me. I want
you to know he is making progress, but he must be careful to keep his
mind focused on pleasant thoughts or at least neutral thoughts which
means he must be careful with the words he uses or he will relapse.
I
would hear those same words when I met with a shrink.
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I
chose this profession because I wanted to help people and learn how
our brains worked at the same time. I wish I knew what I am doing.
Almost everything I was taught is ineffective. To many people
accepted Freud without question.
Each patient is an experiment in
an attempt to find something that works. I have found two things that
work sometimes. I practice what I preach and they work for me. I
would not be able to continue if they didn't. I would like you to try
them.
First, the instant you are aware your mind is wandering
toward bad thoughts or if you can feel your brain beginning to spin
as the result of your concussion, focus on something simple such as a
leaf, a cloud, a stone, a shoe, etc., or do something simple like
flipping a coin or rolling a marble between your fingers, etc., until
you can regain control of your thoughts. Then increase the
complexity, look at a tree, watch more than one cloud, watch waves if
you are near water, or watch a camp fire, etc., and if you are still
in control go about your normal routine, but stay focused do not let
your mind wander.
Second, forgive yourself and then forgive others
no matter what they do. Most people think forgiveness is for others,
but forgiveness is for the person who gives it. Don't say it out
loud, say it to yourself, otherwise some people will think you are
crazy. For some unknown reason forgiveness changes how our brains
work. When you can say it with sincerity you will have peace of mind.
It will be strong, no one will be able to disturb you.
I am going to recommend that you be
placed on light duty for six months and if your relapse rate does not
increase you will be able to return to active duty. I was glad to
hear that because the army was my life.
We exchanged letters about every six
months. Each one indicated he was improving. A Year ago he said he
found a job and six months ago he said he had a girl friend.
He
removed his hat and retrieved a hankie to wipe the sweat from his
forehead.
I received a letter this morning from his girlfriend's
mother, he had hung himself. Tears flooded down his face, he bent
forward so they would not land on his uniform. As he did so I could
see a small narrow white rectangle where no hair was growing above
and behind his right ear.
His tears ended almost as fast as they
began. He wiped his face, restored his hat and hankie, stood, and
walked away from me on the top of the ridge. I kept him in sight and
when he turned away from the impact area down the ridge, I went
toward his jeep keeping him in sight. When he turned toward the jeep,
I climbed into the back seat and waited. It took a while before he
entered the jeep and we returned to the quad in silence.
I had seen him flip a coin while seated
at his desk and rub a small flat stone between his fingers while
watching the trainees. I was glad I did not interrupt him. I would
witness both several more times before the battalion left for
Germany.
The wounded vets were a band of brothers, they helped
each other as best they could and the cadre told him things they
would never tell any other officer. He was a vital link between the
two grape vines and I learned many things during the social time at
the club.
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In the middle of our next cycle Captain
Click came up behind me while I was watching the trainees in the
quad. 'Did you know 5 passed the GED test.' 'No, that is great'. As
he walked away, 'Thanks to you'. It was the only comment Captain
Click made about my performance.
I was puzzled, I had only helped
one, not five. The answer came several days later during social time
when the exec said, 'The sargent you helped asked a guardsman to help
him teach the others when he learned he was a teacher. Not only did
he help he recruited 15 others. The eight had one on one instruction
a half hour at a time, one at each end of the second floor of the
barracks. After a half hour another guardsman would take the place of
the first and repeat. The instruction began soon after dinner and
stopped at lights out. Not only that, but the eight were so
encouraged they enrolled in night classes, one hour each night at the
post elementary school after the guardsmen left.
When you told the sargent he was not
stupid, he told me it gave him the courage to ask for help. Your
suggestion started a chain reaction and when I told Captain Click
about the chain of events he was elated.
Later, when I reflected
on what the exec said I concluded 'Never underestimate the power of
suggestion' and that was followed by 'We can rarely know who or how
much we influence another person'. The above allowed me to continue
to try to teach people about the oil industry and about global
warming years later even though I seldom could see any visible sign
of success.
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As I walked into the orderly room the
clerk pointed and I stuck my head into Captain Click's room. 'The
first sargent has recommended your driver be promoted a head of
schedule'. 'I am in complete agreement'. 'First sargent'. 'Done
sir'.
Several days later on returning for lunch, Captain Click and
the first sargent were waiting for us to return. He motioned to me
and I stood next to the wall by the door of the orderly room. When
our driver came running from the motor pool, Captain Click said,
'Private first class'. Our driver hesitated and quickly stood next to
the first sargent. I don't remember what Captain Click said, but he
ended with, 'Would you do the honors first sargent'. 'With pleasure',
and he pinned a stripe on each sleeve. Our driver saluted, thanked
both and the three of of us clapped. Before our driver could turn,
Captain Click handed him some money and said, 'Take the jeep, get
your uniforms, and go to the PX and have your stripes sewn on'. The
first sargent handed him a handful of stripes, he saluted again and
ran to the motor pool. He was one happy soldier.
Two weeks later as I walked into the
orderly room the same thing happened, except this time he asked me to
shut the door. 'The battalion has received orders to go to Germany.
You must tell me if you are going or not'. 'No sir'. 'I was afraid of
that, but I understand. Do you know what is going to happen?' 'Yes
sir. I would like to volunteer for summer camp duty'. 'That will be
arranged'. I saluted him for the last time and left.
The next morning I had orders in my
mail slot to go to Camp Gursey for two weeks, to Camp McCoy for four.
Both were routine, safety officer and fire control. But when I
receive orders to go to Fort Knox, I was puzzled why was an artillery
officer was being sent to an armor post and so was the desk sargent.
He checked many files and could not find anything. He finally said I
will have to send a request and it will be about three days before
anything would be received.
I remember driving by the gold vault
and going to the post library, checking out five books on leadership,
and walking around a four building block. Little else.
My new
orders arrived on Thursday to go to Fort Leavenworth. On arrival, the
desk sargent said the event I was supposed to participate in had been
canceled and he didn't know when new orders would arrive. While he
was explaining this to me another Lt came and he was told the same
thing.
We had dinner together, he was a steam engine buff, and
suggested we go to the Dallas railroad yard. We went sight seeing
both ways and spent very little time in the railroad yard, about a
half hour, but it took a long time to walk from his car to the yard.
He had been there before and knew where to go. I had never seen so
many box cars and about every ten cars I could smell an out house
odor. He found some old steam engine parts and said lets get out of
here. As we drove away he told me many people were living in the box
cars. I asked what did they eat and drink? He said he didn't know,
but what ever they did they had to walk a long way.
When we returned, no orders and he
suggested we go to the Mississippi and Missouri flood plains. I could
not believe what I saw, many large cardboard boxes and again the out
house odor. A horn sounded and two or three heads popped out of one
end of each box. When we returned new orders sent me back to Ft
Carson.
The only one in the orderly room was
the clerk, he looked at my orders and filed them and handed me new
ones. The next day I reported to A company of a transportation
battalion at the beginning of a cycle. The captain was a sullen
vulgar person. He would not change the duty roster which meant I had
no assigned duties. He did not want me to watch the trainees nor to
walk with them as they marched. But he demanded that I be present at
the morning and evening formation. By the time he stopped talking an
hour later it was obvious to me the less he saw of me the better.
I
checked the duty roster on my way to the day room, the formations
were at 6 and 6. As I waited for my turn to play winners, the cadre
were complaining about who didn't do what. They were barely civil to
one another.
At lunch I was the only person, except for the
trainees and two platoon sargents saying no talking, all I want to
hear is knives, forks, and spoons as they walked up and down the
aisle. The food was barely eatable.
I knew I had to find something
to do and went to the post library. I scanned the stacks and returned
to a section containing the military and political history of our
country as written by the military historians. Before the end of the
cycle I had read all of them. As I read I kept thinking it could not
get worse, but it did. The historians were not kind to the military
nor the politicians.
I ate all of my meals at the club, learned
who was doing what in the field during social time, and made
arrangements to take part. After the morning formation I ate
breakfast, returned to the BOQ, read a while, went to the pistol
range, shot, went to lunch, read some more, and then went to the
field. I rode in a tank and an armored personnel carrier; shot
machine guns, rifles, mortars, bazookas, threw hand grenades, and was
a forward observer in a small plane. Stood in the evening formation,
went to dinner, the social time, and read until bed time.
Return to Military Table of content
On Thursday of the last
week of the cycle, two envelopes were in my mail slot at the BOQ. I
don't remember the wording of the first, but it said I was promoted
to first Lt. The other was new orders and to of all places back to C
battery, the same building as with Captain Click.
The next Monday
morning I walked into an empty orderly room, turned into the
captain's room, saw a captain putting items from the desk into a
small box, 'I have been transferred, you are in command until the
next captain comes'. I returned to my car to get my own small box. He
left as I returned. The most important thing in my box was my name
plate, the one given to me when I joined C battery. The day room door
opened and the clerk asked, 'Is he gone?' 'Yes'. The first sargent
followed him into the day room. To my surprise it was Captain Click's
first sargent and I said, 'I am in good hands'. He grinned and told
me he and the mess sargent were four years away from retirement and
neither wanted to go over seas again. They requested a transfer and
it was granted.
He asked why I was sitting at the exec's desk, 'So
I would not have to move when the new captain comes'. He grinned and
said, 'We will receive trainees next week Wed and it is C battery's
turn to shoot at the fire power demonstration on Sat, but it would
not be a problem, the cadre were top notch. I said, 'OK then we only
need to practice on Sat morning, told him I would like to operate
similar to Captain Click, and to meet with the cadre when possible'.
'They are in the mess hall now. I have a few things to do. I will
arrange a meeting at 10 in the day room'. As I left to introduce
myself to the officers in the other batteries and battalion, I asked
what happened to the boxes under the duty roster? He shook his head.
When I returned, the boxes were under
the duty roster, the first sargent introduced me to the cadre, after
I left, he told them there will be changes to the duty roster, and
there would be a meeting to schedule the next cycle at 1.
He
changed the duty roster to phone and mess hall duty until the next
cycle, except for Sat.
The practice on Sat morning went very well.
During the practice a survey team installed a BC scope on the eastern
end of the ridge. It is a high power binocular mounted on a tripod.
They also connected a phone line to the battery. During the practice
I recorded the azimuth and elevation to each target. Fire direction
did the same for the 105's. Each was labeled target 1 to 6. Before we
left for lunch we both returned to the first target settings. After
the 105's fired on a target they would move the 105's to the next
target settings. By doing this we could reduce the amount of time to
the time of flight of the rounds. This would hold audience interest.
We finished in less than 15 minutes.
At 2 about 100 visitors were seated on
folding chairs on top of the ridge at the eastern edge of the impact
area and about 1300 trainees were sitting on the ground in front of
them. East of the impact area and north to the barracks area, the
land was low rolling hills that the armor used for training. Five
tanks were behind the east end of the ridge and C battery was behind
the ridge on the western edge of the impact area. The artillery never
fired over the top of people and this position gave a wide safety
margin.
A general's aide welcomed the visitors to Fort Carson and
he turned the mic to an Infantry officer who told what was going to
happen. An infantry squad fired their rifles at targets in the impact
area from the bottom of the ridge, followed by machine gun fire,
mortars, and bazookas fired from the east side of the impact area. An
Armor officer was next and even after he said where the tanks would
appear it still surprised most because the loud sound comes from all
around. They pulled up on the east side of the impact area with
machine guns blazing and their 90mm guns firing at targets in the
impact area. They turned their turrets in two additional directions,
repeated, and turn and roared away to take up positions near the
battery.
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Because of the
noise the tanks made, many thought they were going to return from a
different direction. I could see heads turning because the noise
seems to come from all directions. That is how deceptive the tank
noise can be. I waited until they turned off their engines before I
began. I picked up the phone and said target no 1. When I heard 'on
the way' I replied 'roger wait'. I picked up the mic and said the
first target would be a red rock to your right about 1000 yards away.
The retort could be heard by all, followed very closely by six rounds
exploding on target. I could hear a murmur. I repeated the same
procedure for each target. Target no 3 was different, only two rounds
landed to the left of some yellow barrels and the pressure wave made
them roll to the right. Quickly followed by two round to the right
which caused the barrels to roll back to the left. There was an
audible sound from the audience. Targets 4 and 5 were the same as the
first two, but distance to the targets was greater. I had positioned
the BC scope on target 6 before I said Target six and heard on the
way.
I said our last target is a black tank
on the side of a small hill about 6000 yards directly in front. As I
set the mic on the table next to the BC scope a trainee jumped up and
yelled, 'There is a helicopter in the impact area'. I quickly
returned to the BC scope. At first I could not see it, then it came
slowly into view, the copter seemed to be bouncing up and down, and
only moving a few feet forward each time. All I could do is wait and
watch. Just before the rounds landed all I could see was the blades
above the hill. The three rounds closest to the copter buried into
the dirt before exploding, the three farthest away exploded less than
three feet above the ground. Because the copter was on the other side
of the hill from the black tank, it meant the copter was safe from
shrapnel from the rounds, but the pressure wave caused it to tip
slightly away and almost immediately the copter rose rapidly in a
wide arc out of the impact area to the east. It then followed a wide
arc over the tank training area away from the ridge and then took a
path toward the landing strip.
The commanding general was livid,
but his aide never mentioned the copter as he told the audience,
'That concludes our fire power demonstration for this month. Visitors
are invited to visit the tanks and artillery. To do so board a bus
with a 'A' in the window, all other buses will return to the parking
lot. Thank you for coming'.
The right half of the trainees ran
along the ridge until they were past the visitors, then ran over and
down the ridge, and across the road to form up in platoons. The left
half ran around the left end of the ridge and did the same thing one
group on each side of a range road with another road on each side of
the groups. Most of the visitors turned to watch. As soon as each
platoon formed they marched toward the barracks on one of the three
range roads. It was an impressive sight to watch more than 43
platoons on each road march off into the distance.
Two sargents came to get the BC scope,
phone, etc., and to take me to the battery. I asked them if they had
seen or heard the copter, they said yes and I asked which direction
was it going, back to the air strip. That was the same answer I
received from everyone I asked. About thirty visitors came, most went
to the tanks very quickly, I have to agree, tanks are iron
monsters.
For the next month the puzzle of how the copter was able
to get into the impact area without anyone seeing it was the topic of
discussion at the club. The pilots signed a gag order, but they did
say a few things. Two VIP's were on board, named Mr. X and Mr.Y and
from their comments it sounded like the VIP's were not taking
responsibility for their actions and were pushing the blame on to the
pilot. If they knew they did not tell if the pilot was still on base
and they would not say his name. The puzzle was never answered.
The
during the second week of the next cycle two Lt's from Fort Sill were
assigned to C battery and two weeks later a first Lt was assigned. He
was two months my junior, so I was still the commanding officer.
The last six months at Fort Carson was
very monotonous while on duty, off duty at the club and in town was
very enjoyable and interesting as before. The last three cycles were
basic infantry.
The last cycle ended on Friday and I left on
Monday at 2. That Monday morning I signed papers for the last time,
thanked the first sargent when he came to relieve me from phone duty,
went to the club, ate my last meal, paid my bill, checked out of the
BOQ, and received my last salute from the MP's at the gate.
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The first 30 miles I
listened to a local classical music station. When the station began
to fade, I turned off the radio, and almost immediately memories
came. Those involving Captain Click came most frequently. He was
different from any person I had met and I wanted to learn what made
him different. It was almost an obsession. I knew what would happen
if I told him no when he asked at the end of each cycle so I lied, I
wanted to observe him as long as possible, I knew at the end of the
first two weeks that a military career was not for me.
From the
memories I realized I had not seen him interact with others very
often, the home sick trainee, the PFC, and walking with someone
across the quad. From the conversations after meals I knew he did not
have the vocabulary to tell anyone what he was doing or why he was
doing it his way. I had the impression he didn't know he was
different, it was the way his brain worked, he could not change if he
tried.
The second most frequent memory was the copter puzzle. I
had reviewed it many times and still could not understand why no one
saw or heard it. Then another thing puzzled me, why didn't the pilot
hear the tanks, they were so loud he certainly could have heard them
above the noise of the motor and blades and why didn't he see the
flash from the exploding rounds or hear the noise they made? The
puzzle only deepened.
I had learned so much and had so many
pleasant and interesting memories I didn't notice the time. Someone
said the purpose of an education was to prepare your mind so you
would have a pleasant place to spend your idle time. It was certainly
true for me during the 21 hours to drive home.
My younger brother
and sister were married before I left and my youngest brother went
away to college before I returned so I had the house to myself until
my parents returned from work. I unloaded my car, took the stuff to
my room, and fell asleep.
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of content