30 Years Ago
The alarm clock blared some forgotten tune at six in the morning. I woke up and looked around the room. The calendar next to the clock had a big red circle on Tuesday, June the twentysecond of 1976. I tossed the covers off and shivered as the a/c blew across my bare feet. Sitting up I looked around the cluttered livingroom. When would I sleep in this bed again? Would I ever awaken in this room?
I groped for my glasses with my right hand, as my left wiped away the last bit of sleep. The clothes I would wear today were already laid out on the dining table. This room where I slept also had a couch and a couple of easy chairs. Made it convenient for watching the TV or listening to the stereo. I put on the blue work shirt on which my mother had embroidered a drum along with a pair of drumsticks. White athletic socks were pulled up next.
Paws scraping the floor came from the kitchen. I looked over and saw my Eskimo Spitz investigating the noise my radio caused.
“Hey Misty,” I called out. “Come her girl.”
She walked over tail wagging and she rubbed her soft white fur up against my bare leg. I scratched behind her ears.
“You gonna miss me. I know I’ll miss you.”
I gave her hug and she licked my ear and cheek. Quickly, I truned my face away lest I get a kiss on the lips. As I stood she walked back to the kitchen and towards my parents’ room. Grabbing my blue jeans I fell back on my bed and stuck my legs in the air as I pushed my feet into the jeans and pulled them over my legs. Next I rolled forward and returned to my standing position. I jerked my pants up the rest of the way , zipped and buttoned them securely. Looking in the mirror I ran my fingers across my scalp. Still had not got use to all of my hair being cut off. Had it done the previous Saturday. Figured it was all coming off sooner than later so why wait.
My shaving kit lay on the table. It was empty now, but that would change soon enough. It had been a graduation present and I liked it a lot. It was made of brown suede leather. I walked through my sister’s room on my way to the only bathroom in the house. She slept still. It was summer who could blame her. Then I entered the tiny hallway that abutted both bedrooms and the bathroom. I could hear my parents rustling in their room. Did not look in, though I could have. The house had no doors except on the bathroom. For reasons I could never figure out my dad removed all of the interior doors.
“Morning,” I cried out as I entered the restroom. I took care of my toilet. Shaved and brushed my teeth. Then I filled up the shaving kit with the things I would need.
I retraced my steps to the dining table where I dropped off the shaving kit. Went to the Kitchen where I made myself a bowl of cereal. By the time I finished eating it was 6:30.
Now it was a matter of waiting. My mom entered the room dressed in one her pant suits. Today was a work day for her. She looked old, sad, and unsure. She looked at me and then returned to her room. I tried to read but could not focus. The clock read 6:45.
Mom came out again. She had an envelope and she handed it to me. “Here are some stamps,” She said. “You’ll need them.”
I smiled at her and took the envelope. Peeked in side and sure enough there were stamps inside. I folded the envelope and pockected it. My mom retreated back toward her room. She shouted something at my stepfather. My sister walked out of her room looking sleepily at me.
“This is going to be all yours,” I smiled. “No more fighting over the tube.”
She stared back blankly and turned back to her room. I heard the bathroom door shut as she entered. I paced in the living room. Time seemed to crawl.
My mom and dad entered the room and took a seat on the couch. My dad had retired so he had no urgency to go anywhere. Most of his day was spent watching TV, playing with the dog, and drinking Wild Turkey. My mom kept trying to smile, but she could not seem to maintain it for long. Then my sister walked into the room and sat on the easy chair.
I paced a bit more. Then I remembered my shaving kit. I walked over and retrieved it taking one last look at my ugly mug in the mirror. Outside on the street a car door slammed. I peeked through the blinds on the door. The car was green with US Army on the side. The recruiter, a Staff Sergeant, walked across the sidewalk. I opened the door before she even reached the concrete steps.
“Morning,” I spoke first.
“You ready,” she replied?
“Just gotta say goodbye.”
And I turned and the whole family stood there. I hugged my sister first just to get it over with. Who wants to hug their sister anyway. Then I hugged my mom who cried now. “I’ll be okay,” I tried to reassure her. But mom was mom and the tears kept dripping down her cheeks.
Then she released me and my stepfather stood there. He had already told me not to come home if I got kicked out during basic. In younger days I had dreamed of beating the crap out of him when I left home. The excitement of going downtown subdued any desire to ruin the moment. I shook his hand and turned to face the street.
The recruiter had already gone to the car. I followed her and sat in the front passenger seat. My family still stood on the porch and they waved as the car pulled away from the curb.
“You ready Jerry?”
“Oh yeah. Been waiting for this day since I was eight.”
“Eighty-second Airborne will be lucky to get you.”
“I hope so. Got to make it through Airborne school first.”
“You’ll do fine.”
“Still don’t understand why you want to be infantry. You could have been any MOS(Military Occupational Skill).”
“I told you Sarge. I want to kill Communists for Christ.”
The drive to the Houston Recruiting Station took about 20 minutes. She parked the car and then she walked me in. As soon as I walked in I saw a buddy of mine.
“Hey Monkey,” I called out. “I did not know you were gonna be here today.”
“Don’t call me Monkey. I hate that name.”
Monkey’s real name was Bradford. We had a mutual acquaintance named Carl, who would join the army in September. Carl held a going away party for Monkey and me at his house. He had hung a couple of dozen bananas from the ceiling of his pool house to tease Bradford. It was one last drunk in the bomb shelter, Carl’s dad had installed back during the 50s. We would drink beer down inside, using bags of rice for cushions.
I cut Bradford some slack. The only time I called him Monkey after that was when we were alone. Would have been funny to see that name follow him to military police school.
The morning was uneventful. We waited as clerks typed orders. For lunch they provided vouchers that we could only spend in the cafeteria. They served chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Tasted pretty good. The early afternoon was more waiting. Then they ushered the recruits into a small room. There were two dozen chair and we filled up half of them. A naval officer stood at a podium, while behind him there was an American flag. He briefed us. Then he led us all in the enlisted oath:
I, (state your name), do solemly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
With those words spoken. There was no going back. My ass belonged to Uncle Sam.
Soon after the oath they gave us our orders. Monkey and another dude would be going to Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri for basic training. They put us in a cab and it drove us to the Intercontinental Airport. There we caught a plane to St. Louis. Once we arrived in St. Louis, a Sergeant directed us to one of four waiting buses. We loaded up and headed south. Did not even get to see the Gateway Arch.
The buses were packed full. I sat with Bradford. We stopped in St. Joseph. There we had a chance to go to the restroom and they bought us dinner. Don’t recall what they offered. Then it was back on the busses.
We arrive at Fort Leonard Wood, or Fort Lost in the Woods as we called it, sometime after midnight. They processed us in which took a couple of hours and you had to stay awake the whole time. Before I left that area I had memorized my social security number and stopped using Jerry as my name. Now I had to use Gerald, since it was my name legally. Finally, they took us to some old wooden barracks and we got to sleep. Day one was over.
The next few days were nice. Lot of waiting and classes. They taught us how to shave and brush our teeth. They issued me two new pairs of glasses. Uniforms were issued as well as underwear, a duffel bag and laundry bags.. And I was real glad to get that uniform and underwear. I wore the clothes I left home in for three days. It was getting ripe despite taking showers.
Food was good at the inprocessing center. We ate a lot of steak. There was no complaints about the food. I lucked out on the details too. I only had to clean the headquarters building once. Though I pissed off the orderly. Could not mop to his satisfaction.
After we had been there a week they had several cattle cars waiting for us. A cattle car looks just like it sounds. It is a trailer carried by a semi with breathing slats like you see on trailers that pull livestock. Only differnece is these had benches and rails to hold onto if you stood. They packed us into these with all of belongings and took us to meet our drill sergeants.
This is the front door to my home for the eight weeks of basic training. I was a Blue Devil in 1st platoon of Alpha Company 3rd Battalion, 3rd Training Brigade. Out platoon cheer was:
We got stamina.
We got guts.
We got the other platoons
By the nuts.
These men were my new mother and father. But all I ever called them, if I knew what was good for me, was Drill Sergeant. And I damn sure better never ever call them sir.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:20 am
great post. My husband joined the army late in life. He also did his basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood. I think you have the same parents
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:41 am
Now I know where Mistipurple went off to! Those Drill Sergeants all look real bad asses! So the movies ain’t faking it..
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:03 am
Daphnewood you hve the Blue Ribbon comment.
Is your hubby my long lost brother.
Red Ribbon L B *high five*
Drill Sergeants did not play. They did everything we did and kicked out butts when we did not do it right. Everyone of those men were Viet Nam vets too and they scared the hell of me. Specially the white one. He was a combat engineer and fought as a tunnel rat. Tough as nails.
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:24 am
I chup first.. come back and read tomorrow..
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:31 am
You got the White Ribbons ZM! See you tomorrow. (Probably later today for me though)
June 22nd, 2006 at 11:55 am
hey you looked cute as a soldier! kinda boyish look!
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:02 pm
I was a boy really Lucia. I am only 18 years old when I joined the Army and that picture is taken.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:50 pm
The drill sarge on the right looks a little like Smokey The Bear.
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:14 pm
You don’t ever wanna call any of them that Cocka.
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:50 pm
no wonder you are so familiar… woof…
and yes, LB, you now know too! *wink*
and SA, wow, waiting for that day since you were eight! indeed honorable. your family brought you up good. hugs
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:00 pm
My dog was born on Christmas day Misti. Her full name was Christmas Bristol Mistletoe, but we called her Misty. keke I was worried that you would get teased for that similarity.
My church taught me good. Though mom did what she could and I always have to appreciate that.
By the time I was 12 I knew every rank in the military. I had studied every major US battle. I could tell you difference between a squad all the way up to a division. I knew squad tactics. Wanted to be an officer but no college money. Too lazy in High School so I could not earn a scholarship.
I was serious about killing communists for Christ too. I joined on June 22nd as it is the same Day that Napoleon (1812) and Hitler (1941) invaded Russia. Fortunately, Reagan became President and he defeated the USSR without shooting one bullet.
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:10 pm
wow, impressive. you do your country proud. i salute you for your patriotism.
and i love being born on christmas. *wink*
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:39 pm
shud be here… chupzzzzzzz…
ooo… hensem chap there…
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I wish I could remember details as well as you! If asked what happened on the day I left… “uhm, had a burger and shake, got on plane, got off plane, got yelled at for 13 weeks.”
What a great way you have of telling your life!
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Hahaha misti misti. I liu you. Thank you for the compliements.
Where Angel? Who me? *pengsan*
Thanks Alisa. It’s like my memories shifted and now some of the things are coming back to me. I could not recall some of those drill sergeants name. But when I start writing this stuff done it opens up memories. Now I can recall three of the four drill sergeants name. Of course the one I cannot recall was with second platoon so I did not get as much grief from him as I did from the others.
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:23 pm
You could recall almost every detail. Makes me think of all those movies I watched when young men go away to war. Makes me think of Forest Gump.
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Well its like those movies only 24/7 and you feel the heat, the cold, and boot on your bum Bkworm. I loved Forest Gump.
I remembered the Air Force bombed Libya during basic training. We were all convinced that would be out next stop.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:34 pm
you sure have the memory of an elephant to remember things that happened 30 years ago so vividly.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:47 pm
I remember the events that happened AhPek. The conversations are dialogue that I use to provide information is a less dry manner. Most conversations I wrote in this post were to provide information.
Food is easy to remember if its good. The food in St Joseph must have sucked because I do not remember what I ate there.
Names are hard too. I remember my recruiter was cute red headed lady, but I don’t recall her name. I cannot remember the name of my roommate from basic either.
I find it peculiar what memories come to mind and which memory do not arise.
June 22nd, 2006 at 11:18 pm
wow….i dunno why but i had goosebumps. i dont like the thot or war but i love men in uniform!
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:03 am
Let me give ya a sweater mui. The funny thing about that pic mui is the way they ran us through the photographer like an assembly line. We were wearing the old green fatigue uniforms. They don’t use them any more. We were in formation outside and we took off our shirts and left them just like we did for PT. So we were wearing green pants and t-shirt.
We walked into the area they used for a studio. They gave us the khaki shirt and it was cut so low that it had no shirt tail. Just button the buttons and put on the bus driver hat and click. Your picture was taken.
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:01 am
amazing how the most ornery, nastiest sargeant will always post for a pic…:P
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:24 am
Wow… no more 25 years? you turned it back 5 more years??
I was nothing 30 years ago though….
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:53 am
hei! with that heavy brimmed glass frame, you look like ali wooden from amerika.
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:15 am
Aaah.. this is all how it begins.. I didn’t realise it was 30yrs ago and not 25yrs ago..
How to shave and brush your teeth?? I mean.. how old were these guys? Don’t they know how to do these things??
Those uniform sure looks like some park rangers’ uniform.. hee hee.. But men in uniform always command a certain respect! I salute you.
How old where you then? You didn’t mention how you feel though to be leaving home.
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:05 am
HI HI HI …thanks for visiting my land of liu..
took me a while to revert to u cos i was kinda liu this week…
Nice story u have here..haha n nice 18 yrs old pic! u certainly are a very detail-oriented person - u can remember every details and non-details /expressions/words/ colors of yesteryears!
i m not like that, i lost a few screws along my journey so i’m quite a forgetful person.
.
.
.
.
which makes me simpler person than a SA
June 23rd, 2006 at 6:15 am
Hey, cool…more biographical information I can use to
torturequestion you about your thoughts and experiences. It really sounds like your military experiences shaped and changed your whole life.June 23rd, 2006 at 6:17 am
Hey, I just submitted a comment, and it disappeared! I don’t have time to type it again, but I’ll be back later, and will have 5 questions for you later as well.
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:01 am
The day I took those photographs of my drill sergeants was graduation FF. My parents and sister came up (much to my surprise) so the drill sergeants acted polite for a couple of minutes, long enough for some photos.
There will be more 25 Years Ago Jane. I just had to commemorate my thirtieth aniversary of enlisting. To think I could have retired with 3/4s of my salary yesterday and all the military bennies.
Those glasses were official GI (government issue) glasses seefei. Uncle Sam paid for them and they could really make a guy look like a geek. hehe Are you referring to Amerika the movie? Good flick with Kris Kristoffersen.
Yep ZM, this is me as an 18 year old Christian who refused to even consider losing his virginity and would have walked on the opposite side of the street to avoid a shady looking girl. keke
My fellow trainees were as young as 17 and the oldest was 31. There were over 200 men in the company and I am certain 75% of them were no older than 21. The Army does not assume anything. So they taught us hygiene. Had to learn how to fold and hang my clothes in a military manner. Learned the proper way to make a bed, shine my boots, clean a toilet. And it may sound peculiar, there were some guys that needed parts of this training. I never made my bed before and I never got the hang of it. Always had to have a buddy help me for inspections.
The US Army no longer uses the khaki uniform. We had to get those things heavily starched. I used to like the cardboard feel they had. Thank you for the salute. *blushes*
How did I feel at 18. Bullet proof, excited, and scared to death all in one.
Hi Winn and welcome to my blog. I lost a lot of screws on the way here too. But I find when I write things down the memories return. Very therapeutic, though writing about my dog made me wanna cry. I miss that old girl.
Other bloggers have asserted I am not simple at all. I think anyone living in the land of liu cannot be either.
The military had a profound affect on me Kimananda. I see you will be using the clawed pen to write these questions. hahaha.
Yahoo is my host and they seem to have had some glitches that slow down the posts for whatever reason. At least they stopped going to spam.
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:51 am
wah….. it was a cool post! Hehe… interesting interesting. Well.. everything seems like just yesterday.
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:43 am
Yep Velverse. It does seem like yesterday. Glad you enjoyed the post.
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:50 am
it makes me wonder too, why we remember some names and forget others. and the funny part is that the ones we remember are not necessarily the ones we particularly like.
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:54 am
Oh misti there was a Drill Sergeant and Drill Corporal that I hated. Funny I do not have pictures of either one.
June 23rd, 2006 at 9:38 am
yup…i m amazed and at awe at how you manage to remmeber every single details!!!! AMAZING!!!
Right to the very type of food you had back then!
i have difficulty to even remember what i had for lunch yesterday ..ha!
June 23rd, 2006 at 10:16 am
You never ceased to amaze me with the details of your memories recalled. :p
What brand of memory do you use?
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:01 am
Well Pink Cotton I really loved Chicken Fried Steak back then. I was so surprised to see it on the menu so it made a lasting impact on the memory banks. The oath is not from memory. I copied from internet. Could not remember that much detail.
I use Type A latent memory cells laymank. There’s a lot of gaps there don’t you think. I summaraze some of that stuff.
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:37 am
25 years ago… the prequel! Great post. Amazing details and pictures. GI Jerry looked like every other dough faced boy recruit Uncle Sam put through the meat machine. Funny to compare that picture to later one from Korea and then today. See people do change (well at least on the outside!
)
Fess up now - how much goverment surplus do you still have?
I had an 81mm mortar crate for years of my dads that I used as a foot locker (well ok it held my John Carter Mars books and lots o’ spidey man comics, but still).
I also had one of those awesome army issue flight bags that stand up like a punching bag and clipped at the top by the sling strap. That thing could hold like 4 loads of dirty clothes (or all your belongings if you threatened to run away). I loved that damn thing! It was super strong canvas, but softened *just right* from years of being tossed around. Don’t know where it ran off to, but I suspect it made it back into my dads garage.
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Yep DU. GIs all share an amazing resemblance.
I don’t have any government surplus. My uniforms are all mine as well as the duffel bag that I stuffed them into. Nothing fits anymore. Chey. Like thats a surprise.
We used to burn the crates at the end of range time. Nice bon fire there.
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:08 pm
like the way you described how you put on your trousers
is tat really you in the picture?
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Thats me Pinkie wearing the bus driver hat. I always thought it was more fun to put on my pants like that.
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Now, I tried to post a comment twice earlier today, and they don’t seem to have appeared…I’m not saying anything substantive until I see that it’ll show up!
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:17 pm
Ah, that’s better…I believe I just commented on how the military really seems to have changed your entire life. There was more that I can’t remember, but of course it was profoundly deep.
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:40 pm
I see four comments from you now Kimananda. Was there more than that?
I hate when comments evaporate.
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Good morning SA!!!
Ouch then dont write about your dog ok? ’simple’ppl dont cry…:P Cheers!!
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Mornin’ Winn.
Sometimes writing about my past hurts. Would hurt more if I did not write. Thanks for your concern.
June 24th, 2006 at 7:33 am
Nope, there were just four…I may not have looked closely enough for the first two.
June 24th, 2006 at 8:51 am
back-tracking another 5 years, I see… are we heading forward or backward in the next memoir?
hmmmm… men in uniform… always yummmm, heheh!
June 24th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Gotcha Kimananda. *thumbs up*
June 24th, 2006 at 9:47 am
I just wanted to commemorate the 30th anniversary of joining the service May. Thinking I better write about Korea in my next memoir post. Maybe I will alternate them like a TV series.
So you like those pics of drill sergeants huh?
June 24th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Um… I think the idea of 30 Years Ago is good for your next series. See what you’ve just started?
;)
June 24th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
hehehe. So you want to do your for ten years ago? Might be interesting Plink. Make it a muscial perhaps. Fun huh?
June 25th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
*thinkthinkthink…. AHA!!*
That does sound like a good idea.
*scurries away to do more thinking*
June 25th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Ooh! I can hardly wait!!!
June 25th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
*thinkthinkthink*
That does sound like a good idea….
*scurries off to go think some more*
June 25th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
And while I’m at it, I’ll try to be redundant again.And while I’m at it, I’ll try to be redundant again.And while I’m at it, I’ll try to be redundant again.And while I’m at it, I’ll try to be redundant again.
(Aiyah, sorry about the near-double-post)
June 25th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Ooh! I can hardly wait!!!
Really I can hardly wait!!!
June 25th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Redundancy? What redundancy Plinksan?
Redundancy? What redundancy Plinksan?
Redundancy? What redundancy Plinksan?
They don’t look exact to me. They don’t look exact to me.
June 25th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
I can STILL fit into my uniform….and I’ve my Kevlar helmet with me too
June 25th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I was in the pre Kevlar army. Still can fit yours FF!!! Well I guess that is my goal now. To lose enough weight so you and I can take a pic in our uniforms someday.
In the US Army they always issed us the combar gear like helmuts and webgear at each unit. So we returned it when we left the unit. Though I could have bought that stuff had I chosen. Guess I was too busy giving Miss Jin my money.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:08 am
thank you for the pics
so glad you managed preserve those pics very well! 
June 26th, 2006 at 4:37 am
Such a lovely pass.. reminds me of my recruitment day.
In Singapore, it is compulsory for all normal guys to serve 30 months in the army before they enter the university.
I did my part.. and the rest is history.
Thanks for sharing
June 26th, 2006 at 6:56 am
Thanks Lyn. Glad you enjoyed them.
I think that is why Singapore can be free. Everyman knows what to do in the case of a war. Hope you never need your training Robin. When I joined the US Army had just stopped conscription. It may have to revived for the current war. Glad you enjoyed.
June 26th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Miss your posts. Still busy with those audits,eh?
June 26th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Today is the day Bkworm the auditors show up. Kind of got some mud on my face. But nothing I cannot wash off.
Posting is impossible until they leave. If had not written this post last month I would have missed my anniversary.
Really tired working 12 hour days and took stuff home. End of the week I hope to be back at my normal pace.
June 26th, 2006 at 11:18 am
wow.. u have good memories.. Can still remember in great details things that happened 30 years ago..
and I see a handsome young man there.. *wink*
1976.. mmm…. I’m still a little toddler leh..
June 26th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
69 is coming. wonder who??
June 26th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
*blushes* Thanks Chen. I am fortunate I guess to have these memories. Seems like a lot of you frequent bloggers were toddling about back then.
Oh wow. Is it emminent.
June 26th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
What a handsome devil you were/are!
June 26th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
*blushes* Aw Etchen. *kicks the ground*
June 26th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Hey misti! I got 69 and did not even know it. Today sucks.
June 26th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
hahahaa. you are becoming the 69 king now!
hugs for the king then!
June 26th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
lemme post this twice, just for instant gratification of turning myself printable, instead of spam, waiting to appear later. heh.
did i say i must suck up to the king? grins.
June 26th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
hahaha. I know who the Queen of 69 is too.
grins back
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Good site. Thank you.