Army days, just musing..............

[Bob Wright]

The posts concerning the Pvt. Pyles brought a memory to mind from my Army Days.

I was in basic training, at Ft. Hood, Texas in fall of 1956. In my outfit was a young draftee, from the Netherlands. He was very mild mannered and soft spoken, but otherwise a good and conscientious trainee.

He was in Holland during WW II. His mother, father, and sister were shot and killed one night right in front of his eyes. Their offense? They had allowed a sliver of light to show under their front door during a blackout. He had neighbors help him get their bodies off the street and help with their burial.

On Sundays he would lie on his bunk and listen to opera on one of those new transistor radios, using ear phones. He lay there, hands folded across his chest and a look of utter contentment on his face.

Then came qualifications with the M-1 Rifle. At the sound of the first shot, he broke down, shivering and sobbing violently. He was removed and handled by the medics, who always stood by during live firing. When we got back to the barracks, he was packing his gear to move. But someone intervened for him and he was allowed to remain in the Army, which he wanted to do, and serve as a Chaplain's assistant. Never knew what became of him.

No matter how strong we are, there is always a breaking point.

Bob Wright

 

[graygun]

Those Nazis should've been killed to the last man.

The guy who got the broken arm while I was in basic was also very mild-mannered and a foreigner. He had a muslim name and I'm guessing he was the son of parents working for the US government. Also,he was with me from the recruiter's station to Ft Holabird and on to Bragg.

Any time we had inside instruction,having been outside,one of the drill sergeants would say "fall out" and you'd smash your way into the building. He was the only one hurt and wasn't used to rough-housing,I guess.

 

[wunbe]

Reminds me...

In basic training early 60s because I had some German I was taking care of a young German cruit in our squad who did not speak the language all that well but was trying hard to do the right things. He got easily rattled when a DI got in his face screaming-- especially so because his acquaintance with hard language was nil and he kind of thought they really hated him. .

Anyway, at the range he is down in the firing hole and I am his loader. The lock and load commands go off w/o incident but then there is a long hiatus -- dead silence almost -- and his M! is twitching all over place. To calm him down I whisper to cool it and gently pat him on the back. BANG!! The only bang on the firing line. All hell breaks loose NCOs and even officers run over screaming at him. I really thought he was going to shoot himself for a second there.. I can't remember seeing another more distraught human being.

He survived and actually turned into a solid reliable guy. No thanks to me.

wunbe

 

[wwb]

I was a 22 year-old college graduate in basic training at Fort Campbell in 1968. In superb physical condition, having been a hockey player in college, and mature enough to see through the mental games, basic was a breeze. One young lad from the back woods of Tennessee, however, was in the DI's sights from day one, and barely made it through basic. He could barely read and write, was uncoordinated, overweight, and slow to learn everything.

I had a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and went to Fort Ord for AIT... 11 Bravo. Elvin (the boy from the back woods went to Fort Belvoir for AIT.... a mechanic.

Go figure.

 

[kramden]

I took basic at Fort Bliss ,Texas. One time we were marching out in the desert it had been a long , hot hard day. All off a sudden one of the trainees took off running like a madman . Yelling and just flat going nuts. A couple of the guys in his platoon yelled "should we go get him Drill Sgt". The DS says "no" !! About 30 seconds later the crazy guy just hits the ground out cold. The DS says "Now go get him". He'd seen it before . LOL.

 

[graygun]

I was a 22 year-old college graduate in basic training at Fort Campbell in 1968. In superb physical condition, having been a hockey player in college, and mature enough to see through the mental games, basic was a breeze. One young lad from the back woods of Tennessee, however, was in the DI's sights from day one, and barely made it through basic. He could barely read and write, was uncoordinated, overweight, and slow to learn everything.

I had a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and went to Fort Ord for AIT... 11 Bravo. Elvin (the boy from the back woods went to Fort Belvoir for AIT.... a mechanic.

Go figure.

I heard of a guy who was a CPA and got the 11C MOS(indirect fire-mortar).

 

[Fox Mike]

I started school (first grade) in St Marys County MD. Halfway through that first year of school my parents moved back to Mayo, where we were from, so dad could take a job at then Camp Meade. Years later when I was in basic training I found out that the guy in the bunk above me and I had started school together. Same school bus. A couple years later were were stationed together on a Nike Hercules Battery. Small world.

 

[wunbe]

I know a guy who went through the Army language School at Monterey's Romanian program thinking he was destined for a tour in Europe.

Nope. Vietnam pushing a rifle.

wunbe

 

[ronto]

I remember a young recruit in basic who never shaved and just had thick coating of "peach fuzz" on his pimple covered face. The DI made him dry shave in formation one morning. What a bloody mess!

 

[blackhawknj]

When I left AD in 1971 the Army's MOS mismatch rate was running between 25-50 %.

 

[A.J.]

My very last day in the USAR before retirement (July 2013) the unit was having a PT test. A young troop quipped; "I guess we won't be seeing you at the PT test." Challenge accepted. I donned my PT gear and am proud to boast that I actually beat a number of the "kids" on the run portion!

 

[Ka6otm]

I remember a young recruit in basic who never shaved and just had thick coating of "peach fuzz" on his pimple covered face. The DI made him dry shave in formation one morning. What a bloody mess!

My paternal grandfather was a Cherokee and I never shaved once the whole time I was in the Army. Didn't even have peach fuzz.

Thought I never would and when I turned 27, oops, had to start shaving.

 

[bogus bill]

When I was a boy my dad cut my hair with a hand clipper. I hated it so stuck a nail in it and broke some teeth out. Didnt stop dad. He still clipped my hair with it and then it really pulled!

 

[blackhawknj]

One thing I remember from my Army days is that a combination of top quality recruits combined with NCOs who often weren't too sharp-and officers who were not much better-soldiers found all sorts of ways to aggravate and harass them. Talking over their heads, asking questions they couldn't answer, etc. One thing I remember especially, those guys who were married or had an off-post connection would get off guard duty-and take their weapons home. I remember one fellow who had worked for the phone company, he was a specialist in disabling phones.

 

[Colonialgirl]

You would be surprised (well, MAYBE NOT) how many Lts were too stupid to realize that IF your call goes through a manual switchboard and a Radio/Telephone relay site that your conversation with that donut dolly in Seoul IS NOT "private" and several people know ALL about that weekend in the hotel.

 

[Fox Mike]

I know a guy who went through the Army language School at Monterey's Romanian program thinking he was destined for a tour in Europe.

Nope. Vietnam pushing a rifle.

wunbe

I was 'supposed' to go to Fort Ben Harrison to clerks school, after basic. Instead I was assigned to HQ Co, 37 Med Tk Bn right up the street from where I was in basic. My first real job in the Army was typing drivers licenses and maintaining all the driving records for the entire Bn. Never got to clerks school; ended up as a radar operator in my next assignment. The Army in their infinite wisdom. :roll:

 

[Pal Val]

When I joined the National Guard to serve out my reserve years, I was made XO of a supply company. One of the 76Y clerks was the husband of a good friend of my wife, who was a CPA. A asked him why a CPA was working as an E-4 supply clerk, when he could have gone to OCS and gotten his commission. He told me he liked better to push requisition forms around a desk than to to have my job, spending the day running around like a guard dog supervising all the work while the CO sat in his office sipping whiskey.

Fine logic!