Carl Hughes - Lesson for the Captain - Segment 3
Captain is Surprised Whenever the team arrived before three P.M at the company Headquarters, you could be sure that your name would be on the guard roster. It was like fresh meat had arrived. It didn't matter that when you were out on assignment you did all of your own guard duty without fresh meat arriving. Well now, there was a Captain who liked to snoop. We will leave out his name but he was snooping around the motor pool in the dark. The sentry heard him and challenged him with a "Halt! Who goes there?" as he threw a round into the chamber. Now that is a very sobering sound. There wasn't much more formal guard talk like, advance x paces to be recognized. The only thing the sentry heard was an excited, "It's me!" and that's the last he saw of the Captain." think he had to change his pants! Cleanliness is Next to Godliness? I did encounter a portable shower unit once, otherwise bathing or showering was the nearest stream. Clothing was washed the same way unless you were able to secure the services of a mama san which wasn't to frequent in most areas. No AAA in Korea Even short distances could be a problem. Weather and road conditions would cause a stop for no reason and if we got an explanation, it would be, "The road is out. The engineers are taking care of it" or "There is a problem that the infantry is addressing." Every stop always meant a fire that men would stand around and toast their boots not marshmallows. If you listened you could hear some great stories. One time a soldier started telling a story about a wild trip from Fort Mead, MD. to Philadelphia, PA. It went like this: he and some buddies took his new forty-six Ford on a drunken ride to Philadelphia. At the Island Road airport circle just inside the city limits, they hit the airport traffic circle and didn't Make the turn. At this point two young teenagers stumbled upon the scene and helped them change the damaged tires and rims. His name was Zigler or Zimmerman. I was one of the teenagers. My next door neighbor Louie Guidici was the other teenager. Louie was in the second infantry at this time. This is a clear example of why you should never burn your bridges and the world is smaller than you think. There are other stories that I won't tell for now. Where did they get the wood to light those fires? |