A client of mine was in Artillery (spotter/truck) during WW2, Africa then Italy. Shortly before the war ended, he spotted the German Mechanized troops in an Italian town, he called in a massive bombardment upon them, and the town they were hiding in. The townsfolk were devastated, they wept...the city had been there for a 1000 years and now was rubble. When he told me the story, 2 x over the years, tears would flow down his face. He died about 2 yrs ago at the age of 95. He was an awesome guy!
I’m an investment adviser and I’ve had the pleasure of working for many combat veterans.
Boot camp...I wa the company guide-on...Carried the company flag...Front row 1st column...
We were marching one day about a week before graduation and a band was practicing up the field from us...I was watching them...
I thought we had not made any maneuvers in a while so I glanced to my left...
No one was there!!!!!
I turned and looked back and the company was standing at attention about 15 yards behind me and the DI was standing there with his hands on his hips...
I ran back and got into formation and he came eye to eye with me and said, “Well!!!! Mr. Wise likes to march!!!! Let’s let him march!!!”
He had the company fall out in the shade and marched me around in about a 5 yards square...Left! Right! Right! Left!
Everyone started laughing...Even the DI and I started laughing and he stopped then...
If it hadn’t been close to graduation, I believe it would’ve been worse....
As an army recruit at Fort McClellan in Alabama in 1973, we were cleaning out the female officer barracks before they arrived. After working half a day removing old furniture, we were all exhausted. The drill sergeant arrived asking if any of us could drive, of course we all raised our hands thinking we could get out of the grueling assignment. The drill sergeant smiled, and pointed you, you, and you (me) take these mops and drive them down this hallway. Before I went to basic training my dad said to never volunteer, I wish I had listened to him, lesson learned.
Sorry. This is a family site ..,
I can’t I’d be banned...*smiles*
Officer Training School. . .Saturday morning inspection. At attention outside our rooms.
Inspecting colonel was eyeing all trainees and marched up to the guy from the next room over and the colonel leaned forward and looked at the trainees shoes and said; “That shine looks like $hi#” whereupon the trainee replied; “Its only your reflection, sir!”
The trainee was gone by that afternoon.
In 1961, Air Force gave three choices as to which overseas location I wanted. My three choices were Japan, Japan, and Japan. So, I chose Japan. They sent me to Korea.
“Uh, you 13 Bravos just started a brush fire in the impact zone.” -Fort Drum range control
Well, have us do airburst fire for effect on it. -Us
“That won’t work!” -Range control
Try it. -Us
*Boom*
“Well whaddya know, the fire is out.” -Range Control, surprised that the method used to put out oil well fires worked.
One day they scattered us across the arid countryside and told us to find our way back to headquarters without getting captured. Superior officers were riding around in jeeps capturing everyone they saw.
I heard a jeep coming and a man's voice shout: "There's one!"
I ducked behind a tree.
The jeep, full of men, drove all the way around the tree, but I shuffled around it just fast enough to keep the tree always between them and me.
When they had completely circumnavigated the tree, I heard a man's voice say: "I thought I saw one. Must not have been," and the jeep drove off.
They never did capture me.
I made it back unscathed.
“Can any of you recruits drive a truck?” OK, so what comes to your mind? Yeah, you’ll drive one of those deuce point 5’s to the ranges. So we volunteered. They loaded us on the back of the truck, drove us to a train depot. In most of our minds, it seemed like we were going to drive new trucks back. When we arrived, we were told to unload 3-4 rail cars of lumber to bring back to the post. That was the last time I volunteered as an EM. OH there was another time, when the Bn. CO asked for an artist, that one was worth volunteering for. I missed a few days of marches to the ranges, and never got to throw a grenade.
Well when we first started training [1944] the DI yelled at the crowd of us: “We’re going to police the area”. “All you college grads step over here, all you HS grads get over there”. “All you college guys pick up the cigarettes, all you HS guys pick up the matches and all you other dumb bastards stand around and learn how.”
So I sounded off Good Afternoon, Ma'am!
Their Di, greenbelt, stopped me, got in my face best she could, and proceeded to chew me up and down.
YES MA'AM!
YES MA'AM!
YES MA'AM!
NO MA'AM!
AYE, MA'AM!
GOOD AFTERNOON, MA'AM!
It took everything I had to keep from busting out laughing. It was obvious she was just showing off in front of her platoon.
I received a message that the Colonel in charge of Range Control (shooting ranges) wanted to see me ASAP and that he was mad.
I went to his office and he “locked my heels” (made me stand at attention with my mouth shut) while he screamed at me.
He screamed for probably five minutes about how my unit had trashed Range 16.
When he stopped to take a breath, I said, “Sir, we were on Range 17.”
He got a funny look on his face and stared at me for a minute.
Then he growled, “Well, you probably did something else to deserve an ass chewing today. Now get out of here.”
I saluted and left.
Good thread...bfl
One day, when we were doing exchange transfusions on a very sick infant, the only person I had helping me was a very fine young GI, just out of high school, who, after having been drafted, had been trained, by the Army, as a blood bank technician in a crash course. He was black and said he had been raised in "the black ghetto of Buffalo."
He was a very nice, lovely young man, whom I liked very much--hard working, considerate, well mannered--tried hard to do what was right.
We worked all day, just keeping up with the exchanges, and on into the evening. We didn't have time to stop and eat or rest or anything.
Toward midnight, still working hard, we were both hungry and tired, and I said to him that if he would go down to the corner restaurant before midnight when it closed, and get some sandwiches for the two of us, I would pay for them.
He went.
He came back--empty handed.
I said: "Were they closed?"
He said: "No. They wouldn't serve me because I'm black."
You could probably feel the ERUPTION all they way across the Atlantic! I WAS FURIOUS!
First thing next morning, I went to the Adjutant's Office and had that restaurant declared off-limits to all U.S. military personnel.
In the Army - Germany, in the early 70’s. Miesau, small place, only 600 of us. Anyway, at the theater one night to watch a movie that I can’t remember, but they always started with a patriotic film and the national anthem - we all had to stand at attention.
Clip starts, everyone stands, but no sound.. none.. Then someone down front started playing the national anthem on a kazoo. Did it pretty well, too. Everyone continued to stand at attention.
Clip ended, and the kazoo player got rousing applause.
July 1969 - boot camp - rifle range.
zero dark-thirty.
Drill Instructor (I’m still afraid to cal them D.I.s) gets us all out of the rack and, in our skivvies and flip-flops, we fall into formation outside.
We are ordered to wave to Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldren on the moon.
I wasn’t a Marine but...
The Marines always refer to ‘The Old Corps’....
Seems a young lad went into Tun Tavern and some people were sitting at a table and asked him if he wanted to join the Marine Corps.
After explaining everything, he signed up with Enlisted Serial #1 and was handed two chits for beers at the bar.
He was on his second beer when another ‘young recruit’ walked in-Serial USMC #2 and sat next to him.
They got to talking and the BNG said ‘this isn’t bad. we get paid, clothed and they even gave me a chit for a beer.’
#1,,,good BUT Back in the OLD CORPS we got 2 beer chits
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Also
AT MCRD the DI had all the BNGs and was reading the ‘rules of the road’
..Furthermore, there are NO MORE Whites, Blacks, Asians, etc etc etc from now on, EVERYONE IS GREEN.....
NOW.... all you DARK GREEN people get in the back of the bus and all you LIGHT GREEN ones get in the front.....
As to the story about the sandwich and restaurant, apparently in WWII the Axis POWs could eat in the Restaurants like ‘regular customers’ and the Black MPS guarding them were not allowed in the front of the building.