[TET1968]

“Sure I got shot at with an RPG and ran over a land mine and got a Purple Heart but I look for the brighter side of things to keep from being depressed and a grouch.”

In prep school, the Headmaster tried to teach me how to drive stick...Epic Fail.

At Ft.Bragg, everyone had to get their “license” to drive a deuce and a half....I missed out on every class by coincidental commitments ( eg. KP :) )...
L U C K Y !

Cut to Quang Tri 1968.... just before I was detached to Dong Ha.

Master Sgt: “ Sgt. Jaybird..YOU are the driver . Join the convoy to Danang which leaves in one hour ..MOVE !

Sgt. Jaybird ( whining like a little girl )...”But Sgt. I can't drive stick “

Master Sgt: “As you were Jaybird.......Sp4 Knucklehead...drop what your doing
and take Jaybird's place....NOW !

Sp 4 Knucklehead: ( whispered like a little girl) “ yes sgt “.

Look at a map......Quang Tri to Danang......might as well been a convoy to California...talk about land mines...talk about snipers......the accelerator pedal was surrounded with so many sandbags , it had to have it's length extended in order to actually work.

I finally learned how to shift years later at the Harley Davidson plant in York, Pa....they had a course and I passed !!! There is a God in Heaven.

[mountainlion]

I went through Heavy Equipment School at Ft Leonardwood. They assumed that we could drive any vehicle so they just wrote a license for what ever they needed at least until I got to Germany. I had to take the International Drivers license which I failed. I spent three months on guard duty without the license. I got through Basic Algebra because of it.