Help close to home

[johnnyreb]

After my "foreign travel" for the Army in the late 60's (I was an infantryman), I served as a D.I. at Ft. Ord, CA. Your memories of your experience as a trainee had me smiling. We were actually trying to train you guys in lots of things like military discipline, basic rifle marksmanship, drill and ceremonies, survival, escape and evasion and the ability to follow commands. We pushed you to expose you to your limits so you wouldn't fall apart in the face of the enemy. I always had to "cringe" when we graduated a company because they were little kids and I knew where they were going. I always wondered if we'd done a good enough job to keep them alive. I'm 78 years old now and I still think about those kids and wonder how they fared. Some of the cadre were sadists, but most of us were just trying to do the job and make soldiers out of you guys.

I also ****** ALOT OF BUSH,S TOO. HAHA My first tour I was mostly sight seeing. My main job was driving a fuel tanker. I,d take off after getting the generator can and shit burner cans filled and I,d take off some place. Was all over down in the delta--from DiAn --Longbin--Pho Loi--Bearcat and places around their. Done some flyin and was on a inseration team. Even got caught humpin the BUSH in the first sergants bed. Every chance I got I had fun.

 

[Motech]

Interesting reads from you older guys! I never served - my HS years were in the later '70s...

Joe M
Santa Clara, CA
'90 EB 5.8 with CA smog requirements....

This has turned into an interesting read for sure. I didn't serve either (with regrets), and we are likely very close in age. HS class of '82 here.

We're also geo close too, about 30 miles from Santa Cruz. Kinda circles this thread back to it's original context.

 

[johnnyreb]

Interesting reads from you older guys! I never served - my HS years were in the later '70s, it was a pretty sour time to enlist. That said, I had a lot of cars and fun up to when I got married at 45 years of age to a vietnamese woman 13 yrs younger. She came here when 19 so still has a lot thoughts in her brain different than mine, but our two boys are all 'mericanized playing traditional HS Sports. Right now there's both summer baseball practice for end of season stragglers, and 2nd week of summer FB practice getting ready for scrimmages and season start. Life in our family is give and take...sometimes frustrating, but also fun!
Joe M
Santa Clara, CA
'90 EB 5.8 with CA smog requirements....

 

[johnnyreb]

Congratulations on your manoi (sweetheart)

 

[dawggg (steve)]

Thanks for helping protect our country and freedom. I got orientation at Ft Jackson .Was their about a week--got shots,uniforms,signed alot of papers and was taught rank ,etc.The traveled buy bus to Ft Gordon,Ga. The bus stopped about 200 yards from the barracks. A DI jumped on the bus and started raiseing **** and telling us to get off of his bus. We fell over top one another getting off. Then they made us come to attention and told us we had 1 minute to make it to the barracks--he lied. The he shouted for us to get. We never made it half way their and he blowed a whistle and demanded us to get back and as soon as we got back,He told us we had 30 secondes to make it to the barracks. It was like that all the time.,BUT THEY TAUGHT US WE COULD TAKE ALOT OF STUFF--IN CASE WE WERE TAKEN POW. You had to be tough to go through what the pow,s went through and they also taught us--you --me and many others--how to survive. Thank you and ALL who have served and who are serving NOW.

24 years guard, 2 deployments, retired in 2013... HOOAH... !!!

 

[johnnyreb]

24 years guard, 2 deployments, retired in 2013... HOOAH... !!!

I don,t see how you took state side duty that long. I,d rather been in Nam anytime. Alot less ******** to put up with.

 

[johnnyreb]

After my "foreign travel" for the Army in the late 60's (I was an infantryman), I served as a D.I. at Ft. Ord, CA. Your memories of your experience as a trainee had me smiling. We were actually trying to train you guys in lots of things like military discipline, basic rifle marksmanship, drill and ceremonies, survival, escape and evasion and the ability to follow commands. We pushed you to expose you to your limits so you wouldn't fall apart in the face of the enemy. I always had to "cringe" when we graduated a company because they were little kids and I knew where they were going. I always wondered if we'd done a good enough job to keep them alive. I'm 78 years old now and I still think about those kids and wonder how they fared. Some of the cadre were sadists, but most of us were just trying to do the job and make soldiers out of you guys.

We had some really good di. I remember a sgt Oneil well. He looked like e\Edie Ahmean--he was a really nice guy. I remember sitting on my duffle bag like all the rest and got sick. I asked the di if I could go outside and he asked if anyone else needed to go out? About 5 of us went out. Later on we were running in place outside the chow hall and these 2 di,s walked up and said thoose who got sick. Fall out at the bars(monkey bars) and start doing pull ups. We started and they hit us in the stomach with knight sticks. We fell down and I,ll never forget this one kicking us. Sure would like to see Stevens. Their was no sence in that and he was a ass where ever he went. I,d like to see if he,d like to try it again.

 

[dawggg (steve)]

I don,t see how you took state side duty that long. I,d rather been in Nam anytime. Alot less ******** to put up with.

i was guard 71-77 / 95 - 2013... 13 years till retirement was full time guard at my armory... best job i ever had... retired e-6

 

[paul rondelli]

I was a big fan of the " rose garden"

That was a nice large sand pit the DI's would trash you in. After 10 minutes of leg lifts and mountain climbers ..... the sadistic aholes would make you grab two hand fulls of sand and dump them down the back of the recruit fatigues in front of you. Nothing like sweat mixed with sand inside you fatigues for the rest of the day.

Good times