Finally! we got our calenders from Campus Printing Services. Trust me when I say they were eagerly awaited, especially by me. When I first started, I had 3 calenders so I could track orders and what was going on. I finally broke myself of that habit and got a spread sheet set up to do that. I am sure there is an easier way or some other way, but what I do works for me.
I was talking with one of my sisters.... and you thought I was an only child. I have many sisters and brothers though not the same blood runs through any of our veins; this was Laura from Arkansas. Anyway, I told her about my New Years resolution, and she asked whens the book about Kemper I am going to write coming out. I told her we could probably do that from these entries. She is also one of the Lauras that after my last divorced told me that if I get involved with any other women, that I need to run her past them. I told her, no problem.
Want to see a hero? Someone who stands tall and is larger than life; someone who had 5 tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm, etc... Well check out the picture in this entry. That's Hank. At the time he was in 7th grade at Kemper. He went 8 years there, 2 years longer than I. And yeah he was that small at the time. And he had braces. Of course you expect him to be now big and tall? He may be about 5'8" I am guessing and probably about the same size. Let me tell you about Hank and Kemper.
I was a platoon sergeant at the time. If you ask another friend, "Lucifer," he said that I was "St. Pete" since I got the good platoon. Well Hank was one of mine. While you were a new boy you were gonna get picked on, that was a given. But Hank also had his size which was a factor and he had his own outlook that hadn't quite jelled with the rest of us. Being away from his relatives was hard enough. He had lost his parents, and yeah I could tell you stories that Lifetime and other channels would love to know, and keep them busy making movies of the week for years, but that ain't happening. At least not with Hank. And besides, I never knew Hank to shy away from anything. He met everything head on. That's another trait amongst certain Kemper cadets. But I digress. If I do write that book, I will interview Hank and let him tell you his story himself. But I will tell you this story.
As I said, I was his platoon sergeant. For those of you who are militarily challenged, I was the highest non-commissioned officer in that platoon; so I had to make sure everyone was where they were suppose to be at a given time, doing what they were suppose to do and making the officers look good at the same time. Ok, maybe that's an over-simplified way to states it; and I was also an officer, so I can say that. One morning, everyone was lined up ready for breakfast. As I got the reports from the squad leaders, Hank's told me that he was missing. Aw crap. Hank must have gone AWOL. AWOL was serious, but usually we caught the kid before too long. These were usually the kids who were either homesick or just not fitting in with the discipline. There were only certain ways to go, if you were heading home; the highway or possibly grab a train. Hank being Hank, his size means he wouldn't have had much of a head start.
Now before I "called out the dogs" as it were, I went back to his room to see if there was any sign that he done that. Maybe he was taking someones duty or doing something and forgot to check in. I stood in the doorway to his room. Everyone had a roommate and the room is like any other. Two beds, one on each side. A common desk top that ran the length of the room, two chairs, and an area for hanging their clothes. Hank's roommate was up and in formation and his side was clean. His bed was made and everything where it should be. Hank's bed still had the blanket rumpled on it. Like he had thrown it off, and gotten up and not folded it up. I stood there thinking what to do. Well I knew I had to check his room to see if he was hiding somewhere. But there really was no place to hide. I reached down and grabbed the blanket and pulled... and there was Hank. He had rolled over under the blanket and was curled up in a ball next to the wall. You could not have told that there was anyone under that blanker, he was that small.
Hank has been in a uniform since 7th grade, 1980. He is about ready to retire out of the Army, after having been in there for 20 years. For those of us who knew him back then, and the crap we gave him-to see where he has gotten from where he has come, all I can say that we are very, very proud of him! Does that mean that I don't think he laughs like an asthmatic hyena? No, he does laugh like that. But I trust him with my life and would back him every which way possible. Do I think he would do that for me? No, I don't think that; I know that.
And the W.o.W moment-not in this post.
Thanks Hank. For everything, from then to now. You didn't do good; you did great!
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