Day 8 - More Memories

Considering that my life is so vastly full right now, I figure that I had better recall the times that have gone before, before Alzheimer's set in.

I have other memories beside Kemper ones. Those are the ones from the farm. You know; cats having kitten, horses, cattle, bean harvest and other things of that nature. Very Disney stuff, as growing up there was truly Heaven on earth. It was almost like another world. Then I bit the apple, and whoah...

The day I transfered to Band Company from Delta, I was not feeling good. I remember I was in my room, when the door burst open and a mountain walked in. The only way I can describe it, is the scene from Animal House, when Pinto and Flounder are woke up by Bluto. It was like that. That mountain was my roommate.

I had moved before, usually just down the hall or so, so I figured it would take a couple of trips; little did I realize that this man mountain was not making more than one trip up and down the stairs. I found out how to move fast. You throw your clothes, on the hangers onto your bed, along with almost everything else. Then you bundle up your bedsheets like Santa Claus and make a bag. He carried that, i carried my trunk. Being a new boy I didn't have a lot that I didn't get from Kemper.

Our room was an old trunk storage room. It had been cleaned up for occupancy. I think initially most thought of it as a punishment or something; getting clean I mean. Especially since that room was right over the boilers. Let me explain something about heat at Kemper during those times.

Because of money problems, Viet Nam was only 2 years done, Kemper didn't have a lot of money. So to save money, they would turn the boilers off at night and then back on in the morning. I remember going to bed in full sweats, socks...everything but shoes, when I lived up in B Barracks. Now, down here in K Barracks, our room was nice. In fact, I remember having to have the window open, when it was freezing out since it would get hot!

Another thing about where we lived; 1st floor K housed the band down the right hall, and officers and Battalion Staff down the left hall. My roommate and I would get into wrestling matches, since we were both kinda big. He would eventually leave Band and play football the rest of his time at Kemper, and when he was in college would also play football there. Me; I just liked that I could rough house without having to worry about hurting someone. Now, I was the one usually getting hurt. Nothing serious, just the standard bumps and bruises you would expect from someone who was hardheaded.

After a while, my roommate would want to continue after I had already surrendered. I would pull out my ace in the hole. The one thing Kemper did was expose me to many different cultures and men and women from all over the world. When you were at Kemper, it didn't matter the color of your skin. The only thing that mattered was if you were a New Boy or Old Boy. My parents instilled in my absolutely no racial prejudice at all. And I will tell you right now; some of the nicest and most loyal people I have ever met have come from the Pacific Rim. Before I went to Kemper, I may have known where Hawaii was; but would never have been able to find Guam, Soma, Pago Pago or many other exotic sounding islands. Anyway, I guess my one talent of always being friendly paid off; I became friends with the our cadet Sergeant Major. This guy had absolutely no fat on him at all; was into physical fitness and martial arts, and was smaller than I or my roommate. And yet, he radiated power. Nothing seemed to frighten him.

So when my exuberant roommate would start to really get rough, I would shout, "Hey Sergeant Major, my roommate wants to fight you!"

My roommate would then try and get me to shut up. Now, just so you know that I am not a tattler or can't take my lumps; this was never done as a real threat, it was a joke.

I remember once, the Sergeant Major slammed open the door. He was in gym shorts and shirt-less and he saunters in (yes, saunters IS the only way to describe it) saying, "Sooooo. I hear you want to fight me?"

My roommate, who was in the Army, saw combat and works as an Air Marshall, backed into a corner saying, "No Sergeant Major, no Sergeant Major!" The SGM threw aside the bed and make a grab for him. It was all done in fun-more or less.

As I said, those island guys were some of the nicest and most loyal I have ever met. When I saw "Necessary Roughness" and that center, who was from Samoa, told Scott Bakula, the quarterback, "they'll never touch you" and shook on it, it was a guarantee. They mean what they say.

And our W.o.W moment: Sometimes you can't do it all by yourself. You will need help from your friends.