My first magazine subscription was to Writer's Digest. I have/had always wanted to be a writer, don't ask me why. I think its because I tell things in stories. My mother said that they even put an old typewriter into my crib; I don't know why, but that's what she said.
After going to Kemper for a year I got a Soldier's of Fortune subscription. At Kemper, magazines, books went through the companies like wild fire. If you were on O.D. duty there would be at least one or two magazines and probably some books in the desk to read as you pass the long nights on watch. I remember one particular book that I loved was called the City of the Chasch by Jack Vance. It wasn't until many, many years later I found there were three other books in that series. So comics such as The Warlord, and S.O.F. magazines were extremely popular
The Calvary store catalog was another that was worth it's weight there. Not only for our MS III & IV cadets but for the rest of us too. I know that's where I got better equipment than what I was issued; from boots to my crook neck flashlight, to a canteen cup. I wore out the boots and the flashlight but still have that canteen cup on my canteen.
At one time I had the complete collection of SOF as I bought all the back issues. But sadly, when my basement flooded, they were all lost. I have seen them in electronic format, but its not the same. I know that some of the SOFs I had were also handled by very old and dear friends from Kemper; some no longer with us.
As I near my 51st birthday I think back to these times. The memories keep me going and I just wish I could share them with someone special. But would that person fully understand or just smile and nod be polite and as understanding as they could from their point of view?
What was so great about having to sleep in full sweats with gloves and your hood up at night? Or having, at times, very sub par food? Or cold showers or many other things? Why was it great? At the time, not a dam thing! But now, I know I can make it. I was talking with an Old Boy before my time. He said that after what he went through at Kemper, if he had gotten captured by the Vietnamese, he knew he could take what they dished out. The worst they could do was kill him. Kemper was an experience, even more so than basic or any other training. After Kemper, if you went into the military, you already knew the mind games. You already knew to keep your mouth shut and ears open. And that you were being built into a unit, so you helped others. The D.I.s saw that and could tell. It actually made their jobs a little easier as we had the experience. But it went beyond that.
There were cadets who had a parent on the east coast and another on the west coast so they stuck him in the middle. Birthdays, some holidays, these cadets had no one, outside your Kemper family. You could be hard on them one day and helping celebrate their birthday the next; possibly by either throwing them in the lake or the showers.
I spoke to a lady whose son had wanted to go to Kemper at one time. But he decided not to. I told her, its not for everyone, She knew, being former Army. But I don't think anyone knows, even former military, unless you went to a military school, and I am not talking about one of the service academies, but one that has stood the test of time, like Kemper did. VMI, NMI, the Citadel, Wentworth and others. These are the ones that help shape the cadets. You figure by the time someone is of legal age will be fairly molded; then they join the military. Basic is designed to break you down and rebuild you in that branches way. By going to a military school before that, that's already done.
Though I never wore anything but ROTC, I know that when I am part of an organization, I know what a unit is and to support it. If it is called for, I can step up to lead it. I also know many of my classmates and alumni also know that. So, by the time they hit military basic, that particular job is already done. Usually done by cadets under the age of 18. And they turn out to be assets and great leaders.
And no, just because someone went to a military school does not automatically make them a great leader or a good person. I have also seen that some are beyond that. As I have always said, there are good and bad in all groups.
I am just extremely lucky with the men and women who I call my Kemper family.
