anybody interested in hearing a story?

but anyway... we go to get on the plane... and im looking at the ice slush mix on the commercial planes wings and i thought surely if it was unsafe he wouldn't fly... as the five of us, with two bags each, walked towards the four seat plane i became a bit apprehensive. i asked him about the ice on the plane and with a half leap, knock the ball from the net swoop he swiped at the icey mush and declared it "snow". i could tell he wasnt buying it either since serious shit doesnt usually come with a smile, and he knocked almost none of the snow away which didnt help his case. i was lucky enough to sit up front. after sizing everybody up he decided itd be best if we put the 135 lb feller (me) in the front with two of the larger suitcases on his lap to offset the fact that there were three larger fellers in the back. as the second suitcase was set on top of me i expressed my concern, "guys, i dont know about this", i said. i was called a pussy, not once, or twice, but thrice... glenn just spit tobacco and said "itd be okay". loaded to the gills, we headed down the icy runway. air midwest had complained about the potholes so much they threatened to stop landing here... the runway was absolute shit and if you see it now on g earth dont delude yourself... it was one step above barnstorming, back then... which is bold, dont get me wrong... but i wanted war (i will come back to this remark at a later point ).
 
i would like to say at this point also that part of my motivation was due to an entire family that served. from officers to grunts, from killers to objectors. my grandfather was one of the first people to hit the soil in korea and one of the last to leave. literally lived everyday in a combat zone for ten years serving with an army engineering battalion building things. he told me he had a duty to serve his country, but no obligation to sacrifice his principles. he never once handled a firearm. and they never even tried once to make him because he told them upfront. i will go, but i will not do this. and then he didnt. he was also another very good influence in my life.
 
from what i could see, behind two suitcases or under them as it were, the runway seemed a harrowing nightmare from hell. id already read enough books about understanding body language to know that "teeth clenching pilot" is "ungood". its bad enough he went to work as a pilot in bib overalls...:D but he got er into the air... and then we were off! about twenty minutes into the flight and after the second altitude drop, he decided he needed to relax and asked if anyone cared whether he chewed or not and hed have to open a window for spitting... i look at him and said," man you do whatever you got to in order to safely land this plane"... another guy yelled from the back, "no shit... whack off, spit tobacco, do whatever makes you fly better"... i chuckled... heh i was with "grown ups now".... in spite of his "lucky" chew, or mebbe because of it... we only had 3 more quick drops like that and no wreck... which worked out well for us... but he still shouldnt have flown us... i made note of it... and i was sufficiently miffed (inner frenchman). the next day was processing and a battery of tests...
 
the ASVAB (armed services vocational aptitude battery) determines your value to uncle sugar... like platos republic theyve little time to teach you the "form of the good" so they focus on your part of that whole... certainly more cost effective but in the long run a dis-satisfactory manner to go about things as a practice...
 
cecilia said:
oh, I Remember the Vile Shit republicans have been doing......I saw a Lot of it.
I just mean that once while there were the scumbags you also had people like Eisenhower and William Buckley (to name two that immediately pop into my head) that you could respect ...

NOW, I see no one the earns My respect.
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ike was a whole different breed of feller, didnt like lies much and had a low threshold for bullshit.... and he was also the last honest politician... not one word of what he said, did not already happen.... :(
 
so i showed up at the meps station, the first part is a cattle call. a lot like prison, drop your socks, grab your 2ocks, turn head to left and cough.... there were thirty guys in my row... one attending handled about 600 testicles that day, i felt unreassured by assembly line care but decided to grin and bear it.
 
the next day was the asvab and we were warned not to screw it up. i had just turned 16. every guy i flew there with was 25 or older. every line i stood in that day i had to hold my waiver papers in my hand because everyone couldnt believe i was there... i had a parental waiver and weight waiver (i was waaay under, recruiter had me wear big boots when he weighed me, i was 130 lbs dripping wet with clothes on... lol)
 
so we decided to walk to missouri and go drink at a bar. well they decided. i just went along. i didnt actually think anyone would let me drink. i was 16.
we walked across the bridge and came to a club/package store (which means they can sell beer to go) called the bottoms up club. it was about a two mile walk. the 3 guys i was with, and had met because they got put in my room, were some of the most aryion looking mo fos it wasnt funny. the club, nothing but black faces. the whole time we were walking across the bridge they were praying to run into a "nigger" and there we were, right there with a roomful and they were all apologies. bravado is not bro will do, and sometimes u end up looking like a dill hole...
 
robert l. bentham said:
ike was a whole different breed of feller, didnt like lies much and had a low threshold for bullshit.... and he was also the last honest politician... not one word of what he said, did not already happen.... :(
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yup, that's my impression of him as well. America was lucky to have him and the two previous presidents.

where are those people now??
 
cecilia said:
yup, that's my impression of him as well. America was lucky to have him and the two previous presidents.

where are those people now??
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well... honestly i think most of them just sit at home and make sure theirs' will survive...
 
so we bought beer, did the walk of shame across the bridge back to the motel, and thought very little about what we were going to do the next day. when i enlisted they were actually taking women and the motel was pretty much a roman orgy by 2 am. nobody was asleep. room doors were wide open and people filtered in and out of the rooms at will... i had no idea that "adulthood" was such a freak show but i was about to get a lesson.
 
im not a prude by any stretch, but im not like that. never been into the casual sex thing so i pretty much was left out... by the time i had finished the "motel crawl" it was almost 4 am anyway. i went back and took a shower and contemplated the day i was facing... i wasnt 5 minutes under water before the knock on the door followed by a voice saying it was "showtime". i worried for all of us. we went to breakfast and then to the station to take the test... i was completely still drunk, loaded with greasy bacon and feeling every ounce of pain... hungover like hell... they walked us to a room having divided us into groups of forty and in we went... some guys handed us booklets... my head was on the desk... god what did i do to myself i thought... they were timed so i told myself if i just shut eyes for five minutes id be okay... i ended up going ten and thinkin "fawk"... i opened the book... it was english stuff and processing paperwork... oh easy peasey!! and then i rolled right over it.... we went to a waiting room, after they figured the scores they came and got one guy after another. feller would go and come back, he'd say his score and then tell you they decided his job would be this or that... i can't lie... every guy i went with got an infantry MOS (military occupational specialty), your job. when i went in, i was met by a full bird. he was the most squared away joe i had ever met. forgive me the gay moment but he was handsome, tall, and wore the uniform as well as any i had ever seen. i stood at parade rest. snapped to attention and said pvt bentham reporting sir... he said at ease and told me to sit. he asked me about the ASVAB, said he wanted to talk to me. asked me if i would try to cheat the army. i said no. he asked me a few questions about some of the test questions and why i said what i said and i explained it as well as i could. then he told the 1st sgt that was in the room that id "probably be okay". they both looked at me and then top asked"you have any felony convictions" i was kind of insulted they even thought to ask that since i was still in high school... but i said no... they asked if i ever was a member of the communist party and i regaled them with how reagan had inspired me to put boot to ground in the "cold war". they asked me if i could name five people and what would those people say about me... they asked me if i ever gambled... did i go to church... do i owe money.... four hours i spent in that room with them... after watching guys go in and out in 20 minutes... when i left... i had no job assignment or school... everyone else was either shipping out or had orders in their hands for a later date... i was kinda bothered by that and wasnt sure what to think... they accused me of cheating firstly, and i knew i hadnt. then they asked all these other questions. ones they didnt ask of the others, i was pretty sure i was going to jail.. my new found "buddies" decided to go get beer.lol... and they did. i went back to the room and took a shower... fretting i called my dad... he said he didnt know what to tell me and if i did something wrong just say sorry and move on... lol... i love my dad... it was hard to sleep but i did. and i was awoken by top at around 430. i was required back at the office. i got up, brushed the sleep from my face and followed him unsure of what to expect. we went back to a different office this time, had more space. when i walked in the col. was sitting in a chair backwards facing what i presumed was my seat. i didnt wait for him to tell me to sit, and he wasnt put off by it either.
 
he looked me straight in the face and he said "son, nobody misses two questions on the ASVAB"" people miss 30 questions even 20, why do you want in my army?"
 
i was hurting from lack of info so i asked him if i was going to get an MOS assignment?
 
so col xxxx (name is four letters) said" oh hell yes, we want you, we just want to know what you want to do"... i was kind of dumb founded. sometimes you get so drunk it takes a day or two to shake it off, and i realize it seems obvious but it wasnt registering in my 16 yr old mind.... so i asked him, "well what am i qualified to do?" top immediately asked "do you play a musical instrument?". i told him i did play violin for about 6 yrs. he said well only two jobs you dont qualify for and maybe three that you d like.... he got up and left the room...
 
and there it was... me and col xxxx... and it sounded more like a mafia hit man conversation than a professional agreement between citizen and his government
 
"your uncle" i was assured, had something he needed me to do... i just needed to go home, keep my mouth shut, and wait for the feds to come talk to the five people i had named earlier.... i didnt know what to tell "the guys" so i just let them think i didnt get in for some reason or another, and gawd did they speculate, i needed 3 waivers just to sign the paperwork... i dunno... it was a quiet ride home and this time we got a van.....
 
the five names i gave them were two teachers, and three family members.oh robbie they said, are you in some trouble? the FBI came and talked to us (apparently they only come for bad news) but i checked out.... it was almost 30 days later when they contacted me... needed to go back to kc... this time was strange... i was to be taken in a van by myself....
 
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