Page 83 - Firehouse Pond

FORT LEWIS BASIC TRAINING BARRACKS
CIRCA 1940’S AND 1967
NATIONAL ARCHIVES

The wooden barracks were vintage WWII: Cold, wet, and complete with

natural air conditioning. Complete with holes in the walls large enough to put
our hands through.

“Give Me A Ticket for An Aero Plane” by The Box Tops was playing on the
radio in the mess hall, “Ode to Billy Jo” by Bobbie Gentry followed. This one
was rather interesting to hear. Remembering my friend Billy Joe from
Charleston, knowing he was as patriotic as anyone but unable to serve his

country. I had come a long way from my childhood days back in Missouri.

All sorts of thoughts went through my mind as life as I had known it was

changing at breakneck speed. I was instantly certain I was screwed!

I was in the U.S. Army without a high school diploma. That meant I was on

the fast track to the Infantry. The Infantry in 1967 and the Vietnam War was
a reality.

Oh, those choices; mine caught up with me in a big way. It did not take long
for me to wise up and realize that I needed to do something, anything, to
change my course and NOT be an infantry soldier. I was too skinny, too
young, and too scared to be an infantry soldier.