The trials and tribulation of basic training in the U.S. Army

My most enduring memory of basic training is when the bus rolled into Fort Polk, La., and the drill instructors came on board and started screaming at us.

"All of you sissy, mommy boys get off this bus and get lined up," they said. They were always in our face yelling at us and always pushing us during training. We all hated those drill instructors up until the time we graduated.

I am fairly certain that I wasn't the only infantryman in Vietnam who thought about his drill instructors from basic training and wished they knew where they were stationed so I could write them a letter thanking them for everything they taught me.

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