'Cool under fire'

In April 1961 we were sent to Fort Ord, Calif., to undergo basic training. After a month or so of training, we were going to undertake the night infiltration course. Our group started crawling the obstacle course and I noticed a trooper huddled down by himself, so I crawled over to him and asked if he was okay.

"I'm scared to death and I think I'll get up and run out of here," he said.

I told him not to even think of doing that, as they were firing live .30-caliber machine gun bullets over our heads. Then I told him I'd crawl along side him and we'd go together. We finally made it together to the end and one of the platoon sergeants said to me "Watts, I want you to lead the next group through."

"Sure, sarge, but why me?" I asked.

"You're cool under fire," he said. I took this to be one of the greatest compliments I ever got from a World War II and Korean War veteran.

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