I went to basic training in November 1962 at Lackland Air Force Base. In those days, we were still using the old two-story wooden barracks with half the flight upstairs and half downstairs. One weekend during the second phase, we were left alone in the barracks with only a guard at the door. Somebody started a shouting match about downstairs being better than we were upstairs. One thing led to another and we dared them to try to come upstairs.

Well, they all grabbed their shaving cream cans and started up.

We grabbed ours and met them coming up the stairs. Shaving cream started squirting everywhere from the floor to the ceiling and all over everybody.

Then the guard said he was going after the training instructors. He didn't have to go far to tell them, but before they got back to the barracks there wasn't a spot of shaving cream to be seen and we all acted like nothing had happened. We still ended up getting some sort of punishment anyway. The bad thing about it was the guard was one of us, but he was afraid they would do something to him so he told on us.