In April 1961, Flight 617 was going through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. I was a scrawny 17-year-old from New York City, and weighed all of 128 pounds. My barracks bunkmate was just the opposite. (One thing I liked about the service was you met different people.) Russell Robert E. Lee Schaff III was a huge guy, well over 6 feet tall and weighing at least 225 pounds, and wow, how he could make me laugh. He always had a big smile on his face and talked with a classic deep Southern drawl.
We were standing for our first full inspection, and we were all nervous when Sgt. "Sharp as a Tack" Crowley entered the barracks.
When Crowley got to our bunk he looked into Schaff's footlocker, took out a pair of his boxer shorts and threw them against the wall. Apparently they were not folded properly because they came apart when they hit the wall. Well, I thought that was the funniest thing and could not hold back my laughter. Crowley, however, did not find it funny at all. He immediately ordered me to wear the underwear over my head. I thought at the time that it was pretty severe punishment, until I saw another young recruit carrying his entire footlocker to the mess hall.