I was almost 24 years old when I enlisted in the Army. I was excited for the new adventure and sad to leave my family. As with everyone else, I had never shined a pair of boots in my life, much less ever worn them. I remember sitting on my footlocker in the barracks at Fort McClellan, Ala., and starting to shine my two pairs of boots. Until this day, I don't remember why everyone bought lighter fluid or what it was used for, but I had some.

I thought I saw the other soldiers, women, because we were Women's Army Corps (WACs) back then, putting it in their shoe polish. I thought to myself, it would be good to do this and melt the wax so it would go on my boots with ease.

Well, when I lit the wax, the flames shot up about 3 feet high! I was so shocked I couldn't move. One of the girls dragged the footlocker out to the fire escape, which was fortunately close to my area. The alarm was going off, and someone got the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. The next thing I knew, my big, mean drill sergeant came in.

"Who did this?" she asked.

I said that I did and it was an accident. She told me to come to her office later, and I was scared to death. When I walked in her office, she told me to sit down. She then very calmly and rather pleasantly asked what happened. I was so happy that she didn't string me up by my heels, ha!

That was 38 years ago and my worst memory of basic training.