I was a new recruit with C/II/3., August/September 1960 at Fort Ord, Calif. One day we had to go through the obstacle course. We had reached a trench (approximately 3-4 feet deep). Each soldier started crawling, one behind the other, when “tear gas” was thrown into the trench. Our gas mask was put on fast as possible. As I left the trench one of my buddies came crawling out coughing, spitting and his face as red as a tomato.
The NCO came over and asked him where his gas mask was. He said he lost it in the trench. He was told (not in a low voice) to crawl back into the trench and ifnd it. He did find his mask. He was one sorry-looking soldier.
We all learned a good lesson.