Basic training started in 1969 at Fort Campbell, Ky.

When I first met my drill sergeant, I was scared to death. All he did was yell at everyone. You could never walk down the center aisle in the barracks. We had to buff and polish the floors very day, and clean the latrines with toothbrushes. If your bunk wasn’t made right, the DI would rip it apart and throw the mattress on the floor.

After a few weeks something happened that I would never forget. We were in formation standing at attention when my drill sergeant came up to me face to face and asked me where I got that purple heart from. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. He asked me again, but louder. As I looked at my pocket in my Army fatigues, I had a Bic pen sticking out of my pocket. I was out of uniform. That cost me 50 push-ups.

And then there was fire watch at night. And Police Call. As I got to the 7th week of basic training, I was finally understanding what the DI's were trying to do. I found out that when one person screwed up the whole platoon paid the price. They were trying to make the platoon work as a team.
With all this training, I understood my mission. I adjusted to military training.

From Fort Campbell, I went to Fort Polk (Tigerland) Infantry Fort, my AIT training. So with all that training and adjustments, I would like to thank all my DI's for my training.

Thank you!

“GOD BLESS AMERICA”