In 1959, I was in basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. As a seventeen year old with only peach fuzz for facial hair, I had never shaved, so I gave my razor blades to a friend. During the second week of basic, we were doing exercises in a wooded area where the light filtered by the trees turned orange. This orange light made my peach fuzz visible to our drill instructor. When we returned to our barracks, I was told to fall out and retrieve my razor. When you were caught not shaving, the punishment was to assume the position for doing pushups in front of the company and dry shave. Since I knew I did not have a razor blade in my razor, I looked in all the trashcans to no avail. I went out with an empty razor, sure I would be facing a firing squad, assumed the pushup position and pretended to shave. When I was done, I came to attention. In bright sunlight the sergeant grabbed my chin, turned my head from one side to the other and said, "Much better Sumosky. Make sure it doesn't happen again".

Ed Sumosky, Edinboro, Pa.