I was sent to Fort Bragg, N.Carolina. We were the last bunch of trainees to go there for basic before the 101st Airborne took over. This was in June of 1970.

I am from a little town in Minnesota, so here I am at basic doing okay. We all past our PT test, (well most of us). The next day or so, my Drill Sgt., Sgt. Green, came looking for a volunteer, well you know nobody volunteered so he came over to me and said, "you will do." I said, "what?" Sgt Green explained how one of the recruits in our Company could not past the PT Test and I looked like I could past it for him. So the day of the next PT Test, he gave the other recruits a day pass and told me that I would run the PT Test for him instead and I passed my 2nd PT Test. So all the company would go on to AIT. While the other recruits got a day pass, I got paid for doing this.

The best memory is when we were almost done with Basic training and I was walking to the movie house on the Post and out of the blue someone called out my name. Here I am, in Fort Bragg and I do not know anyone, but low and behold here is one of my high school teacher that was drafted with me and was sent in about a month before school was out. What a big surprise to me.

But I never saw him after that and I never asked where he was heading to. So if Mark Sween, from Winnebago,Mn, happens to see this, please e-mail me at floydh@hickorytech.net.

Thank you.

Floyd R. Herme