On March 22, 1957, I departed Hopewell, Va., headed to Richmond and then on a long train ride to Columbia, S.C., arriving late that night. A bus was waiting to take us to Fort Jackson, S.C. for 16 weeks of basic training in Army infantry. We were assigned to Company A, Eighth Battalion, Second Training Regiment.
From civilian life to a soldier’s life began immediately with assignment to wooden, two-story barracks with no air conditioning. The first day we took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, and then all 205 trainees went through the clothing fitting line which included receiving two pairs of infantry boots.
This is where my fun began. I was wearing a pair of black and white saddle oxfords, size 13, and guess what? There were no size 13 boots available. In our first formation that afternoon, it did not take our first sergeant long to spot me as the only one in the company without regulation boots. For the first week until my boots arrived, I trained in those oxfords and became known as “College Joe.” Each day when special assignments were made, such as picking up cigarette butts and cleaning pots and pans, the first name called was, of course, “College Joe!”