Richard Nixon sent me an invitation to report for induction to Ft. Knox, KY., January 1972. It was my college graduation present.

Two weeks after my last final exam I was qualifying with an M - 16 on a cold morning that froze my target with ice. It would not go down.

Up until that day, after several visits to the range, I had the best score in my unit. I was upset that the target I was assigned to would not go down. I brought this to the officer's attention and offered to march out again on Sunday for makeup round.

I was ordered to continue shooting. I started shooting the immediate target to the left and right of me. I did not miss. The officer ordered me to stop and I was told that I was given a score of zero for the day. I told the officer that was going to be score anyway due to his target malfunction.

At least I helped the score of the guys to my left and right. In spite of getting a zero for that day, I still earned a sharpshooter rank.

To this day I would do the same thing in that circumstance as long as no one was put at risk.