off to war...or peace

1954...off to war (or peacekeeping)

I volunteered for the draft and went in to get my two years over with so I could get on with my life.

I Reported for basic training to a camp in Arkansas...and squeaked thru the eight weeks. I asked for an MOS in field related to my couple of years broadcasting experience and they just laughed and sent me to supply school in Ft. Lee, Va.

Because my Dad had been an officer in two world wars attaining rank of Lt. Colonel I wanted to impress him and become an officer. I took the Office Candidate School exam and despite a temp of over 100 degrees in the loft where we were examined I nearly made the grade.  I applied to take it again in better circumstances and the first of several things that would make my army time very interesting happened.

Our Company Commander called me in... with a proposition.

"You drop your request on OCS (it was a lot of paperwork for him) and I’ll send you...not to Korea (where we were waging war on behalf of the United Nations instead of the United States) but to Europe where you can see the sights and the girls and enjoy your stay."

Needless to say I jumped at it.

I got my travel orders in August and was transferred to Ft. Dix New Jersey where we’d leave by transport ship out of the Port of New York.  We were billeted in an old WAC barracks and all of us waiting for transport found that fascinating. 

       There were no urinals..and in the rest rooms they had painted formal army type signs on the walls above the sinks:

                            “IF YOU ARE GONNA DO IT

                            DO IT WITH A G.I.”

There was a lot of not so serious discussion going on around the barracks...some of us decided that it was a joke...others said some horny top male officer at the base must have had the signs put up!