basic training (part 3)

When I was drafted I was 20 years old. I still lived at home with my parents. I worked in the kitchen of the Queen of the Valley hospital in West Covina, Calif. for about $50.00 a week. That kept Dorothy and I in enough cash to go the movies every week. I watched the Steve Allen show every night, then read books until 2:00 am and got up at noon (on my days off). Then it all changed.

During Basic the lights came on every morning at 5:00 and went off every night at 9:00, and it was not stop activity, harrassment, verbal abuse, and physical exertion in between.That was the longest eight weeks of my life. Before I entered the military I expected the army to be like a John Wayne movie, but it was more like a Beetle Bailey cartoon.