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………………………Jim, Joe and I went off to Secretarial School…….Bill, who was Regular Army went to Advanced Infantry Training. I never knew what happened to him….In the days that followed the three of us spoke of Bill often and hoped he was Okay…..There was one other guy who went on to Secretarial School with us from our company, but he wasn’t a friend. His uncle was a lieutenant in our Basic Training company, and he always gave him special privileges. He would take him off of the base and out to dinner many times. I remember he was a good looking, arrogant, southern boy, and was very disliked by almost everyone. He always got away with everything. He never got kitchen clean up duty [KP] or guard duty like the rest of us or any duties for that matter….He was one to stay clear of…….When we reached our new barracks at a whole different area of the fort….he disappeared, and never went to school. We were sure his uncle was covering for him……….The current “graduating class” from secretarial school gave us new comers some advise. They said the sergeant who was in charge of us was a drunk, and was busted many times. This was one of the lowest jobs he could get….babysitting for us. They said to go to the PX, buy a case of scotch and give it to him, and we would never see him or be bothered by him….. After we found out our daily routine that is exactly what we did! We said “Sarg we have a present for you”. He was expecting it. We never saw him come out of his room!!! Every morning we would take ourselves over to the building [the school] where we learned how to be army secretaries, and librarians! The army was always publishing hundreds of manuals that constantly need updating [the secretaries job]. I was still on my crutches, but soon I wouldn’t need them anymore….Classes were about 1  to 1 1/2 hours long. After each class we had a multiple  choice answer test on what the class was about. It was a long test, but it only took about 20 minutes to complete. It was very very easy. After we finished we could go outside and sit in the shade, but we had to wait for everyone to be done before we could leave. It was now the end of May and HOT and HUMID in Louisiana!…..Most of the times it took these other guys well over an hour and a half to finish the test. They weren’t the brightest light bulbs in the chandelier!…. They would slowly emerge from the classroom soaking wet from sweat, because these rooms had no air conditioning….only windows! Then, as a group, we would go back to our barrack. We were done, and free for the rest of the day…..We had the weekends off and could do what we wanted….not that there was too much to do. It was really to hot to do much outside, and with my fracture I couldn’t do much anyway… On Sunday we would go to the church on the base nearest to us and go to the auditorium. Women volunteered to serve the soldiers coffee and donuts…..After we had our fill we would leave and go to the PX or to a movie on the base…..At least the PX and the movie theater were airconditioned!…..One weekend a few of us decided we would take the bus over the border into Texas. We were told there was a great place to hear music, dance, drink and have a good time. So off we went. Others who had been there told us of a motel close by the bus terminal, and that it was clean. So we rented two rooms for the six of us that took this trip. Jim, Joe and i shared a room….Clean was just about all it was! There were two double beds, a bathroom and a TV. It was airconditioned with noisy wall units, but we weren’t planning on spending too much time in the room anyway. We got into our civilian clothes, and off we went. Our short hair cuts, and the fact that we weren’t wearing cowboy boots or wearing cowboy hats was a sure giveaway that we were soldiers…..The place was huge like an airplane hanger, and it was packed to the rafters…..The country music was loud!!! We had a few drinks at what seemed to be a mile long bar. We found some girls who would dance with us, but we really didn’t know how to do the line dance. They tried to teach us, and we had a few laughs….We stayed for quite a while, and then left. I have never in my life seen so many guys carrying guns!!!!We didn’t even stay for the weekend! We checked out the next day, and caught the bus back to Louisiana. We took excursions into Shreveport which was the closest town…..Who did we bump into…none other than the Lieutenant’s nephew! He was visiting all of the houses of ill repute that were supposed to be off limits! They were near the army base, and in Shreveport there were plenty of them! We later found out that he was being treated for syphilis…….Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!…..Finally we all graduated from school! Our tour was coming to a close, and we would be on our way home!!!! Hallelujah, we made it through and survived…I learned a lot about myself during the time I spent in the army. I hated much of it, but never regretted the time I spent…I grew up…..We told the new class coming in about the Sergeant in charge, and to just keep him supplied with scotch and they would never see him…..We felt it was our duty to keep the tradition going, and to tell the new guys the lay of the land…..If I remember correctly, Jim lived in PA, and we got together a few times with Joe who I believe lived in New Jersey, but as time passed we drifted apart…..We led such different lives, and didn’t have the common ground of the army to keep us together……I went on to serve in the National Guard for six years……….Over the years I couldn’t help but wonder about the friends I had made, and of all the guys I met, and the many who I have forgotten. How many made it?……How many of them survived?…Was their sacrifice worth it?…..Is war ever worth it?………….Only the young soldiers loose out in the end.