A Legend in My Mind
My father was a two-time decorated veteran. He had a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, having fought in both World War II and in the front lines of Vietnam.
You will notice that skips a war. Dad did not fight in the Korean conflict.
He had orders for Korea and was packed to go. The night before he was supposed to ship out, he got a call informing him that he was the only man in the Battallion (about a thousand people) who had all the schools required to teach ROTC at some college, so he was being held back to fill that slot.
They needed two guys and they also held back some officer -- who likely had a college degree -- with less stellar military credentials. My dad was an NCO, not an officer, and a high school drop out.
Dropping out of high school was common at that time. At age fifteen, he was big enough to earn a man's wage for a man's work, so that's what he did.
Dad originally joined the Army as a teen to fight in World War II. My recollection is that he was seventeen and needed his father to sign the paperwork to let him go.
He was very quickly promoted to E-6, if I recall correctly, due to battlefield promotions, then perhaps foolishly he left the military, went home to the farm for six months and then decided he would rather be in the military, so he re-enlisted.
I have heard it said that he got to sleep an hour later in the Army than on the farm and if no one was shooting at you, the pay was good and the work was easier than farm work.
So he went back in and started over as an E-1 and went up the ranks more slowly during peace time.
My dad was very big on "the buck stop here." He took full responsibility for anything he was in charge of and sometimes broke the rules to do things right.
While stationed in Germany, he was put in charge of a unit and too many of the vehicles were deadlined -- not working -- to get everyone to the designated spot on time during training alerts during the Cold War. So he fixed that and broke a few rules to do it.
He put an E-5 in charge of the motor pool. This guy didn't have enough rank to be in charge of the motor pool. What he had going for him was that he was a car nut.
In front of everyone in the unit, dad told this young man that if anyone had trouble with taking orders from an E-5, he should refer them to my dad, the big boss in charge.
He had them strip two or three vehicles for parts to get the rest running. This was against the rules. You were supposed to order parts from the US and wait -- usually several weeks -- for them to arrive and this was a very large part of why so many vehicles didn't work.
He also had someone on pass at all times. A three- or four-day pass is only supposed to be issued in conjunction with the weekend so they get a long weekend. It's not supposed to be something that gets you time off in the middle of the week.
He did it so his people wouldn't mutiny because anyone who wasn't on pass was working like a dog every day until late in the evening to get the vehicles working again.
At the next alert, all his vehicles except for the two or three stripped for parts were up and running and he got everyone to the designated meeting place in a timely fashion. As other units ran vehicles back and forth trying to ferry people in, a General asked my father how he pulled that off when no one else could.
He said "You will not like it." then explained what he had done. At that point, the General turned to the others in charge of local units and said "You will henceforth do what he is doing." which is how it became policy instead of a black mark on his military record.
On another occasion, he showed up to a new unit that he was taking over and learned that the bathroom in the barracks was in terrible shape. You urinated in the urinal and the pipes were broken, so it pooled in the wall.
He took my mother, a German national who spoke fluent German, with him into town, found a plumber and had her translate for him. It was important that he have a good translator because what he was about to do was very much against the rules in a manner that could have gotten him court martialed.
For starters, he issued the guy a uniform -- aka had him impersonating an American soldier -- and walked him past security every morning. He fed him lunch in the mess hall on base, both to avoid having to walk him past security TWICE a day and as part of his compensation.
He ordered parts through the military system and paid the plumber out of petty cash. Soon, the bathroom was all fixed up. No one in the unit said one word about him breaking a bunch of rules to do right by them.
He supposedly is the person who suggested the policy of "up or out" -- i.e. get promoted within a certain time frame or leave the army. Career "losers" who never got promoted past E-4, like Corporal Rizzo of M.A.S.H., became a thing of the past with this new policy.
It should perhaps be reconsidered. My understanding is it has made the military a bit top heavy and they face challenges filling the lower ranks.
Dad retired from the Army the summer I turned three and bought a house in the 'burbs. I spent my elemetary school years listening to my dad's tales of adventure from when he was active duty and waiting to trip across his name in my school history books.
I would be a teenager before I would realize this was never going to happen.
I've been open since my teens about having been molested, but I told my story and it's only much more recently that I am open about who molested me and I still try to not harp on that detail overly much.
So this blog exists in part because I feel I didn't know my dad well and I have baggage. He was both an incredible person whom I really don't talk that much about in part because people ALREADY think I tell tall tales without me talking about my dad and someone I sometimes had bad dreams about because he hurt me for a time.
I am reluctant to write too much on THIS blog about the fact that he molested me because I am concerned about it sounding like it is maligning the Native community. A brief overview is told elsewhere and the TLDR is that I feel he stopped and did his best to make amends because of his Native heritage. Following in our father's footsteps, my brother also made amends to me.
You will notice that skips a war. Dad did not fight in the Korean conflict.
He had orders for Korea and was packed to go. The night before he was supposed to ship out, he got a call informing him that he was the only man in the Battallion (about a thousand people) who had all the schools required to teach ROTC at some college, so he was being held back to fill that slot.
They needed two guys and they also held back some officer -- who likely had a college degree -- with less stellar military credentials. My dad was an NCO, not an officer, and a high school drop out.
Dropping out of high school was common at that time. At age fifteen, he was big enough to earn a man's wage for a man's work, so that's what he did.
Dad originally joined the Army as a teen to fight in World War II. My recollection is that he was seventeen and needed his father to sign the paperwork to let him go.
He was very quickly promoted to E-6, if I recall correctly, due to battlefield promotions, then perhaps foolishly he left the military, went home to the farm for six months and then decided he would rather be in the military, so he re-enlisted.
I have heard it said that he got to sleep an hour later in the Army than on the farm and if no one was shooting at you, the pay was good and the work was easier than farm work.
So he went back in and started over as an E-1 and went up the ranks more slowly during peace time.
My dad was very big on "the buck stop here." He took full responsibility for anything he was in charge of and sometimes broke the rules to do things right.
While stationed in Germany, he was put in charge of a unit and too many of the vehicles were deadlined -- not working -- to get everyone to the designated spot on time during training alerts during the Cold War. So he fixed that and broke a few rules to do it.
He put an E-5 in charge of the motor pool. This guy didn't have enough rank to be in charge of the motor pool. What he had going for him was that he was a car nut.
In front of everyone in the unit, dad told this young man that if anyone had trouble with taking orders from an E-5, he should refer them to my dad, the big boss in charge.
He had them strip two or three vehicles for parts to get the rest running. This was against the rules. You were supposed to order parts from the US and wait -- usually several weeks -- for them to arrive and this was a very large part of why so many vehicles didn't work.
He also had someone on pass at all times. A three- or four-day pass is only supposed to be issued in conjunction with the weekend so they get a long weekend. It's not supposed to be something that gets you time off in the middle of the week.
He did it so his people wouldn't mutiny because anyone who wasn't on pass was working like a dog every day until late in the evening to get the vehicles working again.
At the next alert, all his vehicles except for the two or three stripped for parts were up and running and he got everyone to the designated meeting place in a timely fashion. As other units ran vehicles back and forth trying to ferry people in, a General asked my father how he pulled that off when no one else could.
He said "You will not like it." then explained what he had done. At that point, the General turned to the others in charge of local units and said "You will henceforth do what he is doing." which is how it became policy instead of a black mark on his military record.
On another occasion, he showed up to a new unit that he was taking over and learned that the bathroom in the barracks was in terrible shape. You urinated in the urinal and the pipes were broken, so it pooled in the wall.
He took my mother, a German national who spoke fluent German, with him into town, found a plumber and had her translate for him. It was important that he have a good translator because what he was about to do was very much against the rules in a manner that could have gotten him court martialed.
For starters, he issued the guy a uniform -- aka had him impersonating an American soldier -- and walked him past security every morning. He fed him lunch in the mess hall on base, both to avoid having to walk him past security TWICE a day and as part of his compensation.
He ordered parts through the military system and paid the plumber out of petty cash. Soon, the bathroom was all fixed up. No one in the unit said one word about him breaking a bunch of rules to do right by them.
He supposedly is the person who suggested the policy of "up or out" -- i.e. get promoted within a certain time frame or leave the army. Career "losers" who never got promoted past E-4, like Corporal Rizzo of M.A.S.H., became a thing of the past with this new policy.
It should perhaps be reconsidered. My understanding is it has made the military a bit top heavy and they face challenges filling the lower ranks.
Dad retired from the Army the summer I turned three and bought a house in the 'burbs. I spent my elemetary school years listening to my dad's tales of adventure from when he was active duty and waiting to trip across his name in my school history books.
I would be a teenager before I would realize this was never going to happen.
Footnote
My father and brother both molested me, most likely due to both having had head injuries. My father returned from Vietnam with shrapnel in his head and as best I can piece together things got weird for a bit before he decided this is NOT okay. My brother had at least three head injuries that I know of prior to the age of 13.I've been open since my teens about having been molested, but I told my story and it's only much more recently that I am open about who molested me and I still try to not harp on that detail overly much.
So this blog exists in part because I feel I didn't know my dad well and I have baggage. He was both an incredible person whom I really don't talk that much about in part because people ALREADY think I tell tall tales without me talking about my dad and someone I sometimes had bad dreams about because he hurt me for a time.
I am reluctant to write too much on THIS blog about the fact that he molested me because I am concerned about it sounding like it is maligning the Native community. A brief overview is told elsewhere and the TLDR is that I feel he stopped and did his best to make amends because of his Native heritage. Following in our father's footsteps, my brother also made amends to me.