Good evening, Connie, and thank you for the tributes to our troops.
How is your commute in the heat? No critters cuz it’s too hot?
Record highs here the last 2 days.
There was something called a Health and Welfare Inspection which consisted of lining the troops up outside the barracks while MP’s went through the ranks and the building with drug-sniffing dogs. Prior to sending in the dogs, the troops were told that if they turned in contraband, it would be confiscated, but there would be no repercussions. If the dogs found something, however, there would be criminal charges.
We had a kid from San Francisco, who upon hearing this information, pulled several bags of marijuana out of his left pocket and tossed them on the ground. He pulled several more bags of weed from his right pocket. He pulled more grass from his left rear pocket. He pulled more from his right rear pocket. He opened his left shirt pocket and deposited more marijuana on the ground. He opened his right shirt pocket and deposited yet more bags of weed.
As adjutant, I was standing next to the battalion CO while all this was going on. He had a wicked sense of humor, and a glance at him told me he was on the verge of laughing.
The kid un-bloused his left boot and tossed some more bags of grass on the ground. He un-bloused his right boot and tossed yet more bags on the ground.
I could see that the CO was about to lose it.
Then the kid opened his shirt and tossed bag after bag of marijuana onto the ground, making a pile that was rising to the height of his knees.
Seeing that the CO was about to break up, I tapped him on the arm and motioned him to the side of the building out of sight of the troops. About halfway down the path, he began laughing so hard he bent over double. Tears were rolling down his eyes. I couldn’t help it, and I began to laugh uncontrollably.
I said through my laughter, “He lost a lot of money today.”
The CO was barely able to say through his laughter, “How much of him was human, and how much was grass?”
I was stationed in Spain from 68-72, first attached to the embassy, and later on the consulate in Barcelona. The war was not popular in Europe, and off duty we all kept pretty much a low profile, and were encouraged to wear civvies whenever possible. We were all aware of what was going on back home in the States. Spain was also home to one of the three tracking stations for the Apollo missions, so the Spanish people felt connected to the lunar program. In Dec 68, when Apollo 8 orbited the moon during Christmas, and Borman read from Genesis, the entire country was captivated, entranced. It was even more so when, seven months later, we landed on the moon. For those weeks, it was an incredible time to be an American in Spain, and especially in uniform. We received invitations to some amazing homes and parties, and you could walk into any bar and everyone wanted to buy you a drink...or several. Women were very, well..”attentive.” It was just, well.....nice. I I remember talking to my dad that New Year’s Day, and telling him about it. He was a C-47 pilot in the 8th USAAF..he spent the war in England. That good feeling I had then was maybe 1/10,000 what it must have been like in America when the war ended..