Monthly Archives: February 2011

Each evening before going home from work at Schrafft’s I’d make a stop, or several stops, on Macdougal Street, which at the time was the heart of Greenwich Village.  Yes, very few people, except for the local Italians, actually lived … Continue reading →

I was now an extremely busy twenty-year-old.  As soon as I had a job I registered at Brooklyn College again.  The College was still free, except for the $8 a semester registration fee.  I believe the fee was the same … Continue reading →

After being a model prisoner for five months, I was released one month early for good behavior, and wound up back in my infantry outfit.  This time being back in the infantry wasn’t as bad as it had been before.  … Continue reading →

Periodically we had our beds “tossed”.  This meant that our blankets and sheet were ripped off our beds and the mattresses were turned over in a search for contraband items, items such as alcohol or weapons.  These searches were carried … Continue reading →

Being a trustee involved moving to another room, one without bars and attached steel cots.  It also involved having lighter duty, centering on the mess hall and the kitchen, and having been an exemplary prisoner I was soon elevated to … Continue reading →

Our days were not spent in reading or in idleness.  Each day a dozen of us was assigned to a work detail  and  taken to various locations on Fort Clayton to do whatever needed doing.  Wherever we went, we were … Continue reading →

The court martial took place in Fort Clayton, and I was sentenced to six months in the stockade.  I was just grateful that it wasn’t a year and a dishonorable discharge, which it often was for similar offenses.  I guess … Continue reading →

All went well for several months, and between evenings in the cheerful atmosphere of the bars in Colon and the reading I did while on guard duty, I really had only one complaint.   In Panama, it rained every day, which … Continue reading →

My Arizona friend, Jerry Fuller, was in the Military Police in Fort Davis and told me that additional men were needed in his unit.  Would I be interested in making the switch?  It would only be a TDY (Temporary Duty) … Continue reading →

While traipsing through the jungle with my BAR did have some occasional charms, these were insufficient to keep me in the infantry.  I looked around to see if there might not be some other opportunity available, and one did come … Continue reading →