He talks about the dressing down they are given when there has been too much fooling around in the barracks. First, he says, the CO gives the assembly a threatening lecture about what will happen should anyone get sent to his office. 2nd, the NCO adds a bit of a physical threat. Finally, the sergeant tells them how the lazy ones are always the ones who get killed in battle. They are the ones who let their country and their buddies down.

He writes, "You would be surprised how this latter talk with its calculated psychological effect works on the trainees. By telling these recruits that they might let down their country because they're screwing around now, they become more solemn and serious-minded than they were after the CO's talk. You can see how well these young men have been indoctrinated throughout their lives. The constant, subtle propaganda being fed the young is designed with just this sort of purpose in mind...Unquestioning allegiance is strived for when our minds are still impressionable and then continually asked of us later on in life."

And he ain't seen nuthin' yet!

Just a little note where he says he has a letter from my mom, approving our meeting at my roommate Anne's for Thanksgiving. Of course, we plan no such thing. We plan a meeting in a hotel room in Kentucky. I can't even remember where. I remember being there. I vaguely remember being on a bus. I vaguely remember getting very drunk - that is, when I read another of his letters received after the meeting, he mentions it and it rings a bell. I think it was disappointing in some ways. I probably got drunk and threw up all over stuff and was too sick to have sex or something incredibly stupid like that.

I was thinking about what I wrote a couple of blogs ago, about my partners' reaction to my enthusiasm and feeling that they have to tie me up, tie me down, restrain me somehow. I'm thinking that may explain why, in later years, I chose men who were intellectually weaker than me, who I would not feel cowed by (that should read "by whom I would not feel cowed"). I wonder if I'm strong enough yet to hold my own against an equal. I wonder if I'll ever get the chance. Mooooooo......

October 29, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis

He writes: "I get so damned mad when I think of the leaders of the two world powers putting everything on the block, risking all, closing their ears to negotiations leaving no room to save face except by war. It's all so damned silly...Our threats endanger mankind. Why shouldn't Russia demand that we take our missle bases out of Turkey by the same argument that we're using in the Cuban situation...

"I would rather we lose a little face than have war, for I would surely die, I know. This army is fooling the men down here into believing it is powerful and invincible. Of course, a little confidence is good, but then we should be made aware of what to expect. I only hope our leaders do not abdicate our need for negotiation or all is lost."

A little pamphlet entitled "Things an Individual Soldier Should Know" entails all the financial obligations the army has to its enlisted personnel.

Okay, this is 1962.

Base pay, Grade E-1 (Under 4 months service) $78/month. Out of that they take $4 income tax and $2.34 Social Security. A new soldier gets $71.66 a month.

This gradually increases to a whopping $108/month after two years, of which the take home pay is $94.96.

Soldiers are admonished: "You should always keep at least $10.00 per month for essential personal needs."

Page 9 addresses the "Six-Month Death Gratuity." (Death tip???)

"The amopunt payable is computed as follows: Total monthly pay (including special incentive, hazard and basic pay, but not allowance) multiplied by 6 = death gratuity. Min. $800 - Max. $3000.00 tax free.