After my 2 year U.S. Army committment, I returned back to Wisconsin to my old job of working at the Gulf gas station that I had before entering the service. I then worked at International Harvester truck company for 10 years, then I worked at another truck company Wisconsin Kenworth for 18 years. My wife and I moved to Arizona in June of 1996. I got a job working in a prison as a Corrections Officer in Tucson, AZ. Then my wife and I went to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department 7 week training academy and became Detention Officers working in their jails. After two years, I went from there to the City of Tempe AZ Jail as a Detention Officer and retired from there after 15 years. After battling cancer, I am happily retired going on 7 years. I got divorced in 2002 and am happily married to a wonderful woman for the last 15 years. Living every day to it's fullest.
1967, 1st Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade (BCT) (Fort Leonard Wood, MO), D/1
Boot Camp Photo 1st Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade (Fort Leonard Wood, MO) 1967, D/1
School 1st Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade (BCT) (Fort Leonard Wood, MO)
Best Friends From what I can remember, anybody that was from the state of Wisconsin was my friend. You felt like you needed to buddy-up with someone, so it might as well be somebody that you had something in common with. Fortunately, I have just discovered that I have (about 90%) of the names of the guys in the picture and what state they were from on the back of this Class Graduation picture. I just may have to see if I can find any of them and compare stories with them. None of us had any idea at all where we would end up at that time. Very scary indeed!
Best Moment I suppose that (without a doubt) graduation day was probably the "Best Moment". I was kind of a skinny, but tall kid without very much muscle so getting through basic training was really hard for me.
Worst Moment I would say that the "Worst Moment" was the every day fear that we as recruits were subjected to. We realized that all of us were suffering equally (physically), but to see our NCO's and "acting NCO's" breaking kids down and making them cry to make a point for the rest of us to witness. They were always saying, "are you going to be letting your buddies down like this when you are Vietnam?" It worked for some and not others. I saw some kids just give up completely and others turned it around and became some of the best in our groups.
Instructors Our instructors as a whole were pretty fair. At graduation, they would let us tease them and bring up some of the crazy things that they had made us do in training. Most of our instructors were Vietnam veterans so they knew first hand what goes on over there and they pulled no bones about telling us what would happen if we did not pay attention to what they were telling us now. They jokingly told us that probably about 50% of us would not make it back home.
Other Memories I was just looking at this Basic Training graduation picture that I have had tucked away for 50 years and I saw someone that I went through Basic Training with and Advanced Infantry Training with and we met each other a final time in Vietnam when we were getting ready to get on that Freedom Bird to fly back home out of Vietnam in may of 1969. His name is Bill Landwehr and we have even had each other's email addresses and have been corresponding a few times through all of these years. He went to the Ninth Infantry, while I went to the 25th Infantry. We both made it all the way through and are getting old together!