The Day Before

Many years and much of a lifetime ago on this day, the day before Thanksgiving, I graduated from boot camp. A couple of weeks later I was off to Pensacola, Florida, for a few months of schooling. After that I went overseas and spent almost 3 years on a ship.

The night before I left for boot camp, I hit and killed a dog while driving my girlfriend and my best friend and his girlfriend back to my house. Later that same night, my girlfriend spent a couple of hours throwing up. I don't remember where we obtained the liquor that made her do that.

In Pusan, South Korea, my friend Kent and I found a bakery between wherever we'd been and our hotel. This was the day before we had to return to the ship and head back to Japan. Kent was from Indiana. He was older than I was, and he was a happy, if unstable drunk. I've never been especially stable sober, but that night he had to hold onto my arm as I led him back to the hotel. We'd bought a chocolate cake and 2 bottles of Pepsi in the bakery, but we didn't have forks or a bottle opener. So, we ate the cake with our dogtags, and used a notch in the showerhead to open the Pepsi. Then, a storm came in and we couldn't get back to the ship. We had to spend the next night at an Army base, sitting in plastic chairs in the cafeteria.

We often had a lot of free time in the Philippines. We had a lot of fun, too. I could tell your stories! Once, the day before I had to work, I got lost while making my way from Subic City and Olongapo. Olongapo was the town just outside the gates that separated the Navy from the natives. The country was under Marshall Law back then, and everyone had to be inside after midnight. Even after sunset the air was hot and humid. I remember thinking I was headed toward the main gate, that if I kept working my way through the crowd of people and jitneys, I'd easily get back to the base before curfew. I walked and walked. Finally, after what seemed to be far too long, I broke down and paid for a taxi. Thirty minutes and many miles later the driver dropped me off at the main gate. I showed the Marine my I.D. and got onto the base with minutes to spare. I learned then that sometimes a man has to break down a bit if things are going to be set right.