Ticked off

[mikewint]

Wes, Dad had been involved with politics for a long time and was a big part of the Democratic Machine in Cook County. Dad had only to make a call and free gravel, concrete, etc. were delivered in county trucks and our street and driveway were the first to be plowed in the winter. In 1952 we were already working for Adlai Stephenson for president against Ike. Otto Kerner (Ill. Governor) was a friend of Dad and we were invited to his election ball. So politics was "in my blood" but still in most regards I was very much a small town country bumpkin in the big city at U of I. I had seldom even seen anyone black or Asian. Rick was my first and only Hispanic so suddenly being thrown into ROTC and marching up and down the quad was a REALLY new experience as were the SPU (Student Peace Union) sign carrying protesters that dogged or march. Personally I totally agreed with their messages and started attending their meetings. Around late October early November a guest speaker arrived on campus and a big rally was planned to hear him speak. It was Tom Hayden. He was bright, articulate, passionate, and one heck of a speaker. He was going from campus to campus organizing the various Student Peace Unions into a national organization: Students for a Democratic Society or SDS. I was hooked and so were we all. We quickly joined with them and I was a card-carrying member of SDS. The Cuban Missile Crisis started in september and we literally watched the skies for ICBM tracks. Protests accelerated and campus sit-in occurred several times as well as physically blocking the ROTC building and marches. As I was in the thick of it campus security had hauled me away several times and was threatened with arrest by Urbana police. All of that was quickly reported to my local Draft Board whose reaction was to cancel my 2-S deferral and the die was cast

 

[XBe02Drvr]

All of that was quickly reported to my local Draft Board whose reaction was to cancel my 2-S deferral and the die was cast

Raw deal, bro!
They tried to do that here in VT, but our senior senator, George ("declare victory and get out") Aiken got wind of it and came down on the "ultra patriots" like a ton of bricks. He was a power in the Republican party and could "influence" the career of just about any politician in the state of either party. He was non-negotiable on freedom of speech.
I was kept informed by my draft board how long before I would get my orders. Gave me time to shop around the local recruiters and review my options.
Cheers,
Wes

 

[Hansie Bloeckmann]

About a month after VE- Day I was transferred to the 358th Bomb Group, 548th Squadron. One day I had just finished a training flight and was walking back to the squadron area. A person from the sidewalk on the other side of the street yelled " Lieutenant, come over here". I did and he proceeded to chew me out for not saluting him. It was hard to take as he was a desk jockey 1st Lieutenant. I was put on report and had to spend an hour with others on report in close order drill. This is the only time while in the service that I was mad enough to kill.

I was taught that you "salute the rank/insignia, not the man. Many of the Junior officers were REMF's indeed, wonder how many were "passed over" for promotion to the next upward pay grade, and became bitter and martinets about rank and the dividing line between senior NCO's and the junior (Company Grade) Officers. A Full Colonel once said to us: "Officers show up for inspections and parades, but the NCO's (E-7 and up) run my units",

 

[billrunnels]

I was taught that you "salute the rank/insignia, not the man. Many of the Junior officers were REMF's indeed, wonder how many were "passed over" for promotion to the next upward pay grade, and became bitter and martinets about rank and the dividing line between senior NCO's and the junior (Company Grade) Officers. A Full Colonel once said to us: "Officers show up for inspections and parades, but the NCO's (E-7 and up) run my units",

Good point. We did salute rank not the person. Had the 1LT been on my side of the street I would have saluted. However, he being on the other side I thought was a little much. I agree with the Colonel, NCO's were the backbone.

 

[mikewint]

 

[Hansie Bloeckmann]

An Ensign reports to his first duty station, and the senior Chief, after detailing his duties, asks the Ensign if he has any question about ranks and insignia, as failure to salute officers can "deep-six" a career. The Ensign asks him about the color and shape of the Officer's insignia, as this was not covered apparently in his 4 years at Annapolis. "Sonny, silver is the senior service color, you have a "butter bar", when and if you become a Lt. jg, the bar is silver-the bar is shaped like the step on a ladder, so a full Lt. has 2 silver bars, moving you two steps up the ladder of promotion. The two next ranks have the oak leaves, Lt. Cmdr. in gold, Cmdr. in silver." "Chief," the Ensign interrupts- where did that concept come from?" "Well, that's from the Bible, Sonny!" "The Bible?" replied the Ensign. "That's right, the Biblical story of The Garden of Eden," said the Chief-- In that story, oak leaves were used to cover Adam's prick, and the legend was passed down to our Middle-ranking officers, and still continues today!"