NEW BOY A first-year cadet’s struggle to contend with the strict discipline, brutal hazing, and other challenges he encounters at a junior college military academy By Gary Blankenship
ii Copyright © 2026 Gary Blankenship All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for brief quotations used in reviews or scholarly discussion. Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Although loosely inspired by the author’s personal experiences at a private military academy, the characters, names, institutions, places, events, and dialogue have been fictionalized. References to actual locations, military installations, educational institutions, or businesses are used in a fictional context. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is coincidental.
iii Dedication For all the New Boys, Plebes, Knobs, Rats, and Rooks who made it through their first year at a military school or college.
iv Acknowledgments
v About the Book This story was loosely inspired by the author’s personal experiences at a private military academy At eighteen, Neal Blakely arrives at Kendel Military Academy with an Army ROTC scholarship and a clear plan for his future. What he finds is a world governed by rigid discipline, punishing traditions, brutal hazing, and an unforgiving divide between “New Boys” and “Old Boys.” As Neal struggles to master the demands of cadet life, he must also navigate friendship, rivalry, ambition, romance, and the consequences of choices made under pressure. Set in the mid-1970s and loosely inspired by the author’s personal experiences, New Boy is a candid military coming- of-age novel about endurance, identity, loyalty, and the difficult passage from uncertainty to self-command.
vi About the Author Gary Blankenship spent over twenty years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army after graduating from Kemper Military School and College, a private military academy that once operated in central Missouri. Then, as a retired officer, he served as a Troop Leadership Advisor to cadets at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico. He draws on these personal experiences to create the world of New Boy. His fiction explores discipline, friendship, ambition, institutional culture, and the challenges that shape young men on the threshold of adulthood. Through candid dialogue and close attention to cadet life, he offers readers an authentic, character-driven look at a demanding military school environment.
Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... iv About the Book ........................................................................................................ v About the Author .................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE Decisions .................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO Reporting In .......................................................................... 14 CHAPTER THREE PAIN Week ...................................................................... 28 CHAPTER FOUR School Starts ........................................................................ 61 CHAPTER FIVE The Making of Enemies ...................................................... 68 CHAPTER SIX Promotions All Around .......................................................... 81 CHAPTER SEVEN The Risks of Love and Lust ........................................... 91 CHAPTER EIGHT One Last Crisis ............................................................... 102 CHAPTER NINE New Boy No Longer ........................................................ 107 AFTERWORD .................................................................................................... 111 Frederick “Freddy” Politosky ....................................................................... 111 Wendel Parsons ............................................................................................... 112 Neal Blakely ..................................................................................................... 113 Leah Burton ..................................................................................................... 116
1 CHAPTER ONE Decisions Having grown up the son of a career U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer (NCO), Neal Blakely had made the decision by the time he was twelve years old that he too wanted to join the Air Force. When he informed his father, who was a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, of his plans, his father responded that he preferred that Neal not enter the military at all but added that if he really wanted to do so, he needed to go in as a commissioned officer, so Neal wouldn’t have to put up with a lot of the same crap he had been forced to endure. Heeding his father’s advice, Neal began researching the various ways he could become an Air Force officer. He learned that one method entailed earning a college degree, then enlisting in the Air Force and applying for Officer Training School (OTS) during basic training. Receiving a commission via this route hinged on him first being selected for OTS, and then completing its intense 14-week training program. A second method to earn a commission involved completing an Air Force ROTC training program at a university while simultaneously earning a bachelor’s degree. The third, and undeniably best option for earning an Air Force officer commission, was to attend and graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. This final option was the one Neal ultimately decided to pursue.
2 Consequently, in January,1975, just after returning from his last high school Christmas break, Neal made an appointment with Miss Garcia, his school’s career counselor, to discuss the steps and requirements for obtaining an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Neal knew that many of his senior classmates had started applying to various universities and colleges across the country during this time, so he believed the moment was right to begin seeking an academy appointment. However, when he finally met with Miss Garcia to tell her that he wanted to apply for the appointment and ask her if she could help him prepare his application, she sadly told him that the window for applying for appointments to any of the U.S. service academies for the 1975-1976 academic year had long since passed. She explained that the process was extremely lengthy and arduous, and students had to initiate the application process a full year in advance because of all the requirements, one of which was securing a congressional nomination for an appointment. Seeing the disappointment in Neal’s face, she noted that he could still begin the application process for an appointment that would allow him to start in the fall of 1976 but reiterated that there was just no way that he would be able to obtain an appointment in time to enter the academy in the fall of 1975. Neal felt crushed by Miss Garcia’s words. To a high school senior who was not yet 18 years old, seeking an appointment that would not kick in for over a year and a
3 half seemed like an eternity. Too depressed to even discuss the other avenues he knew existed for obtaining an officer’s commission in the Air Force, Neal thanked Miss Garcia for the information, got up from the chair in front of her desk, and turned to leave her office. “Wait, Neal,” she said, “if you really want to try to earn an officer’s commission in the military, I have some Army ROTC Scholarship applications that might interest you. The application deadline for these scholarships is in late February, which gives you just over a month to get your packet together before submitting it. And if you do obtain a scholarship, you will be able to use it at a university this coming fall.” Neal had never really thought about going into the Army, but with his dreams of entering the Air Force Academy later in the year now shattered, he thought, “What the hell?”, and accepted the Army ROTC scholarship information from Miss Garcia. He thanked the career counselor, and she smiled at him and said, “Let me know how it works out.” Neal grinned and nodded before turning and walking out. That evening at the dinner table in his home, Neal told his mother and father about his meeting with Miss Garcia. His father asked Neal to show him the Army ROTC scholarship information after they ate. As soon as Neal finished his dinner, he retrieved the application instructions from his room and handed them to his father. Neal’s father conducted a quick review of the application information and exclaimed, “Neal, have you looked at this? This is a pretty good deal. These are full-ride ROTC scholarships
4 that cover all of your tuition, books, and fees for four years of schooling, and you receive an Army officer’s commission when you graduate. And you can use the scholarship at any university that has an Army ROTC program.” “Yeah,” Neal replied, “but if I get one, I have to go into the Army. I’ve spent most of my life planning to join the Air Force.” In response, Neal’s father commented, “During my career I served under several officers who started in the Army and then transferred to the Air Force. In fact, the best officer I ever worked for was a major who had spent about a third of his service in the Army before coming over to the Air Force. I think you should apply for the scholarship.” Considering the points his father had raised, Neal reasoned that having an Army ROTC scholarship might actually offer more advantages than he initially thought. He therefore became a little more excited about the possibility of obtaining the scholarship and committed himself to completing the application packet as soon as possible. The ARMY ROTC application packet identified a number of things that Neal had to provide to be considered for the scholarship. It of course required that Neal submit his high school transcripts. Neal was not worried about this requirement since he had earned only A’s and B’s throughout his time in high school, even though he had
5 taken a number of difficult college prep courses. But the packet also required Neal to submit letters of recommendation from teachers, coaches, employers, and a church pastor or priest that addressed things such as Neal’s intelligence, maturity, integrity, reliability, moral character, and ability to be a team player. The packet emphasized that candidates would cease to be considered if all required items were not submitted by the established deadline in February. It further explained that scholarship candidates selected for further consideration after their transcripts and other documents were reviewed would then be required to go before a board of active duty Army officers, where they would be questioned about topics such as their personal backgrounds, current news events, their reasons for wanting to serve in the Army, and their long-term career plans. If the board recommended a candidate for continued consideration, he or she would then have to undergo a U.S. Army medical evaluation to ensure the candidate was physically fit for military service. Two days after he met with Miss Garcia, Neal requested that his high school in San Antonio, Texas forward his academic transcripts to the address at Fort Monroe, Virginia provided in the scholarship application. Three weeks later, he sent all of the other documents specified in the application instructions to the same address via certified mail. Once this was done, it was hard for him to focus in school as he agonized over how long it was
6 taking him to receive word back from the Army. Each day as he checked his home mailbox and did not find a response, he feared the worse. But finally, in late March, he received a letter from the ROTC Department at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio requesting that he appear before a board of Army officers at the school at 11:00 am on April 2nd for an interview related to his ROTC scholarship application. The letter also identified the campus building and provided the room number where the interview would take place. The letter got Neal excited and made him nervous at the same time. He began thinking of all the things he needed to do to prepare for the board. When the day of the interview finally came, Neal arrived at the university a full hour before his scheduled interview time because he wanted to make sure he could find a parking space for his car and then locate the designated campus building. He found the building 35 minutes before his interview was supposed to start and entered it to find the correct room. Once he located the room, he moved about 50 feet from its door down the corridor in which the room was situated. He then stood in the hall and began going over answers in his head to questions he believed the officers might ask him. At 10:55 am the door to the room opened, and a young man about his age walked out. “Probably another candidate for the ROTC scholarship,” Neal thought. Neal walked up to the door, which was closed again, and knocked twice. After the second knock, the door opened,
7 and he was welcomed by an Army captain, who asked, “Are you, Mr. Blakely?” When Neal confirmed that he was, the captain motioned him to take a seat in front of a table where an Army major and another captain were seated. The captain who had invited him into the room then took a seat beside the other two officers. Each officer introduced himself and warmly greeted Neal. They then initiated some friendly small talk, undoubtedly trying to help Neal relax. When the pleasantries concluded, the major explained the formal purpose of the interview and then briefly covered the general topics and issues that would be discussed. Having done this, the major asked Neal if he had any questions before the interview began. When Neal answered that he did not, the individual officers started taking turns asking Neal about various national and international topics that had been in the news, both to check Neal’s knowledge of contemporary events and to hear his assessments of the same. When one of the captains queried Neal as to why he had decided to seek a commission in the Army versus in one of the other armed services, Neal replied, “To tell the truth, Sir, for most of my life I thought I would join the Air Force because my father was a 22-year career Air Force NCO. But over the last few months I’ve done some research and found the Army has several career fields that interest me.” The captain asked. “Which one interests you the most?” “I think the Armor officer specialty,” Neal
8 answered. “I’ve wanted to be a pilot in either the Air Force or the Army, but both services require their pilots to have 20/20 uncorrected vision. And as you can see, I wear glasses. From what I read, the Army’s Armor branch isn’t as picky regarding vision when it comes to commanding armored fighting vehicles, so I thought if I can’t fight from a plane or helicopter, I’ll fight from a tank.” The three officers looked at each other and chuckled at Neal’s response. The entire interview took approximately 45 minutes. When it was over, the major thanked Neal for coming in and told him that he should know how he did within two or three weeks. All three officers then wished Neal good luck and shook his hand as he was departing. On the way back to his car, Neal reviewed the interview questions and his answers in his head. Several times he said out loud to himself, “Shit, why did I say that? I should have said this or that! When he reached his car, Neal privately lamented, “Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.” Exactly two weeks later, Neal received a letter from the Department of the Army’s U.S. Army Cadet Command, telling him that he needed to report at 0800 hours (8:00 am) on April 20 to the Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio for a complete Army physical evaluation. The letter went on to provide Neal with pre- examination eating and drinking instructions. The letter
9 mentioned nothing about Neal’s review board performance, but he surmised he must have done alright, if he was being directed to undergo the scholarship’s required medical examination. Although Neal was x-rayed, poked, and jabbed in areas of his body during the physical examination that he had never been before, he realized it was all worth it when on May 11, he received another letter from the U.S. Army Cadet Command congratulating him on being awarded a 4- Year Army ROTC Scholarship. The letter included a self- addressed postcard that Neal had to mail back to the Cadet Command confirming his acceptance of the scholarship as well as his commitment to serve on active duty in the Army for at least four years, and then in the U.S. Army Reserve for an additional four years once he graduated from college and received his commission. In Neal’s mind, this was about the happiest day of his life. Although the scholarship wasn’t quite as good as an appointment to the Air Force Academy, Neal considered it the next best thing. But as happy as Neal was when he received the letter, he was nowhere near as giddy as his father when he heard the news. Not only was his father proud that Neal would be working toward an officer’s commission, but he was especially happy that someone else besides him would be paying for Neal’s college education. He encouraged Neal to start focusing on which universities he wanted to attend and to send out his applications to those schools as soon as possible.
10 Neal had barely started thinking about which schools he might apply to when letters started coming in from schools across the country that were well-known not only for their excellent academic curriculums, but also for their top-notch ROTC programs. Among others, The Citadel of South Carolina, Texas A&M University, The Military College of Vermont (Norwich University), Virginia Tech, and The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) all wrote to Neal and informed him that because he had earned a 4-year Army ROTC Scholarship, he had been granted automatic acceptance by their institutions. Three of the schools also offered him a $1,000/year stipend that could be used to help cover the costs of room and board at the schools or any other expenses Neal might have. In addition to receiving letters from 4-year universities and colleges, military junior colleges also wrote to Neal to try to entice him to use the first two years of his scholarship at their schools. These included The New Mexico Military Institute, Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, Wentworth Military Academy, and Kendel Military Academy (the latter two both located in Missouri). Neal’s father encouraged him to choose one of what he considered to be the more prestigious 4-year colleges with ROTC programs--The Citadel, VMI, or Texas A&M University. To his father’s dismay, however, Neal decided to go with the 2-year, all-male Kendel Military Academy. Neal’s best friend from his neighborhood and high school, Larry Stephens, would be graduating from Kendel
11 two weeks after Neal graduated from high school. Neal had been good friends with Larry for over four years, despite the two-year difference in their ages. Larry had chosen to enter Kendel after his high school graduation in 1973 because of its Early Commissioning Program (ECP), which prepared its participants to be commissioned into the active-duty Army with only two years of college. To Larry, who wanted to secure a stable, respectable job with a decent income so he could marry his high school sweetheart, Sharon Hewitt, as soon as possible, Kendel’s ECP presented the perfect solution. The program required Larry to undergo 6 weeks of Army basic training the summer after his high school graduation in 1973, complete 6 weeks of more advanced military leadership training after his first year at Kendel and then graduate from Kendel with an associate’s degree. Neal had been fascinated by Larry’s stories of his military training when he came home for a couple of weeks both during the summer before he started at Kendel and the summer after his first year there. He was especially impressed by stories of Larry’s successful completion of Army Airborne/paratrooper training during the second summer, which authorized him to wear a parachutist badge on his uniform. More recently, Larry had informed Neal that he was being commissioned into the Army’s Field Artillery Branch, and that he and Sharon would be getting married in the fall.
12 Because Neal had been awarded a 4-year ROTC scholarship, which required him to obtain a bachelor’s degree before receiving his Army commission, he would not be participating in Kendel’s ECP. Nevertheless, he figured he could still use the first two years of his scholarship there and earn an associate’s degree before transferring to a 4-year institution--maybe even to one his father preferred. Anyway, his mind was made up. Neal sent a letter to Kendel on May 18th confirming his decision. A week later, he received a packet by Express Mail that welcomed him to the school and specified a day and time frame in August he should arrive for in-processing. The packet also provided instructions regarding the specific items he should bring with him (paperwork, clothing, a combination lock, toiletries, sufficient personal funds, etc.). With this information in hand, Neal was ready to begin the next phase of his life. The same day he had mailed his letter to Kendel, Neal had sent another to Larry informing him that he had received the scholarship and of his decision to attend Kendel. The evening before Larry’s graduation and commissioning, he called Neal at home. Neal’s mother answered the phone, but as soon as she handed it to Neal, Larry shouted, “You dumbass! Why didn’t you pick a 4-year university with girls? Do you plan on staying a virgin the rest of your life? Oh well, I guess you can transfer to a 4- year school after your time at Kendel and then try to convince some drunk or blind chick to have sex with you!”
13 Neal just laughed, told Larry to fuck off, and then spent most of the rest of the call asking Larry for tips for success at Kendel. Before ending the call, Neal congratulated Larry on his upcoming graduation from the school and pending Army commissioning. He also sent his regards to Larry’s parents and Sharon, who had all flown from San Antonio to Missouri to see Larry graduate from Kendel and receive his commission.
14 CHAPTER TWO Reporting In It was a few minutes before 11:00 am on Wednesday, August 20, 1975, when Neal pulled his slightly faded red 1967 Pontiac Firebird up along the curb in front of the building in Cooperville, Missouri, with the address he had been given in his acceptance letter from Kendel Military Academy. Sure enough, there was an engraved stone arch over the entrance to the building with the academy’s full name chiseled into the stone. He had just gotten out of his car and was about to climb the six or seven steps leading up to the building’s entrance when he saw what he assumed to be one of the military academy’s cadets appear from around one end of the building and begin walking away from him on the sidewalk that ran parallel to the curb. Since the cadet apparently had not seen him, Neal called out, “Excuse me!” The slightly startled cadet quickly stopped and turned around. Neal continued, “I’m here to register as a new student at Kendel. Could you please tell me where I can park my car and where I need to go once I’ve done that?” The cadet approached him, and Neal noticed he was immaculately dressed in what looked to be a well-tailored uniform consisting of a light blue short- sleeve shirt with black straps on the shoulders that each had six yellow-gold stripes, perfectly pressed gray pants with a two-inch-wide black stripe down the outside of each leg from waist to hem, and the shiniest black oxford shoes Neal
15 had ever seen. On the cadet’s head was a gray and blue envelope-looking military cap with two thin light blue bands that circled the dark blue bottom half of the cap. “Sure,” the cadet replied in a friendly tone. “Just drive forward about a hundred yards, and you’ll come to a vehicle entrance on the right bordered by two brick columns with stone eagles on top. Make a right between the columns and continue straight until you arrive at the cadet parking lot. It’s pretty full today because of the new cadets in- processing. A lot of their families’ vehicles are taking up space, so you may have to park on the grass next to the lot until the families leave at 1400 hours (2:00 pm). Once you’ve parked, you’ll see signs directing you up to the “quad” in the center of the campus, and then more signs once you get there telling you exactly where to go to report in.’’ “Thanks! Neal replied, “I appreciate your help.” Neal got back in his car and followed the cadet’s instructions to arrive at the parking lot, which was full just as the cadet had stated. He drove to one side of the paved lot where he saw several vehicles parked on the grass adjacent to the lot and parked his own car next to one of them. He then got out of his car and started walking in the same direction he saw others in civilian attire walking. Before he came to a large red brick school building located a little over fifty yards from the parking lot’s border, he saw a sign with an arrow that directed new students and their families to proceed to the right up a short ramp that led to a large, concrete paved
16 courtyard/quad situated between four of the academy’s red brick multi-story buildings. Neal found what appeared to be a few hundred parents and new students in the quad intermingled with about 20 cadets in uniforms similar to the one worn by the cadet who had helped him earlier. These cadets were answering questions and offering help where needed. Neal noticed a group of young men without uniforms lined up outside the door of a building across the quad with a sign next to the door that read New Cadet In-processing. He moved to the end of the line and had only been standing there two or three minutes when the young African American in front of him turned and said, “Man, this is taking forever. I haven’t moved an inch in fifteen minutes.” “Wow,” Neal answered, “I really didn’t need to hear that. This summer heat is brutal.” The black youth responded, “I don’t mind the heat so much; I just can’t wait to get one of those cool-looking uniforms.” “Yeah, they are kind of sharp,” Neal replied. Just then the line surged forward, and Neal and the young man were inside the building. Once Neal entered, he could see why the line had moved so slowly. Three older women in civilian clothes sitting at desks were having the new students fill out a number of forms before taking and reviewing the forms and then issuing the individual students a small cloth tag imprinted with what they said would be the students’ official cadet serial numbers. The last members of the group in front of him were leaving
17 when Neal and several others were finally able to step up to the desks for in-processing. The forms took about 10 minutes to fill out and a couple more minutes to be reviewed for completeness before Neal received his cadet serial number and was directed to leave the building via a side exit and re-enter the quad outside. Back in the quad, Neal started chatting with other new students and their families, discussing topics such as why they had chosen Kendel and where they had traveled from. At exactly 1:45 pm, a loud announcement was made over the academy’s public address system reminding parents and other family members that they must leave before 2:00 pm and asking them to say their final good-byes so the new cadets could continue their in-processing and orientation. Neal noticed some mothers and younger children weeping as they said farewell to their sons and/or brothers, but by 2:00 pm only new students and uniformed cadets were left standing in the quad. Five minutes later, all hell broke loose. The same cadets who had been so helpful and friendly just minutes earlier were now shouting “AT EASE” and emphasizing that that specific order meant shut up and listen. Then another cadet, who apparently had more rank because the cadets with the black straps and gold stripes were calling him “SIR” and some even saluting him, loudly called for the new students’ attention. “Good afternoon, and welcome to Kendel Military Academy. I am Lieutenant Colonel Walker, your cadet corps commander.” Neal noted that Walker indeed
18 had the poise and demeanor of someone in command. He exuded confidence and authority, and after welcoming the new students to Kendel, he explained to them that they were all now considered NEW BOY cadets, with no privileges or status, and that their only reason for even existing at Kendel was to follow the orders and instructions of the “OLD BOYS”/senior cadets and learn from them. Walker then summoned another uniformed cadet to call out the New Boys’ names and specify the cadet company (A, B, C, D, or H) and platoon to which each would be assigned. Once his name was called, each New Boy cadet was required to look for the guidon (unit flag or pennant) held by a uniformed Old Boy cadet in the quad with his cadet company’s letter and then report there for placement in formation behind the guidon. It took approximately ninety minutes for two hundred-plus names to be called and for the New Boys to be lined up in their units. By the end of that period, Neal noticed that the new cadets were now assembled into something that resembled military-style formations. Once all the names had been called and the companies formed, the command “AT EASE” was again barked by unformed cadets to hush murmuring in the formations by the assembled new cadets. While the more senior-ranking Old Boy cadets entered into a private discussion a few paces in front of the company formations, a New Boy standing to the left of Neal asked him if he thought the Old Boy cadets would let him switch companies because he had
19 enrolled at the school with a friend from his high school and was hoping to be in the same unit. Neal looked to the left and was starting to answer that he had no idea as to what was allowed when he was startled by someone screaming into his right ear. “What the hell is the matter with you, New Boy? Don’t you understand English?” Neal turned his head back to the right and found the nose of an Old Boy cadet only two inches from his own. He was surprised to see that it was the same cadet who had been so helpful when he first arrived at the school. Neal nervously thought to himself, “Hey buddy, it’s me, remember, the guy you helped get to the parking lot.” But the Old Boy cadet not only acted as if he’d never seen Neal in his life, but he also seemed to view Neal as something that needed scraping off the bottom of his shoe. “Listen, Douchebag, when you hear the command “At Ease,” you shut your mouth and wait for permission to utter your next syllable. You got that, Numb-nuts?!” Neal shook his head in the affirmative. “Don’t shake that ugly pile of crap on your shoulders at me, shithead. You answer, ‘Yes, Sir’ or Yes, First Sergeant. Think you can remember that much, New Boy?” Neal immediately responded, “Yes, Sir!” Satisfied that he had sufficiently chastised Neal, the Old Boy moved on to admonish another unfortunate New Boy in the company. Neal became aware that New Boys across the quad were now being yelled at and degraded with the same condescending tone that had been directed at him.
20 He could hear the yelling of NEW BOY throughout the other company formations, followed by criticisms and insults laced with profanity. Within minutes, Neal decided that while he didn’t particularly like being referred to as douchebag, numb-nuts, or shithead, being called New Boy (although seemingly a benign term) for some reason had come to have an even worse sting and stigma all its own. After the correction and berating of new cadets had gone on for eight or nine minutes, the huddle of the senior- ranking Old Boys broke up, and the same cadet who had previously called out the New Boy names introduced himself as Captain Garner, the cadet corps adjutant. Garner announced that the New Boys would soon be following their company first sergeants into the barracks where they would be divided into their platoons, meet their platoon leaders and platoon sergeants and be assigned a room and roommate. He added that the platoon leadership would also provide details as to what would be happening over the next week before the school’s academic year officially began. Garner then directed the company first sergeants to carry on. All of the first sergeants saluted Garner and turned to face the New Boys lined up three rows deep in the formations behind them. The first sergeant of Neal’s A company said, “I am Master Sergeant Ashley, Alpha Company first sergeant. When I give the order ROUTE STEP, MARCH, I’m going to start walking toward the barracks with Sergeant Johnson carrying the Alpha
21 Company guidon right behind me. You will start following the guidon by ranks (rows of cadets), with the first rank following first, the second rank next, and so on. Alpha Company has been assigned the second floor of Waldron Barracks. The barracks building is shaped like a “V.” Once we enter the barracks’ door, we will go up a staircase in the vertex of the “V” to the second floor, where you will see a hallway on the right and another on the left. New Boys assigned to first platoon will turn down the hallway to the right and those assigned to second platoon will go to the left. Is that clear?” A few New Boys weakly responded, “Yes, Sir,” to which Ashley shouted, “Sound off like you’ve got a pair!” All of the New Boys in the formation then quickly screamed, “YES, SIR!” in unison. Apparently satisfied, Ashley gave the command “ROUTE STEP, MARCH” and started walking toward the same ramp that NEAL had ascended to reach the quad a few hours earlier. Row by row, the New Boy cadets left the formation to follow Ashley and the guidon bearer in a long line. After going down the ramp, the entrance to Waldron Barracks (which Neal later learned was named after a Cooperville native and Kendel alumnus who had received the Distinguished Service Cross for valor during World War One) was only about a thirty or forty-yard walk down a sidewalk that angled to the right. Once there, the line of new cadets climbed the stairs to the building’s second floor, where Neal peeled off to the right and entered the hallway designated for members of Alpha Company’s first platoon.
22 Standing halfway down the long hall were two uniformed cadets, one holding a clipboard. As the New Boys approached them, the slightly shorter cadet held up one of his hands and directed them to stop about five feet in front of him and hold in place. It was not until about 25 New Boys had stopped in front of him and no one else appeared to be joining them that the shorter cadet spoke. “I’m Second Lieutenant Worley, your platoon leader. He then nodded toward the taller cadet beside him and said, “This is Sergeant First Class Baker, your platoon sergeant. Your Old Boy squad leaders will be arriving at the end of this week. Until they get here, Sergeant Baker will be directing and supervising everything you do. He’ll start by assigning each of you your rooms and then let you know what you’ll be doing the rest of today and this week. I see some of you New Boys are carrying bags with personal things, and I’m sure others have left your things in cars. Once you receive your room assignments, those of you who have personal items with you now can take your items to your rooms and wait there until called out. Those with items in your cars will have 15 minutes to return to your vehicles and bring your items back to your rooms. Any New Boy who decides to stop for a smoke or to sightsee and returns after the 15-minute time limit will wish he had never been assigned to this platoon. Do you understand these instructions?” “Yes, Sir!” the New Boys shouted as one.
23 As soon as the Old Boy platoon sergeant had provided his room number, Neal left the platoon area to go to his car and retrieve the one suitcase he had brought containing the items the letter from Kendel had instructed him to bring. In order to return within the 15 minutes he was given, he flew down the barracks stairs, and once he was out of the building, he sprinted to his car. When he reached his car, he quickly started it and backed it off the grass and onto the paved cadet parking lot, which now had more room with the family vehicles gone. Grabbing his bag, he ran back to the barracks building and raced up the stairs, almost tripping once. Back in the platoon hallway, he walked quickly to his designated room and was pleased to note that he had made it back with two minutes to spare. About 30 seconds after entering his room and placing his suitcase on one of its two small twin beds, his new roommate walked in with what looked like an Army green laundry bag. The young man, who looked slightly older than most of the New Boys, introduced himself as Freddy Politosky. Over the next few minutes, Neal learned that Freddy had served for three years as an enlisted mortar crewman in the Army before being honorably discharged (which accounted for his slight age difference), and he had decided to use his military GI-Bill education benefits at Kendel. Freddie was a New Yorker of Polish heritage, and his Bronx accent was so strong that Neal initially understood only about half of what he said.
24 Neal and Freddy’s exchange of their personal stories was abruptly cut off less than five minutes later when the platoon sergeant, Baker, loudly called for all the New Boys to stand outside the doors of their rooms. Once they were all in place, he explained that they would all be moving to the mess hall (Kendel’s dining room) for third mess (dinner). He told the NEW Boys that they would be following him to the mess hall in a straight line, with the New Boys on the left side of the platoon hallway following first and then those on the right side falling in behind them. He further explained that once they were in the mess hall, they would enter the chow line (buffet style line), where they would pick up a tray and receive their dinner. He would wait for the cadets to pass through the line and then direct them to the platoon’s designated mess tables. He stressed that the New Boys would have only 30 minutes to eat, so he didn’t want to hear any gabbing. Once the meal was over, he would lead the cadets back to the platoon area where they would be briefed on where to find the week’s schedule. After going over the mess hall procedure, Baker instructed the first cadets to begin following him. As the cadets on the other side of the hall began to walk out, Neal noticed that the same black New Boy who had been in front of him in the in-processing line earlier that day had been assigned the room directly across the hall from his. Kendel’s mess hall was located on the first floor of Denton Barracks (named after Kendel alumnus Second Lieutenant Homer Denton, who was awarded the Silver
25 Star after being shot in the neck and killed after leaving his protected position to try to rescue a wounded man during World War Two). The barracks was situated on the south side of the quad. The mess hall’s meal was basically like every other school cafeteria meal Neal had eaten. While the food wasn’t great, it was at least filling. There was no talking at all by the New Boy cadets at the long dining table where Neal sat with other members of his platoon, nor by New Boys at any of the other tables in the mess hall. He noticed that while there were more uniformed Old Boys present than he had seen earlier in the quad, there were still some relatively empty tables in the mess hall. He assumed these must be for the Old Boys who hadn’t arrived yet. Neal also noticed that the only noise during the meal was the clinking of plates and glasses and the talking of the Old Boys present. Once the time allocated for the meal was over, Sergeant Baker directed the platoon members, who filled two of the long dining tables, to stand up and follow him back to the barracks. Upon returning to the platoon area, he ordered the New Boys to once again stand outside their room doors. The platoon sergeant then informed them that there was a folder on each desk in their rooms that contained instructions with diagrams on how to make their beds using the sheets and blankets they would find in the trunks at the foot of their beds. He added that the New Boys also needed to review the schedules in the folders that described what they would be doing over the next week before the
26 academic year began. He sarcastically added, “I hope you enjoy the rest of our Personal Adjustment, Indoctrination, and Nurturing Week, more commonly known here at Kendel as PAIN Week. When Baker asked if any of the New Boys had any questions, one reluctantly asked where the restrooms were. Baker pointed down the hall toward the hallway entrance and said, “There is a latrine with urinals, toilets, sinks and showers through that last door on the right. All of you New Boys will eventually become intimately familiar with it starting tomorrow.” He then dismissed the New Boys to go back into their rooms. Back in their room, Neal asked his roommate if he thought Baker was kidding about PAIN week. Freddie responded, “Of course he was. It’s just some psych bullshit like they used to feed us in the Army to mess with our minds.” Still not completely assured, Neal said, “I guess we should go through these folders they left us.” The folders contained detailed instructions with graphics not only on how to make the beds, but also on how to organize their closets, desks, and the bookshelves above their desks. Looking at the enclosed schedule, Neal noted that it didn’t look like they would have hardly any free time the rest of the week and that they would be getting up for Reveille at 0600 hours (6:00 am) every day except on Sunday, when they were allowed to sleep in an extra hour. The final sheet in the folder consisted of a list of infractions for which New Boys could be punished, primarily with physical torments such as repetitions of
27 push-ups, squat thrusts, and duck-walking (waddling while squatting with your fingers crossed behind your head and moving your elbows back and forth to simulate a duck flapping its wings). Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the folder’s contents and everything he would be expected to do, Neal thought to himself, “You know, I really do wish I was at one of those 4-year schools with girls right now. Larry was right, I am a dumbass!”
28 CHAPTER THREE PAIN Week Neal set the small wind-up alarm clock he had brought with him to wake up 20 minutes before the designated 0600 reveille, so he could get to the latrine and shave and shower before it was flooded with other New Boys. When he had used the dorm-style latrine during the night, he had seen that while there were five shower stalls, signs posted near them designated only two for New Boy use. The same was true for the toilet stalls; only the doors had been removed from those stalls designated for New Boy use, to add one more indignity to the New Boys’ status. Fortunately, there was no similar segregation when it came to the use of the latrine’s sinks or urinals. Neal had turned off his alarm as fast as he could when it sounded so as not to wake his roommate, but he saw that Freddy had kept snoring right through it. He quickly grabbed his shaving kit and a towel and headed for the latrine. Once there, he found that four other New Boys had arrived before him. He had shaved, brushed his teeth, and was in the shower when he heard a bugle sounding reveille. Two minutes later the latrine was filled with New Boys. He quickly left the shower, dried, and was heading back to his room when Sergeant Baker, in boxer shorts and a T-shirt, stopped him. “YOU! Get dressed then go to the broom closet, which he pointed to, and grab a broom to sweep the hallway!”
29 Baker then shouted so all could hear, “All New Boys must be shaved and dressed by 0645 hours. You then have until 0745 hours to clean your rooms, the platoon area, latrine, and the staircase/vestibule. At that time, all New Boys will move to the quad and fall in on the Alpha Company guidon.” Sergeant Baker then continued grabbing New Boys coming out of the latrine and directing them to obtain buckets, mops, rags, and cleansers from the broom closet to clean whatever area he selected for them. Neal used the large industrial-size broom he found in the broom closet to sweep the long platoon hallway. Another New boy followed behind him with a bucket and mop. The cadet was cussing as New Boys returning to their rooms from their designated cleaning areas walked on the wet floor to get back to their rooms. More than once, he had to go back and re-mop portions of the hallway. Now in his room, Neal made his bed as close as he could to the instructions provided in the folder. When he was done, he could see it looked nowhere near as good as Freddy’s bed. Freddy looked at Neal’s bed, shook his head, and said, “When we have some time, I’ll show you how it’s done.” At 0750 hours, Sergeant Baker was in the hallway again but in full uniform. “All of you need to move to the quad, he shouted! And when you leave this building or any Kendel building, I want to see you New Boys running. In other words, anytime you’re moving outside, it had better be at the double-time, until you’re told different. Now move!”
30 Neal and the other New Boys quickly moved down the hall to the staircase. Once they exited the barracks, they broke into a run for the quad. One cadet stumbled and fell, causing two others to fall over him. All three quickly got to their feet, cursing, and continued to the quad, with the first cadet who’d fallen rubbing his left knee. The company’s New Boys found an Old Boy with the “A” Company guidon in about the same location on the quad it had been the day before. They were trying to line up in the same spots they had been in the previous day, when the company first sergeant, Ashley, appeared and said, “Don’t worry about where to stand, right now. Your platoon sergeants will be assigning you to squads in a few minutes, and after that you will always fall in with your squad.” A couple of minutes later Sergeant Baker started calling out the New Boy platoon members’ names and squad assignments and pointing to the spots where they would be standing each day in the platoon formation. The platoon sergeant of Alpha Company’s second platoon was doing the same, although with a more vicious tone. In fact, he ordered at least three of his platoon’s New Boys to drop and do 25 push-ups for not moving to their squad positions fast enough to suit him. Neal would soon learn that this platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class Reymundo Ortiz, who was from Puerto Rico, was one of a few sadistic Old Boys who seemed to enjoy torturing New Boys for their own pleasure rather than punishing them solely to enforce discipline and adherence to cadet rules and regulations.
31 After the New Boys had been placed in their squads, First Sergeant Ashley at the front of the company formation gave the order “AT EASE” and started discussing the day’s activities. “As you should have read in the schedules provided in your rooms, this morning after first mess (breakfast) all New Boys will be getting haircuts and moving to the Quartermaster building for uniform issue.” Many of the New Boys looked at each other and grinned, and Neal knew they were all thinking what he was, “Finally, our uniforms!” Ashley continued, “Alpha Company will be getting its haircuts first. The barbershop is in the basement of Denton Barracks below the mess hall, and you will all line up outside its door until one of the barbers calls you in. As soon as each of you New Boys gets his buzzcut, you will report back to the quad and form up in your squad positions, where your platoon sergeants will begin going over basic drill and ceremony with you. Once everyone has gotten their haircuts, the company will wait till it’s called to report to the Quartermaster building. Does everyone understand these instructions?” “YES SIR!” the New Boys shouted. Ashley directed the platoon sergeants to take over, and Sergeant Baker immediately ordered the first platoon to start moving by squads to Denton Barracks for first mess. Neal had been assigned to the platoon’s 1st squad and so was one of the first to arrive in the mess hall. After the meal, the platoon was directed to start filing down to the barber shop. Two New Boys who got there before Neal were
32 already in the barber chairs. When they came out and told him he was next, he could barely keep from laughing at their short buzz cuts. They looked like fuzzy peaches, and it was worse for one of them whose hair had helped conceal some fairly large ears. Neal didn’t think it was funny for long, however. As he got up from the barber chair, he looked into the large mirror behind it and saw that he had a large bump in the top of his skull that he had never noticed before because his hair had covered it. There were a few chuckles from other New Boys as he came out of the barber shop with his new hairdo, and Neal muttered under his breath, “I can’t wait to get a look at your knob heads. “ Neal was walking back to his squad position on the quad when an Old Boy he’d never seen before shouted, “Hey New Boy, what the hell are you doing walking? Get down and give me 25 push-ups and count them out for me!” Neal dropped down and had counted off five push- ups when the Old Boy yelled, “Louder, Swee’ pea! I can’t hear you. Start over!” Neal started counting off the push- ups again, yelling the numbers this time. When he hit 25, the Old Boy gave him the order, “Recover, New Boy, and don’t let me see you walking outside again. Now double- time to your company and fall in.” Back in his platoon formation, Neal found Sergeant Baker teaching other members of the platoon who had already returned how to stand at attention, stand at parade rest, and salute. He was also reviewing how to dress right and cover down so that cadets in formation would be
33 perfectly aligned with those cadets to the right and in front of them. He additionally went over the commands for these actions. Not long after all of the company’s New Boys had returned to the formation with their buzz-cuts, the first sergeant received the word to move the New Boys to the Quartermaster building for uniform issue. Once again the Company moved by platoons to its next scheduled activity. In the Quartermaster Building, Neal was disappointed to learn that the New Boys would not be receiving the uniforms worn by the Old Boys. While they were measured for items like the uniform’s pants, shirts, belts, dress jackets/tunics, hats, winter coats, and shoes, the information was only recorded. The civilian quartermaster staff told the New Boys they wouldn’t receive their individual uniform packages with these items until the end of the week. In the meantime, the New Boys were issued only olive green fatigue pants, white t-shirts, a military web belt, white socks, what appeared to be cheap white sneakers, and an olive green zip-up plastic rain jacket with a hood. These items were all collected by the New Boys in a white net laundry bag they were given. After receiving their clothing issue, the New Boys were again ordered to return to the quad and form with their companies. Once all of the company’s New Boys were back in formation, Ashley called them to attention and ordered them to return to their rooms to put on the uniform items they had been issued. “When I give the order Fall Out, you will have 30 minutes to go back to your rooms, change into
34 your fatigue pants, t-shirts, and issued shoes, and fall in back here fully dressed. He then barked, FALL OUT!” Most of the New Boys immediately left the formation and broke into a run back to the barracks. A few who hesitated in both of the company’s platoons quickly paid a price. Old Boys had them doing push-ups or squat thrusts before they could run for the barracks. In his barracks room, Neal poured the contents of his laundry bag onto his bed so he could start changing from his civilian clothes into the uniform items he was issued. He looked at Freddy and said, “Everything except the socks and shoes looks like they’re three sizes too big for me.” Freddy, who was about 6 feet 2 inches, replied, “My pants and t-shirts don’t fit any better.” Neal tightened his belt as much as he could to hold his pants up and then left his room for the quad with Freddy behind him. Back in formation, Neal compared his and Freddy’s appearances with those of the sharply uniformed Old Boys. If he hadn’t felt inferior before, the buzz-cut and baggy uniform he had on now definitely made him feel like a lesser human being. It took another hour and a half for most of the cadets from the other companies to get back to their formations in uniform. The Alpha company Old Boys had used the time to explain and practice things such as the coming morning formations, when all cadets would be required to stand at attention and salute as the American flag was raised on campus, with the same being done at the third mess/retreat formation when the American flag would be
35 lowered before the cadets entered Denton Barracks for dinner. When the Old Boys finished their explanations and the New Boys were allowed to stand at ease in the formation, Neal looked around and saw that the quad was now filled with a sea of bald New Boys with ill-fitting white t-shirts and olive-green pants. Only one New Boy, who was clearly overweight, in the company formed behind Alpha Company seemed to have a uniform that fit him. Ashley called the company back to attention and turned the platoons back over to the platoon sergeants to continue teaching basic drill movements. Now the platoon sergeants focused on teaching facing movements—left face, right face, and about face. The platoons practiced this for about an hour, until the entire cadet corps was called to attention before moving to the mess hall for second mess. Afterwards, it was more drill and ceremony in the quad for about an hour, and then the New Boys were dismissed back to their rooms to organize their closets and desk areas according to the diagrams and instructions in the folders. Neal found that having Freddy as a roommate was a godsend because of his prior military experience. Freddy not only helped Neal remake his bed so that its hospital corners were sharp and neat but also showed him how to ensure his sheets and blanket were tight, and the required 9-inch bed fold (blanket-sheet collar) just below the pillow was also tight and had exactly the right measurement. Freddy further explained to Neal how leaving the thin cardboard backing inside the packaged new
36 briefs and t-shirts he had brought with him would keep wrinkles out while they were folded and placed on the specified closet shelves. When Neal pointed out that the cardboard would eventually bend and wear out as Neal used the t-shirts and briefs, Freddy commented, “You don’t use these, dummy. You keep three or four of each as display underwear for inspections only. You keep the shorts and t- shirts you’re going to wear every day in the trunk at the foot of your bed. According to the information in the folder, as long as your trunk is locked, it’s usually not going to be inspected.” “Got it!“ Neal said. These were not the only tricks that Freddy would teach Neal for keeping their room and uniform items looking their best. Freddy had learned a lot during his time in the Army, but if you listened to him, everything about the Army was fucked up—the leadership, the pay, the work, the training, and the food. Neal privately wondered why Freddy wanted to go back in. At 1500 hours (3:00 pm), Sergeant Baker ordered the New boys out of their rooms. They were then all ordered to move to the company day room, a large open room with a couple of sofas and a television set (which Neal had never seen turned on) near the entrance to the platoons’ hallways. Once the New Boys from both of the company’s platoons had filled the room and taken a seat on the bare floor, First Sergeant Ashley gave the command At EASE, and a tall thin cadet introduced himself as Captain Madison, the Alpha Company commander. Captain Madison gave a short speech in which he made known his expectations of
37 the company, “I expect Alpha Company to have the most disciplined, sharpest looking, and best performing New Boys in the Corps. Do as you’re told, when you’re told, by your company leaders, and you will have a lot fewer problems here at Kendel. Step out of line or fail to meet the company’s standards and your time here could be one of the most miserable experiences of your lives.” Madison then introduced his company XO (Executive Officer/Second in command), First Lieutenant Phillips and added, “Lieutenant Phillips will now review some basic details about Kendel’s cadet corps with you. I suggest you pay attention because knowing and adhering to these details could save you some grief.” Phillips had two cardboard boxes next to his left leg and called four New Boys up to start distributing the Cadet Handbooks inside the boxes to all of the New Boys present. Once each New Boy had his handbook, Phillips directed them to turn to page 11 in the book, and said, “The diagram you see on that page is of the cadet corps’ organization. The Corps is organized similar to an Army battalion. There are four standard or line companies (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta) and then Hotel Company, which is made up of cadets in the corps band. Since it’s set up like an Army battalion, the cadet corps is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel, who has a staff consisting of an XO, S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4 officers, and a Command Sergeant Major. The responsibilities of each of these are spelled out on pages 12 and 13 of the handbook. You need to familiarize yourself
38 with all of their roles. Now, turn to page 14. Here you can see the cadet rank structure and insignia. You need to learn all of these because starting tomorrow, you will begin saluting cadet officers. Disciplinary action will be taken against any New Boy who fails to salute. While you are currently required to double-time when moving outside between buildings, when you see a cadet officer approaching you, you will slow to a walk, render a salute, hold the salute until the officer returns the salute, then drop your salute and resume double-timing to your destination. Any questions regarding this? When no one raised a question, Phillips continued, “Actual U.S. military ranks and insignia are on pages 16 and17. You will also need to learn these to salute the military officers you see on campus.” Captain Madison then took over again. “In a few minutes you’ll be moving to the quad for the 1700 hours retreat formation. You will form into your squads within the company and be called to Attention. Just before the bugler begins playing Retreat to indicate the lowering of the American flag, I will give the command PRESENT ARMS, and you will salute. You will hold your salutes until I give the command ORDER ARMS, when you will lower your salutes and resume the position of Attention. I don’t want to see any fuck-ups!” In Neal’s mind, the Retreat Formation seemed to go off without a hitch. All the New Boys snapped to attention, saluted, and dropped their salutes when ordered. They also
39 did a relatively good job of executing a Right Face before the company rather clumsily marched to the mess hall for third mess. Regardless, Neal thought they were already starting to look a little more military even though it was only the second day of PAIN Week. After dinner, all of the corps’ New Boys were herded into the school auditorium located a short walk from the mess hall on the first floor of Denton Barracks. As Neal entered the auditorium, he saw U.S. military personnel both standing and sitting on an elevated stage at the far end. The New Boys filed into the rows of theater-style seats, and after they all were each standing in front of a seat, the cadet corps commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walker, called them all to attention. He then saluted and reported to a U.S. Navy officer on the stage. A second after the officer returned Walker’s salute, Walker ordered the cadets to take seats. The Navy officer introduced himself as retired Navy Captain Paul Higgins, Commandant of Cadets. Captain Higgins welcomed the New Boys to Kendel, just as Walker had the previous day. He then stressed that the New Boys' experience at the school would only be as positive and rewarding as they themselves chose to make it. Higgins emphasized that each cadet’s academic and military success hinged entirely on the amount of effort they each were willing to put into their own development. He suggested that each cadet set a goal for himself, and then continually assess the progress he was making toward that goal, to determine if he needed to make adjustments. Captain
40 Higgins further underscored that while his door was open to address any serious problem a cadet might be having, he encouraged all cadets to first utilize their cadet chain of command and their assigned military cadre TAC (Training, Advising, and Counseling) officers to try to resolve issues. He noted that the TAC officers (all actually retired senior NCOs and not commissioned officers) were seasoned veterans who had served in military conflicts from World War Two, to the Korean War, and the War in Vietnam. Captain Higgins then introduced the Deputy Commandant of cadets, a short, slightly overweight retired Army Major named James Tuttle. The Captain went on to introduce the Company TAC officers and to identify the cadet companies to which they had been assigned. Neal learned that the Alpha Company TAC was to be Master Sergeant Orville Wertz, a craggly-faced Vietnam veteran who looked about 20 years older than his age. With the introduction of the academy’s retired U.S military cadre concluded, Captain Higgins introduced the school’s active-duty U.S. Army Professor of Military Science (i.e., Head of the Senior ROTC Department), Lieutenant Colonel Martin MacDonald. Colonel MacDonald gave a short brief on the ROTC Department’s Mission, particularly with respect to the Early Commissioning Program, and stressed that the Military Science Department had very little to do with the day-to- day running of the cadet corps or what occurred in the barracks. However, he did highlight that the department
41 sponsored Kendel’s GUARDIAN Rifle Drill Team, its Rifle Marksmanship Team, and its RAIDER Tactical Challenge unit. When Colonel MacDonald finished speaking, Walker again called the New Boys to Attention and dismissed them to return to their barracks. As Neal was approaching the door to exit Denton Barracks, he could hear Old Boys outside telling Alpha, Bravo, and Hotel Company New Boys assigned to Waldron Barracks to drop and do push- ups for not running back to their barracks (Charlie and Delta Company New Boys were fortunate enough to have their rooms on the upper floors of Denton Barracks). Realizing this, Neal broke into a run as soon as he exited Denton. Back in the barracks, he found Sergeant Baker directing the New Boys to study their handbooks until Taps at 2200 hours (10:00 pm). He strongly suggested they not only learn the cadet rank structure and insignia but also details in the handbook related to Kendel’s history as a military academy along with its mascot, school colors, and school motto. Baker further informed the New Boys that morning cleaning duties were now assigned by squad, and the squad duties had been posted on the platoon bulletin board at the entrance to the 1st platoon hallway. After reviewing the cadet handbook information for about 90 minutes, Neal and Freddy began testing each other on the book’s contents. Freddy was surprised to see that the cadet officer rank insignia was so different from the officers’ insignia actually used by the Army, but he
42 noted that at least the enlisted and NCO insignia were similar. Some general information about Kendel’s history had been provided in the welcome packet Neal had received from the school in May, but many additional details were in the handbook. As they studied the book, Neal and Freddy learned that Kendel had been founded in1869 by former Confederate Colonel Edward T. Kendel, who had been born and raised in Cooperville before entering the U.S. Military Academy in 1835. Kendel had later been used as a recruitment center in the lead-up to the Spanish- American War, and in early 1917 senior Kendel cadets had been deployed to three Army camps in Missouri to help train recruits being prepared for service in World War One. Kendel was most proud that approximately 2,600 of its alumni and staff served in World War Two. The academy’s hallmark two-year Early Commissioning Program began in 1965 to meet the Army’s urgent need for additional second lieutenants as the Viet Nam War was ramping up. Reviewing the handbook had made both Neal and Freddy drowsy, so they both went to the latrine to wash up, just before Taps sounded at 2200 hours and First Sergeant Ashley yelled the order for lights out and room doors closed. Neal and Freddy had just about fallen asleep when suddenly their room door burst open, and two Old Boys shone flashlights on each of them. Because the lights were in their eyes, it was impossible to see who the Old Boys were, but a few seconds later they slammed the door and
43 were gone. About two minutes later, Neal and Freddy heard yelling down the hall and then two New Boys counting off push-ups for some infraction Neal could only imagine. While the company Old Boys had told the New Boys that the nightly bed checks were primarily for accountability purposes, the NEW Boys were also warned that anyone caught masturbating during a bed check would have to wear a white glove on his left hand for 24 hours. Neal chuckled to himself as he recalled the warning, then drifted off to sleep. The next two days of PAIN Week (Wednesday and Thursday) consisted primarily of more drill and ceremony. The New Boys were marched in the August sun for hours, getting a 10 or15-minute break each hour to rest in the shade and drink some water. They practiced flanking movements, how to open and dress the alignment of their ranks, and mostly how to just keep in step. Punishments were dished out to many of the New Boys for issues such as consistently being out of step, repeatedly turning the wrong direction, or failing to halt/stop when given the command. Neal himself had to do at least 100 push-ups and as many squat thrusts over the course of the two days. The repetition, however, seemed to be turning the New Boys into something that resembled military cadets. But the most notable thing that occurred on Wednesday (at least in Neal’s mind) was when each of the company’s platoon sergeants reported to the first sergeant during the first mess formation that one cadet was not
44 accounted for. Neal heard similar reports of one or two cadets missing from other platoon sergeants in the quad. The First Sergeant in turn reported the platoons’ accountability status to Captain Madison as he took over the company formation. None of the Old Boys seemed fazed or alarmed by the news, however. Later Wednesday evening as Neal and Freddy were back in their room, Neal asked Freddy why he thought some of the cadets were not accounted for. Freddy simply replied, “They went AWOL (Absent Without Leave). Guys did that in the Army all the time. They get tired of being fucked with and take off.” “What are you talking about?” Neal asked. “This is different; it’s a college those guys applied to and paid for. They could have just gone to the admin office in the morning and withdrawn instead of sneaking out during the night.” “Pride will make a guy do crazy shit,” Freddy responded. “No one wants to be viewed as a quitter or coward!” On Friday, Day 5 of PAIN Week, the New Boys were scheduled to receive their Class A and B uniform items. That morning at first mess formation, just as on the two days before, each company reported 1or 2 cadets unaccounted for. Neal didn’t dwell on the reports this time, though; his focus was simply on, “We’re finally going to look just like the Old Boys.“ The companies, starting with Delta Company, began moving to the Quartermaster Building to draw their Class A and B uniform items immediately after finishing breakfast. The uniform issue
45 was fairly fast and efficient, since each cadet had already had his clothing measurements as well as his shoe size recorded earlier in the week. As each company finished its uniform draw, its New Boys were ordered back to their barracks to change into the Class B uniform consisting of the same short sleeve blue shirts and gray pants worn by the Old Boys. Having carried his uniform items back to his room in a second white net laundry bag that was issued to hold them, Neal used the guide in the cadet handbook with instructions as to where to place the KMA (Kendel Military Academy) brass pins on his shirt’s collar and his black nametag with his last name on the shirt’s pocket. Once he had put his uniform on, Neal walked down to the platoon latrine to look at himself in the one full-length mirror hanging therein and saw that he looked nowhere near as sharp as the Old Boys. With nothing but the brass KMA pins (which New Boys quickly began to call their “Kiss My Ass” pins) and his nametag on his shirt, he sadly realized he looked more like a mailman than a military academy cadet. His buzz haircut didn’t help his appearance even when covered with the plain gray envelope-style cap (usually referred to as a “cunt cap” by the cadets) he was issued. And unlike the super shiny black Oxford shoes the Old Boys wore, the Oxfords he had been issued—although new and clean—were a much duller black. Back in his room, Neal expressed his disappointment in the uniform to Freddy, who matter-of-factly said: “Just
46 be happy you don’t have to deal with sticking a bunch of crap on it.” Neal quickly retorted, “That’s easy for you to say. You get to wear your ribbons and marksmanship badges from the Army. You look like a cadet, not a postman!” “Don’t worry,” Freddy answered, “You’ll have a few of those bullshit school ribbons that some of the Old Boys are wearing in no time. Oh, and by the way, the Old Boys' shoes shine all the time because they’re made of “Corfam.” It’s some kind of synthetic leather that never needs polishing. They can just wipe their shoes clean with a cloth, and they shine. But I’ll show you how to put a shine on the leather shoes they issued us that will put even the Old Boys’ shoes to shame.” At 1100 hours (11:00 am), First Sergeant Ashley ordered all of the company’s New Boys to form up in the quad in their Class B uniforms. With Sergeants Baker and Ortiz barking at their heels, all of Alpha Company’s NEW Boys quickly moved to the staircase at the end of the platoons’ respective hallways and hurried down the stairs. Outside of the barracks, they ran to fall in behind the Alpha Company guidon. Neal wondered why they had been ordered to the quad an hour before the usual 1200 hours second mess formation. He and the other New Boys soon got their answer. The platoons were given the command to Open Ranks, meaning that they increased the distance between squads in the formation to make it easier for inspectors to walk between the squads.
47 Lieutenant Worley of 1st Platoon then began inspecting the uniforms of each New Boy in the platoon, beginning with those in the 1st squad. Sergeant Baker stood beside him as he moved from New Boy to New Boy. When Worley inspected Neal, the only problem he found was related to Neal’s gigline (the vertical alignment of the uniform shirt’s button seam, belt buckle tip, and pants fly seam) being slightly off. Worley told Neal to straighten it out, then moved on to the next New Boy. Apparently, this cadet had problems not only with his gigline, but also with the KMA brass placement on his shirt and his nametag being crooked. This was enough for Sergeant Baker to order the New Boy to drop and do push-ups. Two more New Boys in the squad were forced to do push-ups before Worley and Baker moved to the 2nd squad. When they got to Freddy in that squad, Neal heard Worley say, ”Looks like we got us a war hero here.” Neal winced, expecting the worse. “Where did you earn all those ribbons and badges, hero?” “In the 8th Infantry Division in Germany, Sir.” Freddy responded. “Well, since you’ve been a real soldier boy, I expect your uniform to look twice as good as every other New Boy’s from here on out,” Worley said. “Yes, Sir!” Freddy answered.
48 Before the inspection ended, at least five more New Boys in the platoon had been ordered to do push-ups. To Neal, that seemed to be about half the number that had been ordered to drop in Alpha Company’s 2nd platoon. Every few seconds, Neal could hear Sergeant Ortiz, in his strong Latin accent, ordering a New Boy to do push-ups. Thank God for small favors, Neal thought; I could have wound up in that platoon. Once the inspections in all of the companies were complete, the New Boys were ordered to close ranks and minutes later they marched into the mess hall for second mess. As soon as lunch ended, the New Boys were back in the quad for more drill practice. This time the companies marched out of the quad to have additional space to practice double-timing in formation and executing column movements/turns. As he glanced out of the corner of his eye at all of the marching companies, Neal privately acknowledged that they were actually starting to look and march like real military cadets, and this was after only five days of training and indoctrination. Three hours of drill in the August heat with only 10-minute breaks each hour to re-hydrate and stand in the shade of nearby trees or an adjacent Kendel building left the New Boys exhausted by the time they were dismissed to return to their barracks. Back in the barracks, First Sergeant Ashley directed all of the New Boys to assemble in the company’s dayroom area as they had the day before. Once everyone was there, Ashley gave the command AT EASE. The company XO,
49 Lieutenant Phillips, then took over, “You’ll be happy to know that you will no longer be required to run to formations or from building to building when you are outside. You will, though, be required to brace whenever you are in the barracks. This means as soon as you enter the company’s halls, you will walk along the right side of the halls with your arms pinned down to your sides, as if you’re at attention while you’re walking. If your room happens to be on the left side of the hall, you will halt in front of the room door opposite your room, execute a left face, and then brace to your room and enter. If leaving your platoon hallway, the right side is on the opposite side of the hallway you entered. Don’t let us catch any New Boy not bracing, because if we do, having to walk with your arms pinned to your sides will be the least of your problems. Bracing will start as soon as you return from third mess this evening. In addition, your platoon leadership will be teaching you the unique dining etiquette you will be using starting at first mess tomorrow. “Great!” Neal thought. “As if they haven’t screwed with us enough already. Maybe I should just hop in my car tonight and take off like those others. Yeah, right! If I did that, Dad would drag me to a Marine Corps recruiting office as soon as I got home so the Marines could either make a man out of me or kill me. Either option would probably work for him. He definitely has no use for quitters.”
50 “Walking” to the quad for third mess formation, the New Boys were relieved that they would no longer be harassed for not running outside, but they soon learned that New Boys were being stopped by Old Boys checking their knowledge of Kendel’s history, cadet corps organization, and other facts of the academy provided in the cadet handbook. Those who answered a question incorrectly were still forced to do push-ups, squat thrusts, or duck walk. Neal was lucky enough to have eluded an interrogation before reaching the Alpha Company formation. Returning to Waldron Barracks after third mess, the New Boys made their first attempt at bracing down the platoon hallway to their rooms. With all of them needing to brace up the hall at the same time, it took them slightly longer to get to and enter their rooms. However, not long after everyone got back, Lieutenant Worley ordered, “I want all of you New Boys to come out of your rooms and bring your desk chairs with you. Once they were all in the hallway, Worley directed them to place their chairs on each side of their room doors and take a seat. Immediately after they were seated, Sergeant Baker sat down in a chair in the middle of the hallway, while Worley himself sat in another. The two Old Boys sat back-to-back so New Boys on both sides of the hallway could see what they were doing. Worley then continued, “From now on until you are told differently, you will sit on only the first third of your chairs in the mess hall. Do it with your room chairs now! All the
51 New Boys scooted their butts up on their chairs at the same time. In addition, whenever you are told to ‘SIT UP,’ you will quickly extend your left arm in front of you and bend it at the elbow, so that the lower half of your arm is in front of you perpendicular to your body. At the same time, you will quickly place the lower half of your right arm on top of your extended lower left arm. You need to do this with enough speed and force so that a slap is heard when you bring the right arm down onto the left arm. Sergeant Baker and I will now demonstrate what this will look and sound like.” With that, Lieutenant Worley yelled the command, SIT UP, and he and Sergeant Baker executed the movements he had just described. The New boys indeed heard the distinct slap when Worley and Baker brought the lower portions of their right arms onto the lower portions of their left arms, so that both were now crossed in front of them. “Now you’re going to practice this,” Worley said. He subsequently gave the command, SIT UP, about 20 times. Sergeant Baker walked up and down the platoon’s hallway making on-the- spot corrections as the New Boys conducted the arm movement. After each attempt, Worley would say RECOVER and then yell SIT UP again. By the tenth or twelfth time, all of the New Boys’ arm slaps were in unison. “You will Sit Up not only when you are ordered to by an Old Boy, but also each time you find the need to say something at the table. For example, if you need someone to pass the salt, you will first Sit Up and then say, PASS
52 THE SALT, PLEASE, SIR. These are now the rules you will follow each time you eat in the mess hall. The only exception will be during first mess on Sunday mornings, which is a voluntary meal. During those meals, you can eat like a regular human being. Any questions?” When no one responded, Worley directed the New Boys to put their chairs back in their rooms and to start preparing their uniforms for the next day’s in-ranks inspection, adding that he did not want to find the same uniform issues he had identified earlier in the day. Freddy and Neal immediately began working on their shoes. Freddy showed Neal techniques to get his shoes to look better than they did earlier in the day, but when Neal finished shining them, he saw that they still didn’t look anywhere near as good as Freddy’s. “That’s because these are my dress shoes from the Army that I brought with me and they’re completely broken in,” Freddy noted. You’ll need to build a good polish base on those new shoes you have before they’ll start shining up really nice. Give it a little time; it won’t take long. You also need to put some black edge dressing around the edges. I just used up the little I had left. Maybe you can borrow some from another New Boy.” Taking Freddy’s advice, Neal went to his room’s door and, in a loud hoarse whisper, said, “Hey, across the hall, do you have any edge dressing I can borrow for my shoes?” The black youth Neal had briefly conversed with on his first day at Kendel came to the door of the room and said,
53 “Sure, I just finished using it, so you’re welcome to come over and grab the bottle.” Neal took quick looks down both ends of the hallway to ensure no Old Boys were lurking around, then quickly walked across the hall to the other room and introduced himself. “Hi, I’m New Blakely.” The black New Boy in turn said, “My name is Wendel Parsons,” and they both shook hands. Neal noticed that the other bed in the room was not made, and asked, “Don’t you have a roommate?” “I did for a couple of days, but he disappeared on Wednesday night. I heard him get up and leave the room in the middle of the night but figured he was just going to take a piss. When he wasn’t here on Thursday morning, I suspected something was up, but a lot of his stuff was still here, so I didn’t worry about it. After the third mess on Thursday, Sergeant Baker came to my room and asked me if my roommate had said anything to me about leaving, and I told Baker that he hadn’t. Sergeant Baker then told me to pack all my roommate’s things in a couple of cardboard boxes he had with him. I did as I was told and left them on my roommate’s bed, and the next day after we drew our uniforms and came back to our rooms to change into them, I saw that the boxes were gone.” “That’s too bad.”
54 Neal stated. While having your own room is kind of cool, a roommate can be a big help sometimes. Mine, Freddy Politosky, was in the Army for three years, and his experience has come in pretty handy! Listen, I’ll get this edge dressing back to you in a few minutes. And in the future, if you need a hand with something, don’t be afraid to ask us!” “I appreciate the offer,” Wendel replied. More Old Boys arrived at Kendel on the last day of PAIN Week, Saturday. They ranged in rank from as low as cadet private to corporal and sergeant. Within a few days it became clear to Neal why these Old Boys had not ascended to higher positions in the cadet corps. Sergeant Bautista, a foreign student from the Philippines, who was assigned as 1st platoon’s 3rd squad leader, didn’t speak English (at least not any that Neal could understand). Sergeant Reynolds, the newly appointed 2nd squad leader, always looked like he had slept in his uniform. Even his black shoulder straps with the three yellow-gold sergeant stripes looked like they had been wadded up in his pocket before he put them on his uniform shirt’s epaulettes. Meanwhile, 1st squad’s new leader, Sergeant Ramseur, who always wore a decent-looking uniform, seemed to have the energy and motivation of a sloth on Quaaludes. Each morning before first mess formation, he would leave his room, walk to the company dayroom and sit on one of its sofas while his squad carried out its assigned cleaning
55 duties. He never supervised, inspected, or otherwise involved himself with the squad’s New Boys. That morning at first mess formation, the company’s New Boys were informed that the company commander, Captain Madison, would be inspecting their rooms at 1100 hours, so they would have a couple of hours after breakfast to do last-minute cleaning and straightening out of their beds, closets, and desk areas. Neal and Freddy were confident their room would pass the inspection without a problem, but when Captain Madison entered their room with Lieutenant Worley to conduct his inspection, he found dust on things they had never thought to check (doorframes, window frames, and bed rails) and grope balls (small dark lent balls that the cadets’ dark blue wool school blankets seemed to produce at a rate of about 50 per minute) on their white sheets and pillowcases. In addition, Captain Madison gigged them for having a scuffed floor, even though Neal and Freddy had swept and mopped their room’s tile floor only 15 minutes before the company inspection began. As Madison and Worley were leaving the room, the platoon leader briefly turned to order each of them to do 25 squat thrusts. Neal and Freddy soon realized that they were not the only ones who had issues with their rooms. Over the next 20 minutes, they heard a number of other New Boys counting off push-ups or squat thrusts. In fact, they heard cadets counting off from about every room in the platoon except Wendel’s across the hall.
56 Saturday after second mess, the cadet corps formed in the quad then marched down to Kendel’s west parade field for corps parade practice. Here the cadet companies formed to practice the official ceremonial steps for a formal pass and review (parade). At one point, Captain Garner, the cadet corps Adjutant/S1, did the funniest fast walk (the Adjutant’s Walk) that Neal had ever seen to position himself in front of the corps. Once in place, he commenced to order the entire corps to attention and parade rest about half a dozen times. Finally, the command, PASS AND REVIEW, sounded, and the company commanders ordered their companies to execute a right face. A drum started beating, and the company commanders gave the order, FORWARD MARCH. The cadets moved forward to a point where they were given the order, COLUMN LEFT, MARCH, and then marched forward again until they were given the same command. Alpha Company, the lead unit, was now headed in the direction of the formed corps staff on the parade field, although the company would be passing in front of the staff. As the unit approached the area where the staff was formed, Captain Madson gave the command, EYES RIGHT, and all the company’s cadets except those in line closest to the staff looked slightly to the right while the company officers saluted. The entire corps marched past the staff in the same manner and then continued to march back to its original starting positions on the field to practice the entire process three more times, undoubtedly because
57 the companies were having trouble keeping in step with the drum beat and maintaining their internal dress and cover alignments. Two hours of parade practice resulted in some improvement, but even the New Boys realized they were far from perfect. After the fourth trip around the parade field, the companies marched back up to the quad. There, Captain Madison informed Alpha Company that there would be another parade in the cadets’ full Class A uniform after second mess the next day (Sunday) and sarcastically expressed his hope that the New Boys would perform a lot better than they had during that day’s practice parades. Madison then turned the platoons over to their platoon leaders, who told the platoons to get back to their rooms and start working on getting their Class A’s ready for the next day. Neal quickly discovered that Freddy had been right when he said a uniform was better if you didn’t have to stick a lot of crap on it. As he began to prepare his Class A uniform, he came to realize what a pain in the ass it was to have to polish the required insignia and brass uniform buttons, and exactly measure the placement of the KMA pins, nametag, and school crests on the Class A tunics. He asked himself why they couldn’t just parade in their Class B uniforms. As they prepared their uniforms, Freddy went into one of his rants about how this was the same kind of fucked up shit the Army made him do. A little fed up with Freddy’s
58 constant bitching about the Army, Neal asked, “Freddy, if the Army is so fucked up, why do you want to go right back in?” “Because this time I’ll be an officer, and officers get all the best ass! And I plan on getting my share.“ Freddy answered. Neal shrugged and said, “Oh well, as long as you’ve thought it through, and you have a goal, I guess it makes sense.” He then rolled his eyes as he turned to finish setting up his uniform. “Damn straight,” Freddy muttered behind him. Sunday morning was the first decent time the New Boys had since they arrived at Kendel. Neal was about to get into his Class A uniform to go to the voluntary first mess when he heard another New Boy say they didn’t have to be in their Class A’s until second mess. This being the case, Neal put on his Class B uniform and was about to start walking toward the stairwell when he heard Sergeant Baker yell at some New Boys, “Why the hell aren’t you bracing in my hallway? It’s Sunday, not Christmas! Get down and give me 25 push-ups!” Neal waited until the New Boys finished their push-ups, then stepped out of his room, braced across the hall, and then did a left face before bracing his way to the stairwell door. Freddy had decided to sleep in and skip breakfast, and as usual slept through all the noise in the hall. He had previously explained to Neal that he had had to learn to sleep on night fire ranges in the Army, so noises didn’t bother him once he drifted off. After finishing breakfast, Neal went to the cadet parking lot with some other New Boy who had vehicles
59 there and started his car. It was the first time he had started it since the day he reported to Kendel, so he also moved it back and forth a little. While in the parking lot, he found Wendel doing the same with an older model, beige-colored Volkswagen Beetle. “Hell of a car,” Neal said. “Well, it got me here all the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and that’s all that matters to me.” “Yeah, guess you’re right,” Neal replied. He and Wendel then spent about 20 minutes talking about their PAIN Week experiences and their personal lives. Neal found out that Wendel was a participant in Kendel’s Army ECP, but he intended to defer taking his commission until he obtained a bachelor’s degree. This was an option promoted by the academy, which let its ECP cadets know that it would be practically impossible for an officer to be promoted higher than the rank of Captain in the Army if he did not have a bachelor’s degree. Neal also learned that Wendel had been awarded a 2-year Army ROTC scholarship at the end of his ECP 6-week military basic training before reporting to Kendel. Somewhat surprised, Neal stated, “I didn’t even know the Army offered 2-year ROTC scholarships,” and then told Wendel about his own 4-year scholarship. “I envy you, man,” Wendel admitted. The two then decided they had better get back to the barracks for whatever new “fun” the Old Boys might have planned for them. The worst part of that Sunday was having to eat second mess in the Class A’s following the new rules the New Boys
60 had been taught a couple of days prior. The requirement to sit on the first third of their chairs and Sit Up when ordered or when needing something on the table was never pleasant, but was even more uncomfortable with the buttoned-up Class A tunic. Nevertheless, at least the dress parade after second mess went off better than all of the practices the day before. Maybe just being in their full Class A uniforms made the New Boys perform better. At any rate, Lieutenant Colonel Walker was satisfied enough with their performance that he directed his subordinate commanders to give the New Boys the rest of the day to relax or work on any company problems they needed to fix. The relatively peaceful six hours they had “off” until Taps that night seemed like a heavenly eternity to Neal. Except for an Old Boy occasionally reprimanding and dishing out punishment to a New Boy for some unknown infraction, the halls were quiet. Wendel had braced across the hall to Neal and Freddy’s room, and the three sat and talked while polishing their shoes, which had become scuffed and scratched by the grass on the parade field. The three would become close friends for the rest of their time at Kendel.
61 CHAPTER FOUR School Starts The next day after first mess, all of the new boys had to report to a large open reception area on the first floor of Kendel’s Scholar Hall, which was located directly behind Denton Barracks. There they briefly met with the Kendel professors assigned as their academic advisors alphabetically according to the New Boys’ last names, with each professor responsible for about 10-12 cadets. The professors provided a booklet listing Kendel’s various academic programs and courses and then scheduled a time for a private meeting with each New Boy to discuss their academic goals and develop their individual curriculums and class schedules. The 30-minute meetings began at 1000 hours, with a break for the New Boys to make the second mess formation and then continued after second mess. Neal’s meeting was scheduled for 1330 hours with Professor David Hunter, a man in his mid-forties who looked every bit like a college professor in his glasses and tweed sport coat with patches on the elbows. He even smoked a pipe. If he had a beard, Neal thought, he’d be the perfect stereotype of a professor usually depicted in films and TV series. Professor Hunter asked Neal what his academic goals were at Kendel. Neal explained that he had received a 4-year ROTC scholarship and planned to transfer to a 4-year university after his time at Kendel to work toward a bachelor’s degree in history. Hearing this,
62 Professor Hunter recommended that Neal focus on earning an associate’s degree in general studies during his time at Kendel because this would enable him to complete a lot of the basic courses that most 4-year colleges required for any liberal arts degree program. Neal accepted the professor’s suggestion, and they put together a course schedule for Neal’s next two semesters. Professor Hunter pointed out that Neal was allowed two weeks to change his mind about taking any of the courses they had selected but emphasized that after that Neal would be stuck taking what they had chosen for the first semester. Neal stated that he didn’t anticipate making any changes and thanked Professor Hunter for his help before leaving their meeting. Freddy later told Neal that he also would be seeking a degree in general studies. They compared class schedules and found they would be taking a couple of courses together. Neal asked, “So you’re planning on transferring to a 4-year school later to get a bachelor’s?” “Hell, no!” Freddy answered, “I plan on getting out of the army after making captain and then going back to New York to join the NYPD.” “I have to admit, you always know exactly what you want to do,” Neal said. “Damn straight!” Freddy said with a wink. Once academic classes started the next day, the Old Boys seemed less inclined to screw with the New Boys, probably because they were just as burdened as the New Boys with coursework. In addition, it was not uncommon to have Old Boys learning together with New Boys in some
63 of the courses, with a few of the New Boys proving themselves to be more academically gifted than their Old Boy classmates. In most cases, the Old Boys appeared to leave their rank outside of the classroom, but Neal had the cadet corps Executive Officer (XO), Major Todd Bernsten, in his World History class, and he always seemed to expect deference to his rank. Unlike the corps commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walker, who consistently projected professionalism, Bernsten’s most prominent character traits seemed to be arrogance and narcissism. Neal later learned that Bernsten was a legacy cadet, whose father had graduated from Kendel in 1952. Furthermore, his father was a well-known oil industry magnate based out of Oklahoma, who reportedly had donated millions of dollars to Kendel, which undoubtedly helped Todd Bernsten obtain his elevated position in the corps. “Oh, well,” Neal thought, “at least the academy’s adult staff was smart enough not to make him corps commander.” Concurrent with the start of the academic classes was the mandatory evening study period in the barracks for ALL cadets (Old Boys and New Boys) from 1900-2100 hours each evening from Sunday to Thursday. This mandatory period clearly demonstrated the emphasis that Kendel placed on academic studies at the school. As further evidence of Kendel’s commitment to ensuring cadets focused on their studies, a designated duty professor would patrol the barracks’ halls during the evening study hours,
64 and woe to ANY cadet caught listening to a radio, playing some game with his roommate, or out of his room socializing. The usually soft-spoken and mild-mannered professors would tear into those errant cadets like a Marine drill instructor. Although they were authorized to give demerits to the cadets, usually a verbal “dressing down” from the professors was punishment enough and would send the cadets (both Old Boys and New Boys) scurrying back to their books with their tails between their legs. Daily classes ended at 1530 hours (3:30 pm) each day. There was an activities formation at 1600 hours. All cadets who had not joined a school athletics team, the GUARDIAN Drill team, the Rifle Marksmanship Team, or the RAIDER Challenge Unit were required to do organized PT (Physical Training) for 45 minutes. This encouraged most cadets to join something. Neal, Freddy, and Wendel all joined the RAIDER unit because they believed its physical and tactical training would best prepare them for the Army. They were told by the Army Captain overseeing the unit that as RAIDERs they would learn more about military weapons, small unit tactics, land navigation, and field survival than taught in the Military Science (ROTC) Department’s regular instruction on these topics. As the class days, daily formations, and Sunday parades became routine, Kendel became a little easier to tolerate. After spending one more Saturday morning on parade practice, most of the remaining Saturday mornings were devoted to military training conducted by active-duty
65 officers and NCOs assigned to the Military Science Department. To begin this training, the Department utilized its first Saturday morning to issue all the New Boys Army green fatigues and combat boots. These fatigues fit much better than the fatigues the New Boys first received from the school’s Quartermaster staff and actually had a U.S. ARMY tab sewn over the fatigue shirt’s left pocket. Wearing this uniform, Neal didn’t just feel like a cadet, but like a soldier. Freddy was not so impressed. “It’s not a big deal,” he told Neal. “I wore this uniform almost every day for three years.” At the end of each month, starting in September, Cadets were required to take a comprehensive exam or submit a major paper/essay in all of their classes. The grades from these tests and papers were a major part of the cadets’ grades in a particular course for the month and were used to provide a snapshot of the cadets’ GPAs (grade point averages) at that point in time. With no consideration for his assigned New Boy’s privacy, in early October Lieutenant Worley posted a list of the September GPAs for all of the platoon’s New Boys on the platoon bulletin board. While Worley could have used the New Boys’ Kendel serial numbers, he instead went ahead and posted the GPAs next to their names with the top GPAs on top. Neal didn’t mind too much since his name was first on the list. Wendel’s name was right below his. Freddy’s GPA, however, was in the bottom third of the platoon. For the next two months, Neal and Wendel vied for the top spot, with Wendel’s GPA
66 on top in November and Neal’s first on the list in December. When Freddy’s GPA dropped even lower on the list posted in November, Neal told him, “Alright, buddy, it’s my turn to help you!” Freddy was doing okay in his math and Military Science courses, but he was suffering in the classes where he was required to do a lot of writing— English, Political Science, and History. Neal asked Freddy to let him proofread his writing assignments before he submitted them. When he did, he found that Freddy’s spelling, punctuation, grammar. and topic organization were terrible. Neal would highlight Freddy’s mistakes and then try to explain the writing issues he was having. Freddy was mostly dismissive at first but began paying more attention when he started getting “Bs” and “Cs” on his submissions rather than his usual “Ds”. By December, Freddy’s GPA appeared in the middle of the posted platoon list. Although having a New Boy’s low GPA posted on the bulletin board for everyone to see could be a source of some embarrassment, there were definitely more embarrassing things that could be harder to live down at Kendel. During a first mess meal on a Tuesday in mid- October, a New Boy sitting directly across from Neal at the mess hall dining table assumed the SIT UP position to ask that a condiment be passed to him. Neal was drinking from a half-pint carton of milk when he noticed what he thought
67 was a bandage on the New Boy’s left hand. He asked himself, “What the hell did Mitchell do to his hand?” But then it struck Neal that it was not a bandage, but a white glove. This sudden realization caused Neal to choke on his milk and spit it clear across the table onto Mitchell. “SIT UP!” Lieutenant Phillips, who was sitting at the head of the table, ordered Neal. “What the hell is wrong with you, New Boy?” “I’m sorry, Sir!” Neal apologized. “My milk went down the wrong way.” “Well, you messed up Mitchell’s uniform, so after breakfast you will go to his room, get his soiled uniform, and take it to the quartermaster laundry room to get it cleaned for him!” Yes, sir!” Neal replied. Mitchell was not in his room when Neal went there, but he had left his dirty uniform on the floor just inside the door. Neal decided he would never ask Mitchell about the glove or mention it to others. Nevertheless, word got out to the whole corps about Mitchell having to wear the glove, and cadets would snicker behind his back whenever he walked by them up to the day he graduated from Kendel.
68 CHAPTER FIVE The Making of Enemies By the time the Thanksgiving Furlough came around, most of the Old Boys were becoming downright civil toward the New Boys. They still punished New Boys for disregarding or violating the rules and policies of the cadet corps or failing inspections, but now without the yelling and insults. In addition, punishments now included the awarding of demerits for the infractions. If a cadet received enough demerits, he would have to “Walk the Area” (i.e., march hours around the quad during his free time) while supervised by the Cadet Staff Duty NCO until he worked his demerits off. Because New Boys rarely had any free time, Neal decided he would much rather just be dropped for push-ups or squat thrusts and get his punishment over with than have to march around the quad during his limited time off. But he was soon to find out that some Old Boys at Kindel liked to dish out even worse punishment. One afternoon in October while bracing back to his room, Neal felt a sharp sting on the back of his head just above his neck. He immediately brought his right hand up to the point of the pain, and an instant later heard Sergeant Ortiz from 2nd Platoon yell, “Why the hell aren’t you bracing, New Boy?” Neal stopped, did an about face and answered, “Sir, I felt something sting me on the back of my head and thought it might be a bee or a wasp.” Neal saw that Ortiz was with two of his platoon’s squad leaders. “I
69 don’t see any bees or wasps. Do you want me to cite you for an Honor Violation for lying?” Neal could see the other two Old boys were trying to hold back chuckles. “No, Sir!” Neal replied. Then get down and give me 25 push-ups. Neal dropped and counted off the 25 push-ups, but Ortiz left him in the front leaning rest position for a couple of minutes before telling him to recover. Ortiz then immediately ordered Neal to give him 25 squat thrusts. “Sir, according to the cadet handbook, an Old Boy can make a New Boy do a maximum of 25 push-ups or squat thrusts for an infraction, but not both. “What the fuck do we have here?” Ortiz snarled. “A New Boy lawyer? Looks like we got ourselves another RAT FUCK candidate!” he told the other Old Boys. “Where the hell is your room, New Boy?” “Two doors down, Sir,” Neal responded. “Well, brace your ass down there and wait for me inside at the position of Attention.“ Ortiz ordered. Neal did as he was told, and when he entered his room, Ortiz and the two Old Boy squad leaders entered right behind him. “Okay, New Boy.” Ortiz said, “I won’t order you to do any more push-ups, but that doesn’t mean another Old Boy can’t make you drop and do them for an infraction or lack of Kendel knowledge.” As soon as he said that, one of the
70 squad leaders asked Neal, “What year was Colonel Kendel born?” Neal did not remember that information being in the handbook but tried to calculate a year using the date that Kendel entered West Point. When he gave his answer, the Old Boy shouted, “Wrong!” then told Neal to give him 25 push-ups, but this time on his knuckles. Neal counted off all the push-ups even though the tile floor of his room made them more painful to do on his bare knuckles. The Old Boy allowed Neal to recover/stand up, but then the second Old Boy asked Neal which regiment Colonel Kendel had commanded in the Confederate Army. Again, Neal did not remember seeing that information in the cadet handbook, and so he replied, “I do not recall, Sir.” The second Old Boy similarly ordered Neal to do 25 more push- ups on his knuckles, but as Neal started this time he could feel a heavy, painful weight on his back. He soon realized that Ortiz or one of the other two Old Boys had placed the trunk at the end of his bed on his back and were forcing him to do the push-ups with the extra weight on him. Neal strained but continued to count off the push-ups until he heard someone bellow, “What in the goddam hell is going on here?!” Neal slightly raised his head and saw that it was Master Sergeant Wertz, Alpha Company’s TAC officer. “Just disciplining a smartass New Boy, Sergeant Wertz,” Ortiz answered. The sergeant retorted, “You know better than to pull this shit, Ortiz. Now get that trunk off his back, and all
71 three of you get the hell out of here before I lead you down to the Commandant’s Office by your two-inch dicks!” The three Old boys quickly left the room, but not without Ortiz shooting a “This isn’t over!” look back at Neal as he walked out the door. “Are you alright, son? The TAC officer asked. “I’m okay, Sergeant Wertz,” Neal responded. “Well, you’re going to run into sadistic sons of bitches like that even in the military, so you best learn how to deal with them now.” Master Sergeant Wertz suggested before leaving Neal alone in his room. Wendel was damned glad that Sergeant Wertz happened to be walking the Alpha Company halls at just the right moment. Neal had spoken with Wertz for a few minutes on one occasion, and Wertz had told Neal that he had joined the Army in 1952 during the Korean War but had not served in that conflict. He did serve two tours in Vietnam, however. The first with the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile) in 1965, and the second with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in 1969. Neal noticed that Sergeant Wertz wore the ribbons for the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, and the Purple Heart on his Class A uniform. When Neal had asked Wertz how he had wound up at Kendel, the Sergeant explained that he had come to the academy in 1972 on official orders assigning him to the Military Science Department. Then in 1974 the Commandant’s Office offered him a job as a TAC
72 officer, so he submitted his paperwork to retire from the Army. Neal informed Sergeant Wertz that his own father was a retired Air Force master sergeant, who had served in the Korean War and Vietnam. “You pick his brain, son, and learn all you can from him about what enlisted men expect from their officers. It will help make you a better one.” Wertz had advised Neal. Neal later told Freddy and Wendel about his encounter with Ortiz. “What a dick!” they both said in unison. Wendel added that he’d heard from a New Boy in the 2nd platoon in his sociology class that one of their squad leaders had a cheap blowgun that he used to shoot tiny plastic BBs at New Boys for fun. “That was probably what caused the sting you felt.“ “Do you want me to sneak into Ortiz’s room and cut off his balls tonight?” Freddy asked with fake seriousness. Neal laughed, “No thanks, he’s not worth you risking jail time, especially before you get all that ass and become a New York cop.” A couple of days later, Neal found an envelope from the Military Science Department in his school mailbox. The note inside read “Any cadet interested in receiving information about obtaining an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point should report to Captain Stewart in the Military Science building the following evening at 1900 hours the following evening.” Neal thought, “I already have a 4-year scholarship, but let me see what the captain has to say about West Point for the hell of it.” That night, Neal asked Freddy to let the duty professor
73 know he was at an official meeting in the Military Science Department if the professor asked why he wasn’t in his room during the Evening Study period. He then left for the meeting. When Neal arrived, he found about 10 cadets, including Wendel, already sitting in the classroom where Captain Stewart usually taught his Military Science classes. Another six more cadets followed Neal in and took a seat at one of the classroom’s desks. Neal was looking around and noting that the cadets were from companies across the corps when someone called them all to attention as Captain Stewart walked in. AT EASE, Stewart said, and the cadets took their seats. “Gentlemen, you received the invitations to come here this evening to be briefed on a special program that Kendel has with the United States Military Academy at West Point. For years, Kendel has served as a reliable source of qualified candidates to attend West Point. Three decades ago, Kendel entered into an agreement with the Academy that allowed it to nominate one qualified cadet each year to attend West Point. This cadet would receive automatic acceptance to the “Point” without having to go through the normal, extensive application process. In other words, the Kendel nominee would not have to secure a congressional nomination or pass any kind of entrance exam. Kendel has provided over thirty new cadets to the U.S. Military Academy, and every one of them has successfully met the significant academic and military challenges of that institution. Because Kendel does not want to break
74 precedent by nominating a cadet who might not be able to succeed at West Point, any cadet wanting to compete for this one slot must have and must maintain an excellent scholastic record and demonstrate maturity, significant leadership potential, self-discipline, and integrity while at Kendel. Any of you who think you may be interested in competing for Kendel’s one nomination this year, see me before the end of the week so that I can open a file on you. A board of officers assigned to the Military Science Department, with input from the Commandant of Cadets and Kendel’s Academic Dean, will review candidates’ files before making a recommendation to Colonel MacDonald, who is the final approving authority. Any questions?” “I have one, Sir,” Neal said. Since we’re already taking college-level courses and are going through a new cadet indoctrination at Kendel, will the selected cadet complete an abbreviated program at West Point? “No, the selected cadet will have to complete the Academy’s full 4-year curriculum,” Stewart answered, “including the first year Plebe Orientation. Since Kendel cadets will have already completed some lower college-level academic courses, West Point will place the selected cadet in upper-level courses once he is there.” “Great!” Neal thought to himself, “Like I want to go through this shit all over again. No thanks, I’ll just stick with my 4-year scholarship.” That evening after the Evening Study period, Neal entered Wendel’s room and asked him what he thought
75 about Captain Stewart’s West Point pitch. To Neal’s surprise, Wendel answered, “I’m going to compete for this year’s nomination. I have an appointment with Captain Stewart tomorrow to get more details.” “But why?” Neal asked. “You already have a 2-year scholarship and are going to receive a commission.” “Do you know what it would mean for my family if I could get into West Point?” Wendel asked. “Have you ever wondered why my name is Wendel and not Jethro, Cletus, or Leroy like most black men from the South? It’s because I’m named after my dad’s oldest brother, Wendel T. Parsons, who received a battlefield commission, a Bronze Star Medal, and a Purple Heart during World War Two while serving with the all-black 761st Tank Battalion. He was killed in action while his unit was helping the 4th Armored Division penetrate the Siegfried Line in January 1945. My uncle is worshipped like a saint in my family. I never even knew him, but my parents brought me up listening to stories about him. They have a shrine to him in our house. Pictures of him as a kid and in his Army Uniform, along with a framed display of his medals and ribbons. I want to do something that makes them just as proud of me.” “You already are doing something to make them proud,” Neal argued. He then said good night and walked back to his room feeling a little ashamed of himself for choosing to continue down the easier path. While most of the Old Boys had stopped yelling at and insulting the New Boys, even when punishing them for
76 something, Neal and Freddy did get one good ass-chewing during a barracks inspection by the corps staff in November before the Thanksgiving holiday. The staff had divided up to inspect the various companies, and it was Alpha Company’s “good fortune” to have the Corps XO, Major Berntsen, assigned as its inspector. Neal and Freddy had corrected the few faults identified by Captain Madison during his initial inspection of their room back in August by dusting the areas where Madison had found dust, using a masking tape lint remover to clean up grope balls, and waxing their floor to remove scuffs. They had easily passed all subsequent inspections, but Freddy had come up with an even better idea for the floor that he guaranteed would get them noticed. He suggested they spray and wipe the floor with “Lemon Pledge” to make it shine more, and also make their room smell better. He was right that the floor did shine more, but Neal noticed that it was pretty slippery as well. Freddy advised Neal to just be careful when walking on it. When they realized that Major Bernsten was about to enter their room, Neal and Freddy both popped to Attention. Bernsten took about three steps into the room before his feet slipped out from under him and he fell on his ass. Neal and Freddy tried to help him up, but he pushed them away. Then when he tried to stand up on his own, he fell again.
77 Clearly pissed off, Bernsten yelled, “Is this some kind of joke? What the hell did you put on this floor?” “Lemon Pledge, Sir,” Freddy answered. “Is that supposed to be funny, New Boy?” “No, Sir!” Freddy responded. “It was just supposed to make the floor shine better.” “Well, you’re on my shitlist now, son!” Bernsten then told Captain Madison, who was standing right behind him in the doorway and doing his best to conceal a grin, “I want this New Boy walking the area on Saturday until he wears a footpath into the quad’s concrete!” ”Yes, Sir.” Madison answered. Bernsten didn’t even bother to inspect the room; he just told Madison to mark Freddy and Neal down as having failed the inspection. Neal flew back to San Antonio to spend Thanksgiving with his family. One morning when he took his shirt off in his old bathroom to shave and wash up, his father, while passing by the bathroom door, said, Damn, son, they’ve put some muscle on you!” “Doing a couple hundred push-ups a day will do that for you.” Neal shot back with a grin. Neal enjoyed his time with his family but wanted to get back to school to finish the semester. Upon his return to Kendel, he noticed the mood was different, and the New Boys were starting to show a little more independence and even rebellion.
78 The night of December 1st, some cadet crapped on the elevated area of the quad where the Corps Staff formed each day. Lieutenant Colonel Walker was so pissed that he canceled everyone’s passes to go into Cooperville for the remaining weeks of the semester. The unverified rumor was that a New Boy in the 2nd Platoon of Alpha Company had desecrated that sacred staff spot. Then, four days before Christmas Furlough, someone at 0230 hours (2:30 am) flicked the switch in the Cadet Staff Duty Office that rang the bell used to remind all cadets of the regular daily formations. The entire corps woke up and evacuated the barracks, thinking there was a fire. The official reason ultimately offered and accepted for the untimely sounding of the bell was that someone in the staff duty office had accidentally brushed up against the switch, even though the Staff Duty Officer, the Duty NCO, and the CQ Runner all claimed to have been in other parts of the office when the bell rang. Many in the corps actually believed (albeit without proof) that because the Staff Duty Office was located on the first floor of Denton Barracks directly below Charlie Company’s barracks area, a Charlie Company New Boy was probably responsible. The semester was winding down nicely when Neal had one more run-in with Sergeant Ortiz. Late in the morning of the last Saturday of the semester, Neal needed to go to his room to change from his Army fatigues into his Class B uniform. He was outside the bottom floor at the opposite end of Waldron Barracks from where the staircase typically
79 used by New Boys was located, so to save time he opted to violate a strict rule and discreetly go up the nearby open-air stairs/fire escape that New Boys were prohibited from using to get to the upper floors in Waldron Barracks. He would then enter his platoon hallway through the second- floor door on that end of the building. Neal had just opened the door to enter the hallway when he was suddenly pushed back onto the stairway by Ortiz. “So New Boy, you just can’t keep from fucking up, can you? I thought you were a stickler for rules. Well, I’ve really got your ass this time.” Ortiz was punching Neal in the chest as he yelled at him. Neal admitted, ”You’re right, Sir. I really fucked up this time and take full responsibility for my actions. You can give me as many demerits or push- ups as you want, and I won’t complain.” “Fuck the demerits and push-ups, New Boy! This time I’m going to kick your ass!” Ortiz threatened. Neal didn’t know how to react. He knew he was in the wrong being on the stairs, so if he got into a fight with Ortiz, the senior-ranking Old Boys were likely to take Ortiz’s side. Ortiz then began to slap Neal’s face, while saying, “Come on, tough guy, show me what you’ve got.” Thoughts of losing his scholarship and disappointing his dad over something so stupid kept flashing through Neal’s mind and confusing him as to how to respond as Ortiz kept hitting him. Suddenly the door behind Ortiz burst open, and Freddy and Wendel both grabbed him. They then tipped Ortiz over and held him upside down over the open side of
80 the stairway. “Just let us know what you want us to do, Neal. We can let this asshole go and crack his skull open like a pumpkin on the sidewalk. Wendel and I will swear we saw him wailing on you and that while you were defending yourself, he fell backwards off the stairs.” Freddy said. “No, please, pull me up. I promise I won’t fuck with any of you ever again.” Ortiz pleaded. “Go ahead and pull him up, guys,” Neal said. “I don’t want you breaking the honor code and otherwise putting your futures at risk because of me.” Freddy and Wendel pulled Ortiz back up and set him down on the stairway landing. He quickly scurried through the doorway leading to the 1st platoon hallway and then continued back to his own platoon area. “He’ll probably be back with half a dozen Old Boys,” Wendel predicted. But Ortiz stuck to his word and avoided Neal, Freddy, and Wendel the last week of the semester. He also did not return to Kendel after the Christmas Furlough.
81 CHAPTER SIX Promotions All Around Neal felt like a soldier home on leave from a war zone when he came home for the 15-day Christmas Furlough from Kendel. Unlike during the short 4-day Thanksgiving break, this trip he had enough time to see friends, eat foods he had been craving for months, and even go on a couple of dates. He borrowed his father’s car (he’d flown home again, so his Firebird was left at Kendel) to take Linda Gonzales, a girl from his high school class, to a movie and dinner before Christmas and once again after. Linda was a very pretty Mexican American girl, who Neal had dated a few times in high school. Unfortunately, their ideological views were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Linda was an ultra-liberal while Neal was a die-hard conservative. They’d had some serious debates about socio-politico issues on previous dates, which had escalated into a heated argument on one occasion. As a result, Neal had never gotten more than a couple of passionate kisses from Linda. But since it was the Christmas season, they both now agreed to avoid discussing topics of contention. Linda told Neal she was enrolled at St. Mary’s University (the same school where the Army officers interviewed Neal for his scholarship) and was working toward a degree in Political Science. “That’s great!” Neal said, “How are you liking it?” “I love it!” Linda answered. “And because I can still live at home with my family, I’m saving a lot of money.” When
82 Neal told Linda about his experiences at Kendel, she remarked, “I don’t know how you can put up with that stuff. College should be a fun, positive experience.” “I guess just focusing on what’s at the end is what keeps me going,” Neal replied. “I’ve wanted to be a military officer for a long time.” “I wish you the best then,” Linda said sincerely. At the end of the second date, Neal and Linda promised to keep in touch and to keep each other appraised of their progress at their respective schools. It was tougher for Neal to say goodbye to his parents after the Christmas Furlough than it had been after Thanksgiving, but he found that he was actually glad to be back on Kendel’s campus when he returned on January 4, 1976. The school no longer felt strange or foreboding to him. It was more like a second home now. The first week back was used to get the cadets back into the daily drudgery of cleaning their rooms, squaring away their uniforms, and making the formations. Academic classes didn’t start until the following Monday. On Friday of the first week, Sergeant Baker came to Neal’s room and directed him to report to Lieutenant Worley’s room. “Yes, Sir!” Neal responded and wondered, “Now what did I screw up?” After Neal knocked on Worley’s door and walked in to formally report to him, the platoon leader told Neal to sit down on an extra chair he had in his room. Worley then made clear his purpose for summoning Neal. “There are going to be some leadership changes within the
83 company very soon and some of you New Boys are going to have to step up.” Worley started. “Sergeant Ortiz of 2nd platoon will not be returning (Neal discreetly let out a subtle sigh of relief), which is having a domino effect on company leaders. A squad leader from his platoon will be moving up to replace him, and Sergeant Ramseur will be moving to 2nd platoon to replace that squad leader. That means your squad will need a new leader, which will be you. Think you can handle the job?” “Yes, Sir!’ Neal almost shouted. “You better not make me look like an idiot for appointing you!” Worley emphasized. “I’ll do my best to make you proud. Sir.” Neal assured him. Worley ended their talk by stating that there would be some promotions announced sometime the following week, and Neal would likely get some rank. Neal reported out and departed Worley’s room. He felt like he was going to bust as he braced back to his room and couldn’t wait to tell Freddy. Freddy congratulated Neal and said, “You deserve it. You were the one running your squad anyway. Ramseur was a walking zombie. Good riddance!” “Thanks, Freddy,” Neal replied. “Have you heard anything about moving up?” “Hell no! I’m the guy who almost crippled the corps XO, remember?” Neal laughed and said, ”C’mon man, that was both of us.” “But I’m the one that stuck in his mind,” Freddy responded. “Every time I passed by him on campus after that, he would
84 screw with me— What kind of salute was that, New Boy? Straighten that hat, New Boy! Who showed you how to set your gigline, New Boy? He always found something to bitch at me about.” “Well, maybe he drank a lot of that rich boy eggnog while he was home for the holidays and he’s mellowed out by now.” Neal offered hopefully. About an hour after third mess, Wendel entered Neal and Freddy’s room and told them he was being re- assigned from 2nd squad to the platoon’s 3rd squad as squad leader to replace Sergeant Bautista, who was going to be Alpha Company’s new supply sergeant. “Apparently, while Bautista can barely speak English, he can read and write it pretty well. That means he can prepare requests for the company’s cleaning supplies and submit works orders to repair company plumbing problems, light fixtures, and other things like that.” Wendel explained. “Wow, looks like I’ll be saluting both of you guys pretty soon!” Freddy kidded. “Please be kind to me!” Neal and Wendel both laughed, and Neal jokingly said: “Well, it depends on what kind of job you do on our shoes.” “I promise to use only the best turds to shine them.” Freddy quipped. The following Monday at first mess formation, First Sergeant Ashley called Freddy up to the front of the formation and handed him the Alpha Company guidon. “You are now the company guidon bearer,” he told Freddy. Freddy had actually substituted as guidon bearer several times the previous semester, even during two dress parades.
85 He was a natural at it. He had once told Neal that he had served as guidon bearer for his Army basic training company and for his Army Advanced Individual Training (AIT) unit. Kendel quickly resumed the schedule it had been following the previous semester—academic classes until 1530 hours and then activities from 1600-1645 hours. At third mess on Thursday of the first week, Captain Garner, the corps adjutant/S-1, gave the command AT EASE, followed by ATTENTION TO ORDERS. He then read off a list of cadet promotions to take effect immediately. Within the long list he read, Second Lieutenant Worley was promoted to first lieutenant, First Sergeant Ashley, who had been wearing master sergeant rank, officially received his first sergeant diamond, Sergeant Bautista and the 2nd platoon squad leader who had replaced Sergeant Ortiz were promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant, and Neal and Wendel were promoted to corporal. Freddy and a few other Alpha Company New Boys were promoted to private first class (one rank below corporal), and almost all of the remaining Alpha Company New Boys were promoted to private E-2. On Friday, both Neal and Wendel made their way to the Quartermaster’s Cadet Store during their first free period to get both the black strap corporal rank insignia for their Cass B uniforms and the sew-on corporal chevrons for their class A jackets, They also obtained small brass corporal insignia to pin on the caps they wore with the Class
86 B and Army fatigue uniforms and to attach to their fatigue collars. Just as important as having some rank now were the new privileges they had. All New Boys were now allowed to sit all the way to the back on their chairs in the mess hall, and they only had to Sit Up when ordered to by an Old Boy. In addition, Neal and Wendel soon were able to obtain mid-week passes to go into downtown Cooperville on Wednesday evenings after third mess as long as they were back in the barracks before Taps. They received the latter privilege because of their high academic standings and not because of their new rank. Before they left each week, they would always ask Freddy if there was anything he wanted them to bring back for him. His answer every time was, “Yeah, a blonde (sometimes a redhead or brunette) with big tits.” He always had to settle for a burger and fries, a pizza, or a bag of chips. The second semester seemed to fly by compared to the first, and a lot of it was more fun. The Sunday afternoon parades were still a pain in the ass, but for the most part they could count on Saturday and Sunday afternoons being free time for all cadets except those Walking the Area for excessive demerits. Most cadets were also allowed to go into Cooperville during this free time. When Freddy would accompany Neal and/or Wendel into town, he would spend most of his time trying to hit on the local female population. Wendel reminded him once, “Remember what Sergeant Baker told us last semester; a lot
87 of these Cooperville girls have big strong farm-boy boyfriends or brothers.” “Yeah, I remember him saying that,” Freddy admitted. “But I also remember him saying that those dog statues in front of Cooperville High School (bulldogs were the school’s mascot) bark every time a virgin walks through the school’s front doors, and they ain’t barked yet!” Wendel and Neal just shook their heads. There was fun to be had at Kendel even during academy activities. Neal, Wendel, and Freddy really enjoyed the military training they received with the RAIDER unit. Even Freddy acknowledged he had learned a few new things. For example, they all now knew how to use their pace count to measure distance and they’d significantly improved their map reading and land navigation skills. Practicing small unit tactics and patrolling techniques is what they enjoyed the most, though. One Friday evening, Captain Stewart and Sergeant Major Bartlett of the Military Science Department used a Kendel bus to move the 18-cadet RAIDER unit to a forested area on the outskirts of Cooperville for night patrol training. Before leaving campus, each RAIDER had signed for an M16 rifle with a blank adapter and two ammunition magazines filled with blank cartridges. When they all offloaded from the bus in a pre-selected forest clearing, the Captain and Sergeant Major divided the unit into two groups, a blue team and a red aggressor/enemy team. Captain Stewart took the blue team aside to brief it
88 on its mission, while Sergeant Major Bartlett did the same with the red team. Neal and Freddy were on the blue team, which had the mission of moving to the suspected location of an enemy camp about five “klicks” (kilometers) away. They were then to assault that camp and seize anything of intelligence value (maps, communications information, etc.). An Old Boy cadet officer from Bravo Company was placed in charge of the team. The red team left its briefing area first, at about 2030 hours (8:30 pm). The blue team began its patrol at 2200 hours (10:00 pm). Movement through the thick dark forest was very slow going, especially since it was a cloudy night and there was little-to-no ambient light from the moon or stars. Freddy was the point man for about the first kilometer and a half, and then another New Boy took the point. The team had traveled less than three klicks by 0100 hours (1:00 am), which caused the Old Boy team leader to say he was taking the point. A slight drizzle began to fall, which slowed the team’s movement even more, but the rain stopped 20 minutes after it started. At 0300 hours, the team leader signaled the team to rally around him in a small clearing. He told everyone this was going to be the patrol rally point (RP). He then said he was going to take a look ahead by himself, and he wanted the rest of the team to wait in the RP until he got back. The team members quickly formed a 360-degree security perimeter within the RP, all facing outward with their blank-loaded M16 rifles, while the team leader moved ahead.
89 Thirty minutes later, the team leader came back and told the team, “I found it. The enemy camp is about 200 meters straight ahead.” “Are you sure?” Freddy asked. “Seems to me we’ve still got about a klick to go.” “I got to within 40 meters of it and watched someone moving in it, probably their night security guy. We’re going to move forward to an assault position close to where I was watching them from. As soon as there is enough daylight, I’ll give the order to attack,” the team leader explained. The team all moved forward to the assault position the team leader had selected. When they dropped to the ground so as to remain concealed until the assault, Neal found himself alongside the team leader. The leader pointed toward the suspected camp and said. “See? You can see that guy moving.” Neal looked in the direction the team leader was pointing, and he too saw what looked like the silhouette of someone wearing a military patrol cap bobbing back and forth. However, when the dawn started to break and the team could see better, the man with the patrol cap turned out to be just a bush swaying in the breeze, which had played tricks with their eyes in the dark. Freddy was the first to state the obvious, “Are you shitting me? We’ve been watching a goddam plant?! I told you we had almost another klick to go!” Just then, the PRC-77 tactical radio the team radioman was carrying crackled with Captain Stewart’s voice asking for a SITREP (Situation Report). The team leader took the radio’s handset from the team member and sheepishly reported that he had led the patrol
90 to the wrong location. He then asked the captain if the team should continue with the mission. “No, bring your team back in, and we’ll debrief here.” Captain Stewart directed. Movement back to the area where the bus had left them the previous evening was much quicker in the daylight, and it took the team only a little more than an hour to get back. The red team, which Wendel was on, was already back. “Where the hell were you guys?” he asked. “We had the perfect ambush set up to waste all of your asses.” The debrief with Captain Stewart took only about 10 minutes, and then all the RAIDERs loaded up on the bus to head back to Kendel. Wendel laughed his ass off when Neal and Freddy told him that they had surveilled a bush for almost two hours.
91 CHAPTER SEVEN The Risks of Love and Lust Wendel had been raised a devout Catholic, and so during the first semester when New Boys were allowed to go downtown on Sunday mornings to attend religious services, he would go into Neal’s room to try to wake him up and get him to go to the Catholic mass with him. Neal, also a Catholic, would wave him away and say, “Let me sleep! I’ve told you before, I’m a C&E Catholic, and that doesn’t mean I only go to church on Christmas and Easter; it means I only go to church when I get Cash, or there are Exotic women there!” But one Sunday in late January, Wendel came in and said, “You have to come with me to mass today! I have something really special to show you.” Neal grudgingly got out of bed and said, “This had better be good!” Wendel and Neal got to the church about five minutes before the mass began, so they had to sit in one of the pews in the far back. Wendel started looking around, and after a couple of minutes pointed toward one of the front rows and said, “There! Do you see her? The one with the light green dress with pink flowers. Isn’t she beautiful?!” “Well, the back of her head isn’t deformed,” Neal answered sarcastically. Wendel gave Neal a dirty look and said, “We’ll go see her after mass; she works in that donut shop at the end of Main Street.” “How do you know that?” Neal pressed. “I followed her there after mass last week,” Wendel explained.
92 “Dude, you stalked a girl out of a church?!” Neal chuckled. “Go to Hell, Dickhead!” Wendel shot back. “Awww, you really shouldn’t talk like that in church, holy boy!” Neal quipped. After the mass, Wendel and Neal were some of the first people out of the church, but instead of waiting outside for Wendel’s “love interest,” they walked in the opposite direction from the donut shop where she worked. “I thought you wanted to go see her there,” Neal stated. “I don’t want to get there right after her. She might think we’re following her.” Wendel said. “You mean like you did last week?” Neal reminded Wendel. Wendel just gave him another nasty look. They walked around Cooperville for about 20 minutes and then started back toward the donut shop. When they got there, the young girl was taking orders at the cash register. Neal had to admit she was about the most beautiful young black woman he had seen in his life. She was a petite girl with a nice figure, who had a great smile, and the smoothest light mocha-colored skin that gave her the look of a porcelain doll. “Why don’t you grab a table and let me go up alone to place our order so I can talk to her?” Wendel pleaded. “Okay, I want two cake donuts with strawberry icing, and a Coke. Oh yeah, and no sprinkles on the donuts, I’m too masculine for that.” Neal joked. As Wendel was placing the order, Neal could see and hear the young girl giggling several times. When he walked back to their table with the tray holding the items he’d
93 ordered, Neal saw the young girl look at Wendel a couple of times. Wendel said he found out the girl’s name was Cynthia Jackson and that she was a senior at Cooperville High School. Several times as they ate, Wendel looked back at her. “Every time I look back, she’s watching me,” Wendel claimed. “Maybe she thinks you’re going to try to steal something.” Neal surmised. “Yeah, right. What is there to steal?” Wendel countered. “Let’s see, your coffee mug, the sugar dispenser, the spoon you’re using.” Wendel shrugged off Neal’s comments and continued glancing back every 10-20 seconds. Neal had to go with Wendel to mass and the donut shop the next two weeks. It was clear that Wendel was infatuated with Cynthia. He found a reason to bring her up in almost any conversation he was having with Neal or Freddy. After the third donut shop visit, Wendel asked Neal if he could use his Firebird to finally take Cynthia out on a date. “Why, what’s wrong with your Beetle?” Neal asked. “What kind of a first impression am I going to make if I pick her up in a Volkswagen Bug? It would be like picking her up in a go-kart!” Wendel almost whined. “Okay, you can use my stud-mobile. But make sure you clean out all the used condoms on the seats and floor first.” Neal kidded. “Yeah, right!” Wendel scoffed. On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, the academy hosted a dance and invited students from the all-girl Sanford College in Jefferson City, Missouri. The day of the dance, the Alpha Company Old Boys called the New Boys
94 to a special formation in the company’s halls. Lieutenant Phillips explained that the formation was to collect one dollar from each New Boy that would be placed into a “Ghoul Pool.” He added that this money would be awarded to the New Boy who got stuck escorting and dancing with the ugliest girl from the college that night. The New Boys immediately let out a big laugh, but Phillips quickly said, “Don’t laugh! The Sanford girls have a pool of their own.” One New Boy from 2nd platoon declared, ”You can keep the money!” Another from the platoon commented, ”Well, I can use the cash, so I have no problem going ugly early!” That night when the girls showed up in a large bus, a lot of the New Boys waiting for them in the Denton Barracks auditorium (which had been set up and decorated so that hearts, cupids, and flowers now surrounded a dance area) were almost drooling with anticipation. But they soon saw that the best of the “herd” were quickly snatched up by Old Boys. Neal had his eye on one gorgeous blonde, but before he could make his way to her, an Old Boy captain from the corps staff was already leading her away by the hand. “It figures. Neal thought. “Maybe I should just focus on winning the ghoul pool.” Although Neal did dance with a couple of attractive girls that night, their interaction never progressed beyond a dance and small talk. Cynthia had been able to come to the dance, so Wendel naturally spent the entire evening with her. Freddy was on duty as the CQ runner in the Staff Duty Office, so he could not participate
95 in the dance. “Probably better for the Sanford girls.” Neal surmised. Neal envied Wendel’s growing relationship with Cynthia. It had further focused Wendel’s motivation to excel at Kendel. Neal wondered if anyone as special as Cynthia would come into his life. Then, on a Sunday evening the following week of February, he was alone at the local “A&W Rootbeer” having a chili dog, fries, and a root beer when he saw a pretty, sweet-looking young girl with shoulder-length light brown hair glance his way several times from a table across the room where she was sitting with a slightly older girl. A couple of minutes later, the one who had been glancing at him approached his table. “Hi,” she said, “I think I’ve seen you walking in front of my church a couple of times, but I’ve never seen you inside. ”Are you Catholic?” Neal asked. “No, I’m a Baptist.” She replied, but my Baptist church is just two blocks away from the Catholic church. “Oh, yeah,” Neal answered. “Then you’ve probably seen me with a friend when we’re walking to or from the Catholic services.” What’s your name?” Neal asked. “I’m Leah Burton. What’s yours?” “I’m Neal Blakely.” “Neal, my sister and I just came in for a quick root beer float, and we’re almost finished, but would you like to come over and join us at our table for a few minutes?” Neal looked back at the table where Leah had been sitting and guessed that Leah’s sister was about two or three years older than her, but with a more exotically beautiful face. Neal thought, “I’d really like
96 to meet the sister.” But then he noticed that the girl had a “baby bump,” which immediately tempered his interest. “Thanks for asking.” Neal responded, “But I really have to get back to the academy before our Evening Study period starts, or I’ll be in big trouble! But maybe I can try your Baptist church next Sunday for a change,” he added. “I hope you do,” Leah said with a smile. The next Sunday, Neal told Wendel he’d had enough donuts for the time being and would be trying another church that day. “When did you suddenly get religion? a surprised Wendel asked. “You’ve been a bad influence on me, my friend,” Neal told Wendel. Neal got cleaned up and dressed and drove into Cooperville. Seconds after he walked through the Baptist Church doors, Neal spotted Leah looking back at him, smiling about halfway down the aisle in the right-side pews. She waved at him to come forward, and Neal found she had saved a seat for him. On this occasion she was with her mother, an attractive but tired-looking woman, who Neal assessed to be in her late thirties. Leah introduced Neal to her mother, and they exchanged pleasantries until the church service started. Afterwards, Neal explained to Leah that he had to get back to Kendel to change into his uniform for formation and the afternoon dress parade, but he asked her if she would like to have some pizza with him at Cooperville’s “Pizza Hut” later that day, and she confirmed that she would.
97 Neal picked Leah up at the home address she had provided and drove to the Pizza Hut. Once there, they talked and laughed for two hours at the restaurant. As they exchanged details of their lives, Leah revealed she had turned 16 in December and was a sophomore at Cooperville High. Her parents had divorced when she was eight years old, and her mother now worked at the one hotel on Main Street in Cooperville. She and her sister, Karen, had not heard from their father in about three years, but they knew that he had remarried. When the topic shifted to her sister, Leah said Karen’s boyfriend, Tommy, had seemed excited when he found out in January that she was pregnant. He told her he was going to Jefferson City to get a good job because there weren’t many prospects in Cooperville, and that as soon as he found one, he would get her to take her there. But Karen had only heard from him once since he’d left. “Well, if he doesn’t come back, your sister could always file a paternity suit to make him help support the baby,” Neal suggested. “Yeah, my mom told Karen that, too, but Karen wants to wait to see if Tommy keeps his word.” Neal changed the subject and asked Leah what her plans were after high school. “I’ll probably work at the antiques shop owned by my mother’s friend, Jean, until I get married,” Leah answered. When Neal asked if Leah had ever traveled, she told him that she had once been to the “Worlds of Fun” amusement park in Kansas City with a church group when she was 13 and had gone to see the
98 Gateway Arch in St. Louis with her family before her parents had divorced. Because of the shorter winter days, it was already dark when Neal drove Leah home. As he leaned over in the car to kiss her good night, she practically jumped on him and shoved her tongue deep into his mouth, almost causing him to gag. His initial surprise over, Neal made out with Leah for about five minutes, and then, just as he had the week before, told her he had to get back to Kendel for the Evening Study period. Leah thanked Neal for the pizza, and he asked her if she’d like to go out again the following week. Leah confirmed that she would and gave Neal her phone number so they could finalize the details. “Can you do something on Saturday?” Neal asked. “I can be away from the academy for more time on Saturdays.” “Sounds great!” Leah replied before Neal walked her to her door and gave her a good night peck on the lips. Over the next two months, Neal and Wendel had at least one date each weekend with Leah and Cynthia. In fact, Wendel usually spent time with Cynthia on both Saturday and Sunday, even taking her to Columbia, Missouri (about an hour’s drive from Cooperville) on one occasion for dinner at an upscale restaurant. He’d usually hang out with Neal when they had their mid-week passes but spent at least two with Cynthia. Wendel had met Cynthia’s entire family and had had dinner with them twice. He learned that Cynthia’s dad was a retired Army staff sergeant who’d spent 20 years in the Army as a mess sergeant/cook. He ended
99 his Army career at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and then moved to Cooperville, where he’d been born. He managed a café in the town for three years after moving back and then purchased the donut shop from an old friend of the family who was having health issues and could no longer run it. Cynthia had a younger brother and sister, and a mother from whom she had obviously gotten her good looks. Neal’s dates with Leah inevitably ended with a make- out session. Near the end of their last Saturday date, they had parked at a popular Cooperville make-out point on a hill overlooking a bridge and river on the outskirts of town. They got into the back seat of Neal’s car and began some heavy “petting,” with Neal massaging Leah’s ass and breasts over her clothes and her rubbing his crotch. The session became so heated that Neal considered blowing off getting back to Kendel before Taps. He came to his senses, however, and he took Leah home and got himself back to the barracks just in time. Neal was feeling pretty good about the date and couldn’t wait to tell Wendel and Freddy about it. When he did the next day, he also informed them that he intended to go all the way the next time he was with Leah since they both were obviously ready. “About time!” Freddy remarked. “Man, your brains are between your legs, Freddy!” Wendel complained. “Well, they’ve gotten me this far.” Freddy countered. “Neal, don’t you see the risk you’d be taking? Wendel asked. “You’re 19 and Leah’s 16. Even
100 if the sex is consensual, she’s a minor, and you’re considered an adult. You can be charged with statutory rape; and even if you don’t go to jail, you’re sure to lose your scholarship. Do you want to risk all that just for a piece of ass? “That’s easy for you to say!” Neal argued. “Cynthia is already 18, so you two can do whatever you want.” Wendel shrugged and said, ”It’s your life, but I’m telling you now, even if Leah promises she’ll keep it a secret, she’s a member of the female persuasion, and she’s likely to confide in someone— a friend, her sister, maybe even her mother. Do you want to walk around worrying about that ticking time bomb?!” Neal just waved Wendel away. On a Saturday night in mid-April, Neal once again was with Leah in the back seat of his car at the make-out spot, and they were going at it hot and heavy. Neal had unbuttoned Leah’s top and had one hand under her bra. His other hand was under her skirt and working its way up her inner thigh. He had already unbuckled the belt on his pants and lowered his fly and had taken a condom out of his pocket, but as his hand reached the edge of Leah’s panties, Wendel’s warning suddenly popped into his head, and he abruptly stopped what he was doing and sat up. “What’s wrong? Leah asked. “I think we may be moving a little too fast,” Neal answered. “I’m going to be at Kendel all of next year; we don’t have to rush this. “But I’m ready.“ Leah assured him. “No, believe me, it's best that we wait,” Neal remarked. He then took the confused Leah home
101 earlier than he had to and returned to Kendel. “Fucking Wendel!” he thought to himself as he parked his car on campus. Not trusting himself to resist temptation a second time, Neal made excuses the next two weeks as to why he couldn’t see Leah. He would tell her he had to prepare for a big inspection, had a major paper due, or had to study for an important final exam. Neal felt bad about ending their relationship that way, so he eventually called Leah to explain his reasons for not seeing her. He could tell she was holding back sobs, but she tried to sound strong when she said, “Fine! If that’s the way you feel, we probably shouldn’t see each other ever again.” Neal then jumped as Leah slammed her phone receiver down. Ten days later, Neal was walking with Freddy on Cooperville’s Main Street when he saw Leah about 50 yards ahead walking arm-in-arm with a New Boy cadet from Hotel Company. Freddy saw her and the cadet, too, and said, ”Hey man, that dude’s cock-blocking you!” “No, he isn’t,” Neal replied. “Leah and I ended it over a week ago.” Privately, though, the sight of Leah with someone else did hurt Neal a little. “It’s probably for the best, Neal. That jailbait could have been trouble. She does have a nice rack, though!” Freddy pointed out. “Yeah, I kind of noticed that, too.” Neal concurred, “Now change the subject!”
102 CHAPTER EIGHT One Last Crisis By early May, all of the New Boys could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Except for final exams and end-of- term research papers, it was all downhill from here. Neal and Wendel had been promoted to cadet sergeant and received ribbons for academic achievement at a Kendel awards and promotion ceremony at the end of March. Freddy had been promoted to corporal. The same evening of the ceremony, First Sergeant Ashley stopped by Neal and Freddy’s room to congratulate them on their promotions. While there, he regretfully informed Freddy that Alpha Company’s Commander, Captain Madison, had recommended that Freddy take command of the Corps Color Guard when its Old Boy commander was relieved and busted in rank in mid-March for having alcohol in the barracks. Taking that position would have meant a promotion to sergeant for Freddy. Unfortunately, however, the Corps XO, Major Berntsen, had stricken Freddy’s name from the list of nominees, even though he was the top candidate. “Yeah, me and old Bernie aren’t exactly drinking buddies,” Freddy replied when he heard the news. “Anyway, I’m sorry,” he said as he left the room.
103 “I’m sorry, too, Freddy. You would have made a great color guard commander, and you deserved the rank.” Neal stated. “Fuck it! “Freddy responded. “The only rank that matters to me is the gold second lieutenant’s bar at the end of all of this.” Everything seemed to be winding down nicely when Neal arrived back in the platoon area one Saturday evening and saw a group of New Boys gathered outside of Wendel’s room. He then heard yelling and banging, and thought, “Oh shit! I hope Wendel’s not in a fight with another cadet. And if he is, please don’t let it be Freddy!” But when Neal pushed his way through the New Boys, he could see that Wendel was alone, cussing and yelling, and throwing things around his room. Wendel had flipped over both of the beds in his room, thrown all of his uniforms from the closet onto the floor, and knocked all of his books off of his bookshelf, totally trashing his otherwise perpetually neat and organized room. Neal slammed the room door closed and shouted, “What the hell are you doing?!” Wendel just replied, Fuck it, man, fuck it! It’s all been for nothing!” “What are you talking about?” Neal demanded. “Cynthia just told me she’s pregnant,” Wendel explained. We’re both Catholic, so we don’t believe in abortion, even though I would never ask her to do that anyway, so I have to marry her. That means no more dreams of going to West Point. Hell, I won’t even be able to continue here at Kendel to get a commission, if I’m
104 married.” “Wait a minute, Wendel, let’s think this through!“ Neal insisted. “You still have a year to go on your 2-year ROTC scholarship. You can transfer to a 4-year university with ROTC and finish your final commissioning requirements there. A lot of universities won’t care if you’re married. You planned to defer your commission until you had a bachelor’s degree anyway.” Neal reasoned. “Yeah, but that was before I had a wife and baby to support,” Wendel argued. “Now I need to accept that commission as soon as possible. I don’t just need income; I need health insurance and a place for my family to live.” Neal sat on the one chair in the room that hadn’t been turned over and asked, “So what are you going to do?” “I guess I have to go have a man-to-man talk with Cynthia’s father and pray he doesn’t beat me to death,” Wendel said sadly. “I’ll tell him that I’m deeply in love with Cynthia and that I promise to always take care of her and our baby.” “I think you had better do it sooner rather than later,” Neal suggested. “You sure don’t want poor Cynthia having to break the news to him.” Instead of going to mass the next morning, Wendel went directly to Cynthia’s house and asked to speak to her father alone. As Wendel explained the situation to Cynthia’s father, at times it looked like her dad was going to explode, but by the end of his explanation and promises, her father had calmed down and had a look of acceptance on his face. He told Wendel, “I respect you for being a man and telling
105 me all of this to my face. Now here is what you’re going to do! You’re going to ask Cynthia to marry you on bended knee in front of our whole family. If she accepts, you’re going to set a date for the wedding right after you graduate from Kendel, so you can continue your studies there and receive your officer’s commission. You said you’ll be paid by the Army while in training this summer. I expect you to send as much of that money as possible to Cynthia to help support her while she’s pregnant with the baby. I also expect you to spend as much time in Cooperville as you can when you’re not in training. You’ll stay with us!” Overcome with relief, Wendel managed to mutter a “Yes, Sir!” Cynthia’s father then gave him a big, painful slap on the back and said, “Welcome to the family, son!” After the parade that day, Wendel told Neal and Freddy what had transpired between him and Cynthia’s father. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Wendel admitted. “The important thing is you’re still alive!“ Freddy stressed. “And Cynthia’s dad actually gave you a pretty good plan for taking care of her and saving your career,” Neal added. “Yeah, but now I have to break the news to MY family.” Wendel reminded them. “Wait until you’re officially engaged to tell them,” Neal recommended. “That way you’ll have some good news to throw in.” “All I can say is you better name the baby after me, even if it’s a girl,” Freddy said with mock seriousness. Wendel laughed and promised to talk to Cynthia about it.
106
107 CHAPTER NINE New Boy No Longer The day before Kendel’s commencement, which included the Old Boys’ graduation and commissioning ceremony, Kendel had one last awards ceremony for the year. Wendel and Neal both received leadership and scholastic awards, while Freddy received an award for being the best-performing Military Science-III student. It actually seemed like most of the cadets in the corps received something. The academy was crowded with families and friends the day of the Old Boys’ graduation. The commissioning of selected graduates took place about an hour after the graduation, with family members or girlfriends pinning on the new second lieutenants’ gold bars after they took their commissioning oaths. Neal was surprised to see that only about a third of Kendel’s ECP participants received their commissions. The majority had opted to defer being commissioned until they obtained their bachelor’s degrees. The one part of graduation day that surprised Neal was the burning of cadet uniforms by some of the Old Boys. Someone had started a fire in a 55-gallon drum in the cadet parking lot, and Old Boys were taking off their Kendel uniforms and throwing them inside the metal barrel to burn. Neal saw at least six cadets standing around the barrel in their underwear after having stripped and thrown their uniforms in. He couldn’t understand it. Although
108 Kendel Military Academy might not have been his favorite place in the world, he had learned a lot at Kendel, and it had jump-started him to becoming a man. He couldn’t understand why some of the graduating cadets would dishonor the school by openly burning their uniforms and cheering while they did it. As Neal turned to walk away, he saw Freddy approaching the parking lot with the Army laundry bag he’d been carrying the first day Neal met him and with one of the Kendel white net laundry bags. Both bags were full. “So, what are you doing, stealing all of the toilet paper out of our latrine?” Neal asked. “I wish I’d thought of that.” Freddy lamented. “No, this is just all the uniforms and other stuff I’ll be needing for the military training this summer. Wendel and I will be sweating and working our asses off, while you’re back home in San Antone playing hide the banana with that Hispanic chick you told me is about.” “Cry me a river!” Neal responded. “That can be a hell of a lot more dangerous than merely parachuting out of airplanes. Just ask Wendel!” Freddy laughed and threw his bags into the 1972 Ford Mustang he’d bought with his enlistment bonus when he joined the Army. “Say goodbye to Wendel for me,” Freddy ordered. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Neal asked. “I was going to, but I saw he was busy with Cynthia and her family. Hell, I’ll see him again soon enough next semester anyway.” Freddy reasoned before getting into his car. As he started the motor, Neal walked over and signaled Freddy to lower
109 the driver's side window and said, “Hey Freddy, thanks for all your help this past year!” “Hell Neal, I wouldn’t have passed half my classes if it wasn’t for you! We’re even.” As Freddy started to roll his window back up, Neal shouted, “Don’t injure your dick during one of your jumps at Airborne school.” “No way that will happen, man. It’s the strongest muscle on my body!” Freddy boasted as he put the car into reverse, made the turn to exit the parking lot and then peeled out up the driveway. Neal thought he should find Wendel himself to wish him luck during his summer training. Wendel was still with Cynthia and her family just as Freddy had said when Neal spotted him. “Dude, are you having a hard time tearing yourself away from this wonderful place?” Neal asked Wendel. “Freddy is already halfway to Fort Benning,” Neal claimed. “We’re about to head over to Cynthia’s house for lunch. Do you have time to join us?” Wendel asked. “Please do!” Cynthia pleaded. “Thanks very much for the invitation, but I had better get on the road. It’s a long drive to San Antonio. But I look forward to seeing both of you again in a few months, and maybe you can invite me then.” “Count on it,” Wendel promised and shook Neal’s hand. Cynthia then hugged Neal and wished him a safe trip. As Neal got into his Firebird and prepared to leave Kendel, he thought about his first day and his first few months at the academy and knew he would never want to repeat most of that experience. That said, he was looking forward to coming back in August to see his friends again
110 and get back to the old routine. This time he would be an Old Boy, and he hoped that he would be able to handle the authority and responsibility that that title would bestow upon him better than some of the Old Boys he had encountered over the past year. What really mattered to him the most, though, was knowing that he’d never be referred to as a New Boy again, at least not in the same demeaning manner the term had been used at Kendel.
111 AFTERWORD Frederick “Freddy” Politosky Freddy Politosky completes the three-week U.S. Army Airborne/Paratrooper training course at Fort Benning, Georgia and then reports to Fort Riley, Kansas, for six weeks of advanced ROTC cadet leadership training. Upon his return to Kendel in August 1976, he is promoted to cadet second lieutenant and assigned back to Alpha Company as a platoon leader. Just after the second school semester begins, he is appointed commander of the RAIDER unit and is promoted to cadet captain. Although Freddy requests to be branched into the U.S. Army’s Military Police Corps, he is commissioned as an Infantry second lieutenant upon his graduation from Kendel in May 1977. He subsequently completes the Infantry Officer Basic and Ranger Courses at Fort Benning and then returns to Fort Riley to serve as an infantry platoon leader in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. He is promoted to first lieutenant in March 1979 and soon becomes his infantry company’s executive officer. Six months later, he is forced to resign his commission in lieu of court-martial when it is revealed that he is having an affair with an enlisted subordinate’s wife. Freddy returns to New York, marries an Italian American woman with whom he has three children, and becomes a New York City policeman. He ascends to the rank of sergeant within the NYPD before being killed while trying to rescue trapped
112 survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. He is 47 years old at the time of his death. Wendel Parsons Wendel Parsons formally proposes to Cynthia Jackson in her home with her father, mother, and siblings present the same day the 1976 school year ends at Kendel. He will then spend the summer completing U.S. Army Airborne training at Fort Benning and the advanced leadership training course for cadets at Fort Riley. He will send ¾ of the Army pay he earns during his training back to Cynthia in Cooperville. Wendel is promoted to cadet captain and assigned as Charlie Company’s commander upon his return to Kendel at the end of the summer. Cynthia gives birth to their son, Neal Frederick Parsons, in early December 1976. Neal Blakely will stand as the child’s godfather at his Catholic baptism in March 1977. Wendel is commissioned as a U.S. Army Armor officer the day of his graduation from Kendel in May 1977. Cynthia and their infant son attend his graduation, and Cynthia will pin on one of his second lieutenant bars at his commissioning. Wendel and Cynthia will have a Catholic wedding in Cooperville two weeks later, but they have to forgo a honeymoon so Wendel can report to Fort Knox, Kentucky, in time to attend his Armor Officer Basic Course scheduled to start the third week of June. Within three years, Wendel will earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration by completing evening and weekend courses
113 offered by the University of Maryland Global Campus. He serves in a number of traditional armor officer leadership positions, including tank and scout platoon leader, company executive officer, and tank company commander. Within a year of being promoted to Major, he is assigned as the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division’s Assistant G-3 Plans during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from August 1990 to February 1991 and will be awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service during those combat operations. Wendel retires from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in June 1999, and he and Cynthia settle in New Orleans, Louisiana. He will obtain a master’s degree in history from Tulane University in New Orleans two years later, and soon thereafter secure a position teaching American History at Loyola University in the city. Wendel and Cynthia’s son will receive an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1995 and then graduate from the Academy in 1999, the year of his father’s Army retirement. Neal Frederick Parsons is a serving Army Brigadier General at the time of this writing. Neal Blakely Neal Blakely will be promoted to cadet second lieutenant and be assigned as the cadet corps S-4 upon his return to Kendel in August 1976. Not happy performing the administrative duties of a staff officer, he asks to be transferred down to one of the corps’ line companies. With Wendel’s support, he secures an assignment as a platoon
114 leader in Charlie Company. He is promoted to first lieutenant in January 1977 and, to Wendel’s delight, becomes his company’s executive officer. He and Wendel will continue to compete for the top academic honors at Kendel, but at the 1977 school year’s end, Wendel will be the class Valedictorian and Neal, the Salutatorian. Wendel and Cynthia Parsons choose Neal to be the godfather of their infant son when he is baptized in March 1977. Neal will also be Wendel’s best man at his wedding in June 1977. Neal chooses to transfer to St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, after graduating from Kendel to utilize the last two years of his Army ROTC Scholarship and complete the last of his requirements for commissioning as an Army officer. He will graduate from St. Mary’s with a BA degree in History and CUM LAUDE honors. Neal is also designated a Distinguished Military Graduate of the school’s ROTC program, which entitles him to be commissioned into the Armor branch as a Regular Army second lieutenant in May 1979. Before he graduates from Kendel, Neal informs Linda Gonzalez of his plan to transfer to St. Mary’s. A month after the start of his first semester there, they begin to date again, slowly at first and then more regularly. They develop a close, intimate relationship, but their career paths will take them in different directions after they graduate. While they keep in touch for several years, the two gradually lose contact.
115 Neal spends 21 years in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. The first half of his career, he serves in the usual Armor and Cavalry officer assignments, and the second half mostly in jobs related to his secondary specialty or Functional Area as a Latin America Foreign Area Officer (FAO). As a FAO, Neal is diverted away from a mainstream Army career path, and he will serve as an exchange instructor with the Venezuelan Army, as a Cavalry Operations and Training advisor to the El Salvadoran Army during that country’s war with leftist insurgents, and as chief of a U.S. military intelligence advisory team working with the Colombian Military and National Police against narco-guerrillas in that country. Two years after he retires from the Army, Neal joins a U.S. government intelligence agency hoping to make good use of his experience and contacts in Latin America. He retires from the government in 2012 and begins doing freelance intelligence training and consulting in the United States and abroad. Neal suffers a stroke in 2023, which forces him to abandon his work. His nomadic lifestyle has caused him to marry late in life, but luckily, he and his much younger wife are able to have a girl child six months before his stroke. He mostly recovers from his medical setback and spends his days enjoying time with his family and working on long- postponed personal projects in his Virginia home thirty miles from Washington, DC.
116 Leah Burton Leah Burton graduates from Cooperville High School in 1978 and begins working at the Cooperville antiques shop owned by her mother’s friend Jean, just as she told Neal she would. In 1980, a young, well-to-do dealer in rare antiquities based in Columbia, Missouri, enters the shop and is completely smitten by Leah. The young man begs her to go out with him, and Leah acquiesces. They continue dating and marry within a year. Leah moves to Columbia with her new husband, and two years later, the couple has a daughter, followed by a second daughter barely a year afterward. With his business thriving, Leah’s husband decides to expand and relocate it to Kansas City, Missouri, moving his family there in 1990. Leah and her family live a comfortable life in Kansas City, and she has the opportunity to travel to several European and Asian countries.