An Army event at a school. |
As a boy I would play with toy men in the back: Army men would endure my relentless attack from the limestone and pebbles I lobbed at their rank as they stood by the road or on jeep-rutted bank. Now fast-forward with me to a school by the bay that I happened to visit one September day where the Army “invaded” (an Army event), to seek technicians gladly for their regiment. I saw tanks ala Sherman*, though war vintage died; the new modern-day tanks have a laptop inside. And the shells that are fired through barrels so great have a penchant to rearrange and devastate. They displayed armament like an antique car show; khaki color ubiquitous--so apropos. Unlike Chevy’s with fins, its one purpose was plain; ‘long as man rules the planet, then war will remain. I went over to rifles that gleamed in the sun and beseeched a lieutenant if I could hold one. He obliged and I realized one firearm in the hands of one person could do ample harm. Army boots black as shine and insignias rife; mess kits modern like microwaves--Swiss Army Knife. As I grinned, one old Sergeant spoke plainly and sure: “We are the modern Army, yet some things endure!” When I saw a recruiter, a colonel to wit, (like Sean Connery in his prime, rugged and fit), with his blue steely eyes he looked smartly at me and decreed in a strong voice, “Be all you can be!” I climbed onto a personnel carrier wide seeing Army men standing in line, full of pride. Like wheeled armor, this behemoth transport extant was like surface expansion while I was an ant. They then showed me a truck with electronic gear; “Here we see all we see, and we hear all we hear.” “We are twenty-first century computer right;” “we can storm through the desert by day or by night.” ‘Round the school was an army with mortar and gun; (there are many a battle that have to be won.) Modern Army event shames the armies of then though I still reminisce about my Army men. 40 Lines Anapestic Tetrameter Writer’s Cramp 9-24-15 *The Sherman Tank, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most numerous battle tank used by the United States and some other Western Allies in World War II. |