Quenching my Thirst

Coming from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which is nestled right up against Lake Michigan, summers were always on the cool side. Even when the mercury rose into the 80's, as soon as the wind shifted, which it nearly always did at some point, the cool lake breezes would suddenly drop the temps a good 20 degrees.

Thus, I never gave much thought to weather when enlisting in the Army in August of 1974. My basic training was scheduled for Fort McClellan in Alabama. Having spent most of my life in either Wisconsin or Michigan, I was excited about living in another part of the country.

From the very first day, the training was long and tiring. Our days began at 4 a.m. and never ended before 7 p.m. Temperatures hovered in the 90's by mid-morning. While they tended to yell a lot, the drill sargeants briefly allowed us to see their human side...usually after the day was nearly over and they were wanting a break.

One day I recall was especially hot. We had done hours of marching and practiced First Aid on our fellow soldiers. We all felt wilted and were elated to hear our drill sargeant call a 30-minute rest break.

My friend Stephanie and I quickly rushed off to sit under a tree. Seeing a pop machine in the area, we first dropped a few coins into the slot to quench our thirst with a nice cold Coke.

It was heavenly! Sleeves rolled up and sitting cross-legged on the ground, we talked, laughed and savored the cooling liquid. But...just when we were fully relaxed and enjoying our break, our world turned around.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE THERE???" screamed a voice. We jumped, instantly recognizing the voice as that of our drill instructor.

"Just a soda pop," we both replied in unison.

"UP ON YOUR FEET!" she yelled.

Without hesitation, we obeyed. As we stood at attention, giving her proper respect, she lowered her steely voice and slowly but deliberately (and no doubt with plenty of delight on her part), barked, "You never asked for permission to get anything to drink. Pour out the remains of that soda, now!"

We had no choice but to obey, so pour it out we did. It was just one of many lessons I learned while in basic training. All I can say is thank God she didn't catch us before we had a few good sips out of those cans!