The Days of Our Lives

"Ain't no use in goin' home, Jody got your girl and gone." Some fellows hearing these words went AWOL looking for the fictional Jody. So many times the soldier went home in his pressed uniform looking very,very sharp. Girls would be attracted and the young soldier, would meet and, inevitably the two fell in love. Jack knows because it once or twice happened to him. After returning to base and the eventual absence from the young lady, the separation would be too much and the young soldier would leave to see her. This action was not allowed and stockade time tempered the youth's passions.

One of the duties of non-imprisoned soldiers was to guard those who had violated the UMCJ.

A general court-martial consists of five or more members, one-third of whom may be enlisted personnel if the defendant is an enlisted person and has requested their presence. A defendant may, however, choose to be tried by a court composed only of the military judge. In cases on trial before a general court-martial the defense counsel, prosecutor, and military judge must be lawyers. The military judge advises the court with respect to the law and renders final decisions on interlocutory questions of law. A general court-martial is permitted to impose any penalty that is authorized by the Uniform Code of Military Justice in punishment of the offense.

The jurisdiction of the special court-martial extends to any person under the jurisdiction of military law, but customarily it deals only with intermediate offenses. The court consists of three or more members, one-third of whom may be enlisted personnel if the defendant is an enlisted person and has requested that enlisted personnel serve (or the defendant may choose to be tried solely by the military judge). The maximum sentence that may be imposed by such a court is six months of confinement, forfeiture of some pay, reduction in rank, and, in some instances, a bad-conduct discharge. A summary court-martial has jurisdiction only over enlisted personnel charged with minor offenses; it consists of one officer.

Guard duty consisted of minding the store and keeping a close eye on those whom the system had imprisoned.

Training for this duty consisted of receiving a 12 guage shot shell and pointing the weapon down range and firing. One scorching day, Jack's assignment had him with an about to be discharged youth. Like Brooks, he was merely too young to be in the Armed Forces. Policing the main golf course, they came upon a spigot about two inches off the ground. Thirst makes mortal men do strange things. Jack permitted the boy to drink his fill and laid his shotgun down to quench his own thirst. There was always the rumor that if a guard let his prisoner escape, the guard finished the escapee's sentence. Once on a night-time session in the insane asylum, an inmate kept coming to the cell's gate and upon seeing Jack would laugh hysterically before falling to the ground. Jack had only a half of a broomstick with the key screwed into one end. Jack figured maybe the person was laughing at Jack's ability to apprehend him if the door somehow opened. It was a scary night for Jack.

How I Became a Tanker

The 101st. Airborne had been nearly annihilated during the famous "Battle of the Bulge". The last German offensive in the west during World War II. Following the Normandy invasion (June 1944), Allied forces swept rapidly through France but became stalled along the German border in September. On December 16, taking advantage of weather that kept Allied aircraft on the ground, the Germans launched a counter-offensive through the hilly and wooded Ardennes country and advanced 50 km (31 mi) into Belgium and Luxembourg.

Their aim was to divide the Americans and the British and retake the vital seaport of Antwerp. They created a "bulge" in the Allied lines, but their advance was halted near the Meuse in late December. A movie entitled "Battleground" depicts these scenes quite accurately. The famed "Screaming Eagles" leader was trapped and badly in need of supplies. "Nuts," says Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, 46, December 22 to German demands that he surrender his 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, which he has held against overwhelming odds; he is relieved December 26 by units of Gen. Patton's Third Army headed by Col. Wendell Blanchard, 41, whose tanks have come 150 miles in 19 hours.

Managing to avoid being cut off by an Allied pincer movement, the Germans withdrew to their own lines in January, but heavy losses, including some 220,000 casualties, contributed to their final collapse in the following spring. Because of the tremendous losses the fighting 101st unit was disbanded.

In 1954 it was decided to reactivate the famed unit. Jack's company was among those chosen for use as training companies. It was time to find a new home! Jack and his buddies were given the opportunities to move to a different company of their choice. Upon arrival at "B" company the place where it was shoes off or socks over boots. Remembering the scuffle over the buffing machine Jack tried to imagine the potential of recurring episodes here in this company and decided not to chance it. The Division had recently been redeployed and configured as a Pentomic Division and as such had a Tank Company assigned to the third Battalion. When Captain O'Neal saw five newbies headed for his orderly room he wasn't exactly enthused. However he accepted them and a new era began.

Building a better Machine

Untll now Jack had only seen the Army from the eyes of a grunt. Now whenever he went out the aptly named "Longstreet Road", it was in a large homogenous steel "pillbox". Many people called any tank a death trap. Maybe so, but a tank could do a great deal of damage before being knocked out of action. With a crew of four, the tank was a virtual killing machine. The big gun with it's capability of firing nine of ten first round hits a mile away the accuracy was devastating. Right away Jack, as good as he was with a mortar, decided to improve on that. Tankers were so diversified compared to infantry. They were drivers, gunners and most importantly, mechanics. Because of the daily preventive maintenance uniforms became soiled, make that dirty. First the oil, then the constant dust. But the following made it all worthwhile:

TANK, heavily armored track-laying, or treaded, military vehicle, with cross-country mobility and road speeds up to 97 km/hr (60 mph). Tanks are classified as light, medium, and heavy. They range in weight from approximately 14 to 54 metric tons, have at least 15 cm (6 in) of armor plate, and mount guns ranging from 75 mm to 122 mm, as well as both light and heavy machine guns. Light tanks are used for reconnaissance; heavier tanks are used primarily to penetrate or flank enemy defenses and strike deep into rear areas, in order to seize and hold or to destroy vital installations.

The U.S. M-60 heavy tank weighs 45 metric tons and mounts a 90-mm cannon and both .30-caliber and .50-caliber machine guns. The concept of armor protection dates from antiquity. By the 5th century B.C. Greek warriors, and sometimes their horses, wore armor. Leonardo da Vinci designed a crank-operated covered chariot in 1482, but development of an effective, track-laying armored vehicle had to await the invention of the internal combustion engine. The French attempted the task in 1901, but it was the British, during World War I, who developed the first armored track-laying vehicles. To maintain secrecy, the vehicles were shipped to the battle zone in crates marked "tanks," hence the origin of the name.

Forty-nine tanks were first used in the Battle of the Somme near Courcelette, France, on Sept. 15, 1916, with disappointing results. Two years later, however, in November 1917, 400 tanks penetrated the Hindenburg line near Cambrai, capturing 8000 of the enemy and 100 guns, and the role of the tank in modern warfare was ensured. Armored combat was extensive and vital in World War II, with tanks playing a prominent role in the deserts of northern Africa, in the USSR, and in Europe. In both the Korean and Vietnam wars, the tank was relegated to a lesser role because of terrain conditions. In the Persian Gulf War, however, the tank again proved to be a key weapon in desert warfare. Tanks have also often proved to be effective in quelling civil disturbances. Jack's career was changed by this magnificent beast.

The tank with it's change from the dull routine of jumping into an objective and capturing it, going two more miles and repeating the same basic movements presenting new challenges for Jack. The hard work of changing a part of the rubberized track and general repairs also taught many new tools and devices he had never seen before. Jack grew very adept at his new endeavor. Gunnery was Jack's first love, but he had to go to Camp Steward to practice his newly learned trade. Tanks did not fire real cannons at Fort Bragg. S/Sgt Johnny Johnson, interim tank commander, Pablo Holguin and Jack comprised the crew of #6 the First Platoon's lead tank. Holguin, only slightly straightened out after his bout with fire was the assigned driver. Jack the assigned gunner. Jack was good, damnned good, but dry firing had whetted his verve for action. Lieutenant Wayne B. Laverty, platoon leader and sometimes tank commander, when not riding in his jeep as an forward observer. Lieutenant Laverty promised a case of beer to his crew if they won the top gun award.

Rich and the Hot Potato

On arrival in Camp Steward we didn't have our own tanks and therefore no chance to zero our own guns. The first day on the firing range startled Jack when he first heard the guns fired. In fact he had a 90-mm round in his arms when the first gun roared. The noise was deafening and rocked the tank back several feet on it's stance. The concussion very nearly caused Jack to lose the handle on his precious package. On his turn in the turret the noise was surprisingly attentuated. Jack had wondered how could one stand the noise if it had remained even closely the same. The officers in Tank Company were, Laverty excluded, a solid bunch of schmucks.

The C.O. O'Neal was from La., that's not Los Angeles folk's, that's Louisiana. Richard Holt was so dumb, sergeants regularly made a fool of him. Fresh from ROTC, he tried for respect he hadn't earned. He too, hailed from Louisiana and O'Neal always hid that fact because he didn't want to be associated with "Richie". On a live firing exercise, Holt as range officer didn't count his returning tanks and let the next group commence firing while the ill-fated crew buttoned-up through the onslaught of "friendly fire". Only two days hence a "dud" had to be removed from the breech of a cannon by now "safety officer" Holt. Niagara Falls was dripping from his ruddy, freckled face when he squirmed cautiously through the narrow hatch. The putrid stench of human excrement followed the young looey and the "dud" out of the steamy turret. The youngster had s... his pants.

Looey,Looey

Another great thing about this huge steel machine was its warmth after a long trip. The crew could get out the sleeping bags and lie on the expansive deck over the engine. The engine, larger than a Volkswagen, had a twelve cylinder made by Chrysler. At about six-hundred horse-power, it literally moved mountains. When Jack first drove and found a tall tree, at least two feet in diameter in front of him with no viable means of missing, no problem, the huge tree buckled like a twig and toppled in his stead. Jack learned that in lower gear ranges the turning radius was much better. The army was billed for many trees that fell this way in Georgia.

There's just no stopping a tank! Jack had become very efficient with the big gun and when Lieutenant Wayne Laverty promised a case of Budweiser to his crew if they won the high shooting honors. This was a lock. The tank range located in Camp Steward had moving targets pulled along by drones on rails. The air targets were balloons imitating airplanes. Dave Parkman's pal, Neville rode the range first and reported that the guns were not aligned properly. When Jack's turn came, his tank commander scored nicely firing at his balloons.

Lieutenant Laverty gave Jack the range to the moving "tank" and ordered him to fire. The missile missed mightily. He then applied a learned method of "burst on target". This means taking the spot in your sight where you saw the tracer hit and bring that point onto the center of the target. Jack traversing rapidly as possible to keepup with the target which was making a hasty retreat. He caught up with it and slowly squeezed off a round. The sharp pain he felt was the joyful kick from Laverty who was looking through his binoculars. "Right On" exclaimed Wayne as the glass polished toe of his Corcoran jump boot buried itself into Jack's side again and again as they progressed down range firing at appointed "tanks" and bunkers. The looey lived up to his word and proudly bought the case of beer for his crew. Jack nursed his beers and  his still-sore ribs.