Don't Dwell on the Bad Stuff

  The orders were just as permanent as the underwear was temporary.

Contributed by Jerry Lyons, 199th Ligh Infantry Brigade

Perimeter Patrol," painted by SP4 Michael Crook

In early 1968 I left school, got married, got drafted, and entered the Army. After flunking the typing test in basic training (nice try, but eight words a minute?), I ended up in Infantry AIT at Ft. Lewis, Washington.

The weather and terrain of Washington state is similar to Germany and Korea. It was only logical that my next duty station would be where the snow was. I had trained in cold mountains. What a lucky break! They certainly wouldn't go against logic and as a Floridian, I was really looking forward to learning more about snow.

Guess again! I got my orders and green underwear on the last day of AIT and was soon off to Vietnam as a replacement. The orders were just as permanent as the underwear was temporary. I was destined to carry a real gun with real bullets in a hot place. To be in a line Infantry unit during a real war. To learn to survive my year as a Grunt, Ground-pounder, Eleven-Bravo, Eleven-Bush, Eleven-ant bite, Eleven-jungle rot soldier. That's a lot of growing-up to do in a short period of time for the average 19/20-year-old. I had no idea at the time that I would someday be inclined to insert the word "Proud" before each of these terms of endearment.

Fast-forward to today. The marriage is still going strong with the same loyal, faithful wife. I have three grown sons and a fantastic granddaughter. With the help of a post-war scholarly focus (and the GI bill), college seemed more important the second time around. I graduated and am very happy in my career. But then there's that Army thing...

I guess I'd like to be able to say, "It's what I did, not who I am." I read that quotation recently on another Grunt's webpage, and as good as it sounds, I don't think it applies to me. In reality, it is a big part of who I am today, 32 years later.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I suffer because of my experiences. I believe I've benefited by them. As a Combat Infantryman, I saw my share of the boredom, terror, physical and mental stress, waste, B.S. and confusion. I observed the different ways that people handled these stresses.