A Soldiers Story

A Soldiers Story by Jim Bishop
jimkcmo@earthlink.net

I started out as a 058 in 1960 but ended up an 055.Im not sure what we were called later on. Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood. on to Ft.Devens where we spent as much time in the "little club" and was spent in studies. Spent time at Ft. Bragg until I married a German girl who at the time had relatives in East Germany. I was whisked away to Panama and the adventures of a life time. I was seperated Jan 1963 just after the cuban missile crisis and the scare of all kinds of threats both real and imagined.Thought we had seen the world about to come to end with all the good shit Castro and the bald headed little fart from Russia were gonna throw our way. I remember the 058s who could take groups and type their name in between at speed that sounded to me like teletype. They would send ...---...---. which you learned was there is birdshit on you antenna. When i got home things were just a little hard to adjust to. Life seemed really tame after 3 glorius years running all over the world and eating and sleeping in the back of a commo hut. I got a 25 dollar Savings Bond from the government for a new design for the commo hut and a personal letter from John F Kennedy thanking me for my devotion and good ideas.The $18.75 didnt go too far with the price of booze in the states. But it thrilled my German wife so much, that when we split up she burned it along with all the pics and different things I had collected.

I see on the net that the guys talk about field stations. Our field station was a deuceand a half loaded with all kinds of shit or a 4x4 that was kinda small for all the stuff that had to be in it. Our rigs were all center of grativitied and when the troops took off for a mission or whatever we went right along with them. When i was at Ft. Bragg we had our bag packed and had to be ready to go at the drop of a hat. If it hadnt been for a friend of mine who had a car I would have been in deep shit more than once.I went back to Bragg to visit my step daughter and her husband who was stationed at Pope, and there was not so much as a trace of the 317th. I still wonder if the reason I got shipped to at that time Ft Kobbe in the Canal was because I married a German girl or if the Battalion Commander didnt like me because I couldnt keep up on the runs or just didnt have the stamina to go through the training.

When I entered the Army I told the recruiter that I was blind in my left eye had a heart murmur , I had had scarlet fever and polio when i was 6 years old. The polio left me with one leg shorter than the other. He assured me that it didnt matter ...if Icould pass the test and be in the upper 10% as far as intelligence went. I passed the test and to this day am not sure whether passing it made me very intelligent or showed what a dumb son of a bitch I really was. I went through Ft. Leonard Wood in the coldest winter in 100 years. We lost three guys out of our platoon, but that didnt mean much since I had the honor of training with a reserve unit. "RA" didnt mean shit there.

I survived and went to Devens for advanced training and had a hard time with my legs. I got a buck slip and was told they were going to give me a medical discharge. I balked at that because I had enlisted and told them I had to fight to get in and was not going to be railroaded out. They assured me that if I would stay they would give me a gravy assignment. I was more than a little surprised when then shipped to Ft. Bragg. There was no gravy there, just a lot of field and "KP" time.

I went to training at Eglin and a friend suggested that I get married so I could live off post.I went with him to Penn.. and he introduced me to his wifes cousin. I got drunk, got married and went back to Ft Bragg to find out what it meant when you have an argument with that friend and he kicks you and your new wife out. At that time I was a pfc and had a 80.00 allotment out of my pay for a child from a previous marriage. It was really a relief when I was ordered to Kobbe.

Icant remember the exact date that i arrived at Ft. Kobbe, but do remember that the post was beautiful. Our barracks were right accross the way from the airstrip where the U2's took off and landed. Far from town as at that time the bridge was not open and alot of times we would get stuck in traffic .You didnt rush a big ship through the locks.

Albrook air force base was nice place with a great px and nco club. I took off and landed at albrook a number of times. We put a lot of miles on the old C-130s and C-124s. We also flew to South American countries with a friend of mine who was the craziest man at the wheel of an airplane in the world. We delivered school books and supplies to kids who really needed them. The trips were a little hairy since a lot of these countries didnt really have a safe place to land, but with a good bottle of Sacco or Ron Cartiva you can perform miracles. Not so easy when you sober up some and have to get that bird back in the air.

The city was great outside of "J" or "k " street in downtown Panama. We put some time in at Quarry Heights. I am not sure how classified that is yet so will just say spent some time there.I thought Panama was a beautiful country. Monsoon season was a bitch but the dry season was great. As long as you could stay away from manuvers.We spent some time at Rio Hato on manuvers. The dust was so thick that you had one hellva time seeing where you were going. You could lather up and get cleaned up and 5 minutes after you got cleaned up you were one big mud ball.

We would drive into the interior of Panama to a place calle Palma Sar Eono which was or had been the plantation house for a big bannana grower that they had turned into a really big whore house. It was bad. There was a ten foot wall with broken glass imbedded into the top of it. Never was sure if that was to keep the animals out or keep the animals in. The National Guard stood guard at the entrance and it cost two dollars to get in. The beer was Cervesa Grandee which means big mother. Two bits a bottle and it carried one hellva punch. We had been in the field and felt like really venting some steam so ole Ron who owned the car suggested we head for the interior. Had a hellva good time and headed back to the post. I got a little sick and leaned my head out to barf about the time we hit a curve and I just kept on leaning. all the way out of car and into the boonies. Those assholes never even missed me until they got back to post. Guess by that time they figured I was either dead or a captive of one of the headhunter tribes. When I finally came to I found myself out in the middle of no where. As luck would have it, a little old bus came along and I got to ride to Panama City with the sheep ,goats ,chickens, and whatever. Thought I would never hear the end of it, until this kid who had relatives in germany got to drinking with the crew off of a German frieghter. It took a while to figure where he was. I asked the C.O. if he had forgot about Ron's leave time. I got a wierd look ,but the old man was pretty wise and said." oh yeah you did. didnt you" it took the boat three days to bring ron back, but he said it was the experience of a lifetime. had a hellva crew and we were tight. seems strange that i have never heard or seen anything of any of them. most people dont really know what to think when you tell them you were asa. they just kinda smurk and dont get too close after that. one more thing and ill shut up. when i was at lw we were on the gernade range and this one kid was scared shitless. he threw the pin out and the gernade slipped over his shoulder and fill into the pit where we were. the nco there was the coolest bastard i have ever seen in my life. he walked over picked up the gernade and threw it over the retainer. if he hadnt been there we would have been dead meat. we were all frooze.
-Jim Bishop
jimkcmo@earthlink.net