Kraig, my brother was drafted into the army during the Vietnam war. He served in Okinawa, never saw any combat and learned all about real Humidity. During his tour he would regularly correspond with my mom. This was the pencil and paper with Envelope and stamp kinda missive. No Internet or cell phone or any such. Keeping in touch is much easier now by quite a leap.
I am not quite sure how it came about but I believe that in one of his letters he mentioned his feet were getting tore up because his boots did not fit well. Kraig had very narrow feet.
My mom wrote off to either our senator or someone in power and with poison pen in hand ranted on that here they took her boy across the ocean and despite all the tax dollars could not get him shoes that fit. This was unknown to my bro, of course.
A short time later the CO (commanding officer) called Kraig into his office. Wondering what was going on he was asked to sit down. The CO then took the new pair of Army Issue boots that were on his desk and asked my brother to put them on. Kraig complied, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. The CO asked him to walk around the office and see if they fit well. They did.
Then continuing in the same level voice the CO asked "Are you are satisfied with the fit of these boots?" He was, "Could you please... Inform you Mother that the US Army has now provided you with proper gear?"
To which Kraig replied with an embarrassed affirmative.
Lesson? Never mess with a Mom where her kids are concerned.
1 comment:
This was a great story...I shared it some friends and family here.
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