Alcala 1958

MEATBALL By JAM ES J. LaBRIE Fr es hman ,Co lle ge fo r Men h an, l ge r

I T was June 15 , 19 56 . Th e pla ce, Fort Ord, Cali f. It wa s si x o'cl ock in the mo rni ngand the temper aturewas 40 °. Th e fog was so thick I cou ldn 't see the men standi ng in ranks wit h me . We had just reported to our ba sic tra ini ng com pan y. A ser gea ntwho had the fac e of a bea gle and the vo ice of a lion told us in not-so- nice wo rds tha t we wer e now in F com pan y, the sha rpe st, most gun g-h o ou tfit in the who le reg ime nt. We wou ld kee p it the sha rpe st by pic kin g up all the wee ds on the com pan ystreet. We wou ld kee p it the mos t gun g-h oby alw ay srun nin g,not walk­ ing. Doub le time, he call ed it. As we mov ed out to star t pu llin gwee ds, a bi g mon ster cam e up be hin d me and draw led :"You don' t want to do this her e stu ff, do yo u? Wh at say me an d you bug ou t o ' hereand get us some re la xi n' ?" I star ted to say it woul d be too risk y but, befor eI co uld answ er,he pus hedme aro und the bu ild ingand acr oss the stre et int o an­ oth er com pan yare a. It wa s too late to go bac k, he sa id, so we wen t to the Se rv ice Club and had co ffe e. He intr odu ced him self as Wa yne E. Sch one rt. "But jus' call me Me atball," he gri nn ed . He wa s Will Sto ckdale II . He had no tim e for serg eants. Meatbal lwas a farme rfrom Moses Lake, Wa sh. He wa s six fee t fiv e inc he sand he had mo re mu scle s on hi s back than I had in leg s an d arm s comb ine d. "D on 'twor ry none abou t u s bug gin ' out," he sa id . "They ha ve chow at 11 :3 0, and I , . , f. ' ing a t re 0°. 't t i g . i i i g y. t l ice w s y, st, o l i t. st i g y l - o b s i g, - . le , ll g , a big monste led: " ' ff, a ' here i '?" t e , il ing a e - t c pany . , , ice a e. ced s U e rt. ' al , ed. il Stockdale . ts. l r , . t e s l s s bined. 't w o t us buggin' out," 0,

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we'l l sli p bac k in the chow line an d them stooge swon 't know the dif fer ence." It wor ked. Th is wa s my first me eti ngwith Meatbal l Sch one rt,an d all thr oug hba sic tra ini nghe pro ved to be a val uab le all y when the re wa s a chan ceto bu g out . He had the knack of gi vi ng tra ini ng ser geants a "What , me wo rr y?"look when ask ed to do anyth ing . Th ey though t he was too dumb to be of an y harm. He wa s ver y str ong andhe was ver y laz y. We took a ph ys ica lfitn ess test, wh ich con­ sis ted of pus h-ups, squat-jum ps, pull -ups , run nin g anda few oth er kil ler sthat I can 't remember . Meatbal l di d one half of on e push -up. He ran the slowe st time in the whole com­ pan y by two mi nu tes . He did two squa t- jumps. One mu scle boundser gea ntwho had bee n in the air bo rn edid 25 pull-ups . Th e hig he st po ssi ble score was 11. I di d two . Me atball did 39 . "P ret ty wea k sergea nts the y go t aro und he re ," sai d Meatb all. If the re is on e pha se of bas ic tra ini ng that could be cal led the mos t imp orta nt, it is ma rksma nsh ip. Th e Arm y spends wee ks tra ini ng its men to shoot pro per ly. Na tur ally ,we we re told ove r and ove r by the cad re, the re wou ld be no one who wou ld bol o. Ev ery onewou ldqu al ifyon the ran ge. F com pany would be the hig he st sco rin g com pan yon pos t. Th e bi g da y cam e. We were fir ing fo r reco rd onthe KD (Know nDi sta nc e)Ra ng e. Meatba ll wa s firin gnext to me . He didn't car e wheth erhe qu ali fie dor not. We were s e ce." . i o g l rt, a i i ing le ce . i ing t, y " ing. They thought he was too dumb to be of . and . ical i - , ps, pull-ups, i g and s er. l . He ra st - tes. s. lebound s t i rne . st le . al . r tty nts , al . i i ing t nt, s anship. s s i ing ly. al y, , . o e l lif . ny st i g y . e. i g n D l nce) R e. l g . ' lified

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