(This is the continuation of Part Four. Scroll down the page to find the beginning.
This story has come up in conversation so often that I thought it needed to be recorded. Everything is true. The timeline, facts, and dialogue have not been altered. The names have been changed, mainly because I’m not sure of the statute of limitations for those still in the service.)
Alarms were just starting to beep in the barracks rooms of Marine Corps Detachment- DLI when I slipped again through my window and dropped to the ground one floor below. Three minutes later, I crossed the dark parking lot and climbed into the Chevy Lumina’s passenger seat.
“Morn’in, Sunshine,” Joel greeted me. He was already in the driver’s seat with the car running and the heat on. Knowing Joel, he’d been there for three hours, watching stars in the darkness. Rush’s “Subdivisions” was in the Lumina’s CD player. “You got everything?”
“Yep,” I replied.
“Then, we’re ready to roll.” We sat and watched the sky start to lighten. As the trees and building became visible around me, I began to see the magnitude of the stunt I was preparing to execute. Stealing the guidon from Charlie Company while they stood in formation? Am I insane! I could see no good end to the path I was on, but, the morning had arrived and momentum seemed to be carrying me along like a wave riding towards a rocky shore. I knew that if I stopped to think about this plan, then I would call it off. So, I didn’t stop to think. Fortune favors the brave. I closed my eyes and imagined how the plan would unfold, and imagined how I should react if the Army Guide moved before I struck, or if the Army unit didn’t have its guidon in the gloomy weather, or if the serg-
“Hey, dreamy, you ready to roll?”
I opened my eyes, saw the numbers on the dashboard clock, and felt my stomach do a long, slow somersault. 6:55. It was time. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
Joel pulled the Lumina out of the parking lot, out of the base through the north gate, and back in through the south gate, which allowed us to approach the Army barracks without passing the Marine Corps barracks. Charlie Company was forming in the large open area behind the four-story barracks. Solders streamed out of the barracks, straightening uniforms and chatting as they walked to their positions.
Joel pulled to the side of the road and stopped. I nodded at him and he flipped a switch on his door, lowering the rear passenger window. “Time for your act,” he said.
“Yep.” I opened the car door and stepped out into a chilly, overcast morning. Over my head, a stiff wind snapped at the Army barrack’s flag and drove dark clouds across the sky. I was standing on the sidewalk with the Army Charlie Company barracks to my immediate front. To the right, beyond the end of the immense building, as an open space where the company was assembling for morning formation. It looked as though two-thirds of the soldiers were in place, with more streaming out of the barracks. The company guidon was nowhere in sight.
I needed Charlie Company frozen in place before I made my move, so I waited, keeping my face pointed at the sidewalk to avoid making eye contact and being remembered by anyone. I should have stayed in the car, but that would have been far too smart. Besides, I had to be able to see Charlie Company’s Guide. How that sergeant handled the company guidon during the formation was the critical variable in the half-ass equation that was my plan. He was already in place, holding the company guidon in his right hand. The small flag snapped in the gusts, the long wooden guidon pole resting on the concrete beside the Sergeant’s boot. A few inches in front of the pole’s brass end was a small, round hole in the concrete. I thought I know what this hole was for, but wasn’t sure. And, I couldn’t ask anyone because such a question would have broadcast my intentions. So, I stood on the sidewalk and watched. And waited.
“Atten-HUT!” The soldiers’ boots slammed together, punctuating the end of the idle chatter. Charlie Company’s First Sergeant marched to the front of the unit where the soldier who had called attention pivoted on his heel, turning his back to the formation, and raised his hand in a salute. The First Sergeant returned the salute, and the sergeant pivoted again on his heel and marched away, disappearing around the far side of the company formation.
“At ease, Charlie Company,” the First sergeant said. As one… sort of… the soldiers moved to the position of “parade rest” with their feet shoulder-width apart and their hands clasped behind their backs. The Guide dropped the guidon into the hole and clasped both hands behind his back. Perfect. His hands were free from the guidon pole. In our Marine formation, the Guide never took his right hand off the guidon staff, and my plan would have been impossible. With the Army Company, the guidon was resting in the concrete and the Guide frozen in a position with his hands behind his back. He couldn’t move without order from the First Sergeant.
I glanced back at Joel, who was showing his support with a big yawn, waving his hand in a circular motion as though to tell me ‘let’s get on with it’. “Fine,” I thought, “Now or never.” I pulled a scroll of paper from inside my uniform blouse, pulled my uniform cover (hat) low over my eyes, and began walking purposefully towards the First Sergeant. My plan was to approach from behind the First Sergeant’s shoulder. The soldiers in the company would see me, but the First Sergeant would be blind to my approach. The scroll of paper was wrapped in a bright red ribbon, and the soldiers would assume that I was on an official errand, bearing an invitation for the First Sergeant to attend our Marine Corps Birthday Ball. As I approached the formation, I would begin to curve towards the Charlie Company Guide, who was frozen at the position of parade rest. My gamble was that, even if he knew something was amiss, he wouldn’t suspect my intentions until too late.
What I didn’t know was that the plan had already unraveled behind me.
This story has come up in conversation so often that I thought it needed to be recorded. Everything is true. The timeline, facts, and dialogue have not been altered. The names have been changed, mainly because I’m not sure of the statute of limitations for those still in the service.)
Alarms were just starting to beep in the barracks rooms of Marine Corps Detachment- DLI when I slipped again through my window and dropped to the ground one floor below. Three minutes later, I crossed the dark parking lot and climbed into the Chevy Lumina’s passenger seat.
“Morn’in, Sunshine,” Joel greeted me. He was already in the driver’s seat with the car running and the heat on. Knowing Joel, he’d been there for three hours, watching stars in the darkness. Rush’s “Subdivisions” was in the Lumina’s CD player. “You got everything?”
“Yep,” I replied.
“Then, we’re ready to roll.” We sat and watched the sky start to lighten. As the trees and building became visible around me, I began to see the magnitude of the stunt I was preparing to execute. Stealing the guidon from Charlie Company while they stood in formation? Am I insane! I could see no good end to the path I was on, but, the morning had arrived and momentum seemed to be carrying me along like a wave riding towards a rocky shore. I knew that if I stopped to think about this plan, then I would call it off. So, I didn’t stop to think. Fortune favors the brave. I closed my eyes and imagined how the plan would unfold, and imagined how I should react if the Army Guide moved before I struck, or if the Army unit didn’t have its guidon in the gloomy weather, or if the serg-
“Hey, dreamy, you ready to roll?”
I opened my eyes, saw the numbers on the dashboard clock, and felt my stomach do a long, slow somersault. 6:55. It was time. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
Joel pulled the Lumina out of the parking lot, out of the base through the north gate, and back in through the south gate, which allowed us to approach the Army barracks without passing the Marine Corps barracks. Charlie Company was forming in the large open area behind the four-story barracks. Solders streamed out of the barracks, straightening uniforms and chatting as they walked to their positions.
Joel pulled to the side of the road and stopped. I nodded at him and he flipped a switch on his door, lowering the rear passenger window. “Time for your act,” he said.
“Yep.” I opened the car door and stepped out into a chilly, overcast morning. Over my head, a stiff wind snapped at the Army barrack’s flag and drove dark clouds across the sky. I was standing on the sidewalk with the Army Charlie Company barracks to my immediate front. To the right, beyond the end of the immense building, as an open space where the company was assembling for morning formation. It looked as though two-thirds of the soldiers were in place, with more streaming out of the barracks. The company guidon was nowhere in sight.
I needed Charlie Company frozen in place before I made my move, so I waited, keeping my face pointed at the sidewalk to avoid making eye contact and being remembered by anyone. I should have stayed in the car, but that would have been far too smart. Besides, I had to be able to see Charlie Company’s Guide. How that sergeant handled the company guidon during the formation was the critical variable in the half-ass equation that was my plan. He was already in place, holding the company guidon in his right hand. The small flag snapped in the gusts, the long wooden guidon pole resting on the concrete beside the Sergeant’s boot. A few inches in front of the pole’s brass end was a small, round hole in the concrete. I thought I know what this hole was for, but wasn’t sure. And, I couldn’t ask anyone because such a question would have broadcast my intentions. So, I stood on the sidewalk and watched. And waited.
“Atten-HUT!” The soldiers’ boots slammed together, punctuating the end of the idle chatter. Charlie Company’s First Sergeant marched to the front of the unit where the soldier who had called attention pivoted on his heel, turning his back to the formation, and raised his hand in a salute. The First Sergeant returned the salute, and the sergeant pivoted again on his heel and marched away, disappearing around the far side of the company formation.
“At ease, Charlie Company,” the First sergeant said. As one… sort of… the soldiers moved to the position of “parade rest” with their feet shoulder-width apart and their hands clasped behind their backs. The Guide dropped the guidon into the hole and clasped both hands behind his back. Perfect. His hands were free from the guidon pole. In our Marine formation, the Guide never took his right hand off the guidon staff, and my plan would have been impossible. With the Army Company, the guidon was resting in the concrete and the Guide frozen in a position with his hands behind his back. He couldn’t move without order from the First Sergeant.
I glanced back at Joel, who was showing his support with a big yawn, waving his hand in a circular motion as though to tell me ‘let’s get on with it’. “Fine,” I thought, “Now or never.” I pulled a scroll of paper from inside my uniform blouse, pulled my uniform cover (hat) low over my eyes, and began walking purposefully towards the First Sergeant. My plan was to approach from behind the First Sergeant’s shoulder. The soldiers in the company would see me, but the First Sergeant would be blind to my approach. The scroll of paper was wrapped in a bright red ribbon, and the soldiers would assume that I was on an official errand, bearing an invitation for the First Sergeant to attend our Marine Corps Birthday Ball. As I approached the formation, I would begin to curve towards the Charlie Company Guide, who was frozen at the position of parade rest. My gamble was that, even if he knew something was amiss, he wouldn’t suspect my intentions until too late.
What I didn’t know was that the plan had already unraveled behind me.
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