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Fifth Job of Bob - Army - Part I-C - Advanced Training - Date with fate post 44 - Held hostage in Dugger, Indiana, 33 Bucks and 17 Cents ransom demanded
This entry was posted on 12/22/2010 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob, Fate Fairies.
In the course of my Advanced Training after Basic Training, I got to know a fellow named Chuck from Indiana. We had a few commonalities. We were about the same age; we had both played high school football; and, we both hailed from rural small towns. Chuck probably struck up a conversation about some college athletic t-shirts I would sometimes wear with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater logos. Hence the football connection. Chuck even talked often about winning some statewide football award.
It was nice to have a little longer leash in Advanced Training and we were afforded a three-day weekend. Chuck had sprung up a connection with a guy who had his personal vehicle with him during training. The guy lived somewhere east of Chuck in Indiana. As GIs will do, we took the time off to head somewhere far away from our Army base.
Chuck grew up just south of Terre Haute in a small town called Dugger, a jaunt of about 350 miles from Fort Leonard Wood. His mom still lived there in the same house Chuck was raised in. So we loaded up and headed off to the land of the Hoosiers.
I remember our chauffeur guy had some kind of old beat up car. And I can still see it leaning a bit to the passenger side; the muffler was of course loud; and, the seats were replete with holes and tears. And of course, he drove like a madman, chain smoking and drinking beer the whole trip.
Dugger had one pool hall which was the sole center of entertainment in the town. So after a nice dinner that Chuck's mom prepared we met up with one of Chuck's old high school pals to take a ride around. The pal named Jim would have the hopped-up car, and girls were guaranteed to be in tow.
It was clear, Diver Jim's dad had bought him the car. As I remember it was a newer Road Runner. And, he drove like a maniac doing television cop show spins and turns on the challenging Indiana rural roads. The three girls were incredulous as they giggled and drank our beer, and as I remember a bit chunky, but girls were girls. Of course extra beer was on board.
After about what seemed like an hour of beating the car to death the night took the expected bad turn - I by the way found the driving performance wasteful as I had driven a third-hand Ford Fairlane in high school and tried to treat it with respect.
Of course the cop lights popped on behind us. I believe at the time Indiana's drinking age was 19. I had just turned 19. As I remember Chuck was 20. And neither of us were driving the car of course. But things deteriorated rapidly anyway. The County Cop hollered at the Driver Jim like he knew him, "Damn it Jim, I got complaints about a hot rod driver that span half the county. And you should know better too Charles."
Then said cop looked at me and just shook his head. He made Driver Jim follow him to the village. As soon as we parked at the police station, one of Chuck's local friends came out of the pool hall and pounded on the cop car hood. "Where are you taking my buddy Chuck," the local friend howled. The cop chased him off with easy dispatch.
"Ol' Billy was in 'Nam," Chuck said to me under his breath. "He gets a little excited sometimes."
The girls as it turned out were only 17. A parent of some sort came to get them. Then Driver Jim's mom and dad arrived to take him home as it turned out he was only 18. And what would be done with poor Bob and Chuck?
Ol' Army buddies Bob and Chuck would spend the night in a jail that looked right out of the set of Andy Griffith's Mayberry. It seems the only ones charged in the romp were...us two mooks. Seems we were binged for "contributing to underage drinking." I remember a roll and some coffee being served up the next morning.
Sunday morning the Justice of the Peace was woke up just for our hearing. She had to have been not a day over 80 and had her house coat still over her shoulders. "Got anything to say for yourselves before I pass sentence boys?" she asked.
"We need to be back to Fort Leonard Wood by tomorrow morning, ma'am," I remember blurting out.
"We'll get you back to your duties, boys. Charles, your fine is 41 Dollars and 58 Cents. Mr. Keith, your fine is 33 Dollars and 17 Cents. Court adjourned."
Why the odd fine amounts you ask? It is all the money each of us had on our person.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Navy Chief Petty Officer Patrick Lee Wade, 38, Oak Harbor, Washington (originally of Manawa, Wisconsin), was one of two sailors killed while participating in combat operations in Samarra, Salah Ad Din province Iraq, on Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Wade was an explosives technician and 20-year Navy veteran, a job which took him all over the world, including Iraq. Wade was attempting to disarm a roadside bomb that had partially exploded; a subsequent explosion killed the two sailors. The two men served with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington State. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Wade had helped clear debris from the second space shuttle explosion; he also at one point trained with German Navy divers recovering munitions from World War II. Patrick Wade was born in Appleton, Wisconsin and grew up in Manawa, a central Wisconsin community of about 1,350 people. He was said to enjoy fishing and canoeing Bear Lake and the Wolf River, and hunting deer and turkey with his older brothers. He joined the Navy after graduating from Little Wolf High School in Manawa in 1987. Patrick wrestled, ran track and played football in his high school days. He married his wife Keri in 2003. She had also been in the Navy when they met. Wade had been in Iraq about two months. The data base for war casualties iraq.pigstye.net noted via information from the Lacrosse Tribune that Wade was the second son from his family to die in the military. An older brother, Bob Wade, was killed in a helicopter accident in 1993 in Japan while serving in the Air Force.
Like so many military members, Wade was claimed by more than one state. The Web site heraldnet.com out of Everett, Washington notes Wade and his family lived in Oak Harbor, Washington, a Navy community. The site went on to note the two sailors killed were working with a battalion of U.S. Army Rangers. They were killed despite being in a special explosive ordinance disposal vehicle.
Another data base iraqnam.blogspot noted the Oshkosh Northwestern as saying Wade went into the Navy with a best friend who was quoted as saying Wade had a great sense of humor, was a pretty small guy and got into body building in his last year of high school. Both friends played the trombone together in the high school band. Wade comes from a family that had several generations serve in the military. At the time of his death Patrick Wade was survived by his mother Shirley Wade; brother Gary; sister-in-law Ann Wade; wife Kari and daughters Noel and Esme. Chief Petty Officer Patrick Wade was the 77th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,052 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,811 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,433 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1436 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
830 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,771 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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