letter 7

Did you ever  think  about blisters??..  i was in basic training  at ft bliss in El Paso texas... advanced infantry training at ft ord in Monterey California ... ordinance osc at Aberden proving ground  , maryland .. jump school  at ft benning  in  augusta Georgia.. ranger training sat  ft. campbell  Kentucky  and ft . Bragg north  Carolina.. special forces training   all over the hell ...i never had a blister... i see these  guys in training and they can,t  complete a 20 mile  run  because they got a blister on their foot... i,ve ran  with guys in the special forces or days and  no one ever got  a blister... i think it,s pshychological.. and besides... why  would  a little blister knock you out  of commission? .. when  the going  gets  tough the weak always  develope a blister and act  like  its  some crippling injury .. HA!  . ..don,t give me that shit ... you,re a professsional and your boots fit perfect... they were strong and  tough  up to a point .. then  they can.t take anymore .. OOPS... i have a blister ... HA! ... i remember  at 1 A.M. we,d be awaken and  screamed at  and told to bring  out  our wall lockers...( about 3*6 ft  maybe a hundred pounds)  and carry  them  for 10 miles... then when  we were  absolutely exhausted spend the whole  day  doing  the hardest and most  mentally  and  physically problems  they could  throw  at us!!.. we had to demostrate we could  think  clearly and  function under extreme conditions.. there were  plenty  of  blisters ...  but we never  said  anything  ...  all the " blister" guys were  weeded out .. i hate flying ... i hate  choppers ...  i,m afraid of  heights... but i became  a master  parashutist... because  i willed  myself  to do it ...  i  hate swimming  and i,m  afraid to drowing, but  i became  an expert swimmer... once in training they taped a guys hands  and legs  and threw him  in a river and i had  to jump in and  take  him  to bridge about 400  metres away .. i had  all my  gear  and  clothes and boots and weapons ...  holly shit i wished i was  the  taped guy !!! HA!... but i did it ... the guys i was with  . we  did what we had to do ..  when i got into a special forces it was  so relaxing .. we were all  the same... there was no doubt  about the  other men ... they couldn,t get there  if  they werent the best ...  and there was  almost  no notice of rank .. most  of the guys  i fought with never even know  their rank ...  the only  time during the combat that  i realized  my rank was when  this little gook  with  us  got shot right in the face .. i had  to cover his face  and try  to suck  his nose to clear  his breathing pathway ...  i got  the worst  mouthful .. he still was  choking ... so i gave him  a tracheotomy  with my knife ...  when i pulled his trachea out  of his neck and sucked   that clear ... i was  covered with blood  and  pumping his  chest when one  of my comrads tapped  me  on the shoulder  and said  : " c,mon  captain. he,s dead . lets  get out  of  here" ... and that remined me  i have more  responsibilities  than   that   little gook ... he was right ... i was playing to much attention  to distractions   and not  to mission ...  but that was the only time  i was remined  who i was by my boys in combat ...  but back at the base camp  we always  had our  own things we had to be segregated because we had  top secret clearances  etc...  so here  is the only time  i was ever remined  of my rank .. i,d   go into the beer  tent and get drunk with the other guys  and after awhile  i,d always say :"  this is the worst looking  bunch of   misfits  i ever saw !!  who,s  in charge  of this  outfit and they say " YOU"!!!!