[June 17, 2023] Work or Lazy. I was young, but I was an adult. Now was the time I chose Army life over railroad work. It was a time to choose between two radically different paths in life, one that would mean the life I know today, the other the way of my father. There was one other future for me, not drugs or alcohol but one of academia (I would be pushed out of that dream, a dream of little responsibility and little need of courage). This letter is Number 5 of a long-running series of encouraging letters to my granddaughter.
I joined the U.S. Army after working on the railroad for two years. The Missouri-Illinois Railroad was owned and operated by the Missouri Pacific RR (MoPac), which is how I got the job. My dad worked for the MoPac, and they needed a relief agent. I was it. No one else wanted the job, but it paid well and wasn’t too dangerous, except I traveled at least an hour to work and back six days a week. And, bi-weekly, I switched job locations. I was paid an extra $7 a day for travel expenses.
The standard six-day workweek plus travel interrupted my freedom, so I quit and joined the Army. I joined out of exasperation from too much RR work. The recruiters told me I could guarantee an overseas assignment or occupation skill. I just wanted overseas to spice up my life a bit. My first assignment as a Private was Basic Combat Training at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. I hated it. Then on to Military Police school, which was sheer luck and good for me. Better than the Infantry… the horror. Now, a seven-day workweek.
The day before graduation from MP school, we all got drunker than a skunk. I woke up the following morning on a bare mattress under a row of bathroom urinals and couldn’t remember anything. And it was daylight. We were always up before daylight. I was scared. Staggering out into the open sleeping bay, I found everyone still sleeping. What a relief. Next thing I knew, the Drill Sergeants came in screaming for us to get our asses out of bed and into our Class A dress uniform.
At the large theater where we would hear an MP Colonel talk, we all felt sickly from our hangovers. I have zero memory of anything that day at the graduation. That was that, no more drinking alcohol for me ever again. Well, at least not drinking until I was introduced to German beer two weeks later. “Ein Bier bitta.” I never let alcohol influence my behavior ever again. As an MP, I would catch U.S. troops drunk driving nearly daily. We were hyper-strict on drunk drivers. If caught, you were out of the Army.
At the end of two years in Germany, I changed my job skill to Infantry Mortarman and remained in the Army as an enlisted man for almost seven years. I got out as an Infantry Staff Sergeant, a pretty good position for an uneducated kid from a small town in Louisiana My long-term goal was to attend college, get a degree in Chemical Engineering and get a good job. I’d had just enough money for in-state tuition. However, that was not to be.
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Please read my books:
I’m really happy I found you, Gen. Satterfield.
Gibbie, one thing you will find here in Gen. S’s personal blog is that there is a big mixup of topics and ideas. One of the advantages is folks in the forums add a lot to each blog post by Gen. Satterfield and we are held to that by Gen. S. He is really a godsend to those of us who want to understand a little about how a successful leader thinks. Now with his “letters to my granddaughter” we are finding out something about the building blocks of his thinking and that is good for us all.
Loved ir, as others. Can’t wait until the next letter.
Gen. Satterfield. My whole family is now reading your blog. 😃
👍👍👍👍👍 u bet
You nailed it.
Great series of letters. I’m looking forward to more.
Another letter to your granddaughter nailed.
On another note, did you see that the LA Dodgers lost their game last night? It was a close one but at least they lost. When the “nuns of perversion” were up there getting their awards, there was almost nobody in the stands. Hurray for the fans. Walk out. I also saw that there was a huge peaceful protest outside the stadium that might have had a thousand people. Inside the stadium, may a few hundred. Keep up supporting America and not the perverts who want to groom your children.
Yeah, KRause, saw that too.
LA cable network won’t air TV ad slamming Dodgers for anti-Catholic drag troupe: ‘Too controversial'”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/la-cable-network-wont-air-tv-ad-slamming-dodgers-anti-catholic-drag-troupe-too-controversial
Media scum.
Great news. LA Dodgers are evil scum too.
BOYCOTT the LA Dodgers. Figures they are in California, the state of fruits and nuts. Lots and lots of fruits and nuts, including their Governor who is the master fruit.
Gov. Newsom, the master fruit, wow, let us know what you think. Oh, I fully agree.
The day before graduation from MP school, we all got drunker than a skunk. I woke up the following morning on a bare mattress under a row of bathroom urinals and couldn’t remember anything. And it was daylight. ” —- Gen. Satterfield, Sir, to tell the truth, I nearly spit my coffee out my nose when I read this. I get it !!!!!!! If you’ve never been in the military, you will not really understand but to wake up in daylight (while in training) is like the worse sin of all (other than losing your rifle). Loved it. I hope your granddaughter gets it too. Let us know what she has to say.
Gen. Satterfield, thank you for these letters.
Love this series, well done!
❤❤❤❤❤❤
I think we all can learn something from these “letters.”
Yep!!!!!! Keep these going Gen. Satterfield, and BTW, I just your book in the mail and plan on reading it this weekend. I have a couple of friends who have “55 Rules for a Good Life” and they say the book is AMAZING, full of great advice. One of my friends is a housewife and she is now a big fan of yours too. Keep your books coming our way. I’ll be sure to get my copy.
Me too# ….. did I do that right?
Great series, thank you Gen. Satterfield for writing letters to your granddaughter. Maybe she just might want to learn more about you.
Great continuing series of letters to your grandkids (granddaughter). I plan on doing the same thing. I figure that they just might want to read what I was thinking “long ago” by the time they read it. I hope to have grandchildren, anyway.
Harder today, Gen Z and the Millenials aren’t having many kids and those they do have are when they are older and thus, we are older too. And, then only 1 or 2. Sad for us all.