Chapter One Hundred-Twelve

Here is the next Chapter of my Memoir/Novel, Lost and Found.

Tough week around here, so this is a bit late.

Be well — be in peace,

Ron Rink
======================================================

On the morning of my seventeenth birthday my parents and I arrived at the Navy Recruiting Center at 7:30 A.M.. My parents signed the necessary papers to give their permission for me to be enlisted. They were then told to go to a waiting room while I was given both a physical and intelligence exam. If I passed the exams they would be notified and would be free to leave. Before they left I shook hands with my mother, but my father just grunted a few sounds as I said goodbye to him.

I passed the exams and was taken to another waiting area where there were several other guys sitting either in chairs or on the floor against the walls. This room looked like someone’s old office that wasn’t being used for that purpose any longer. Everyone was quiet and the guys didn’t seem to know each other. I think some of the guys against the walls were asleep.

Later that same afternoon we were all sent to another larger room where we were sworn into the U.S. Navy. Shortly after the swearing in ceremony I was on a bus being driven to the train station where I would get on a train headed for just north of Chicago, Illinois, and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

It was late when we arrived at the train station. I was completely worn out and fell asleep on one of the long benches. Perhaps my weariness was just the result of having to arise that morning in time to get to the recruiting center at 7:30 A.M. It was also a good probability that my life had begun to catch up with me. Getting out of Juvenile, having to spend a few days with my parents, saying goodbye to Sally, wondering what the future in the Navy would mean to my life, was all beginning to sink in.

It seemed as though I had just dozed off when I heard an announcement that our train would be leaving in two hours. I heard some of the guys let out a groan and a few others had some choice words to add. I had no idea how much time had passed, but at some point I felt the guy who was sitting next to me nudge me and say, “Hey, wake up! We’re boarding the train now!”

Bleary-eyed and only half awake I stumbled along with the others to the platform. There was a Navy guy there who directed us to one of the cars on the train. “Come on, move it along you swabbies. This train ain’t gonna wait all night for you. Get on board – move it!” he kept yelling.

After we all got in the car the Navy guy jumped aboard, stood at the front of the car and said, “Okay, sailors, listen up. It will be a few hours before we get to Great Lakes. It’s late and I’m tired. I have to stay in this car with the rest of you miserable deck hands. I have hopes of getting some sleep. I highly recommend you guys do the same. I like it quiet when I sleep, so if something should wake me up, I’m likely to get pissed. And, I guarantee you, you won’t like me when I’m pissed. You’re in the Navy now, and from now on there will always be someone just like me who’ll be telling you when you can breathe and when you can’t. Your job is to say, ‘Yes, sir!’ and comply. Am I making myself clear?”

There were a couple of “Yes, sirs!” spoken, some grunts and I noticed several guys nod their heads.

“Do I hear any ‘Yes, sirs!’ loud and clear?”

There were a few more “Yes, sirs!” but in normal voices.

“I said I want to hear you say, ‘Yes sir!’ so I know what you’re saying. Say it now – loud and clear!” he shouted at us.

We all yelled, “Yes sir!” as loud as we could.

“I still can’t hear you!” the sailor yelled.

“Yes, sir!” came roaring out from the twenty or thirty guys in our car.

“That’s better. Now, shut up and go to sleep. Do you hear me?”

Another rousing ‘Yes, sir!’ filled the air in the car.

As I felt myself begin to drift off I thought about how being in the Navy would be even worse than in Reform School. This guy was one mean son-of-a-bitch. At least he acted like he was. I found myself wondering if I had come directly off the streets and in my ‘gang mode’, whether I would have challenged him. Getting arrested and being in Reform School for those few months had taught me quite a bit about how to be subservient to authority figures. I had learned not to always trust authority, but also had learned when to keep my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open. I had learned to watch, listen and wait before pulling any tough guy moves or shooting off my mouth.

I pulled my bag of clothes and toilet gear up into my chest and drifted off to sleep.
=========================================================