November 28, 1972, Tuesday

At six in the morning, the CC turns on the lights. One of the hanging lights is directly over my head, with only four hours sleep it was fucking annoying.

Last night the CC told us two things: One take a shit when you get up in the morning. No exceptions. Why you ask? Because he has no time to excuses anyone in the day to take a dump. The process is fast and grueling. If worms are running off to crap then chances are worms will miss training. So if you don’t want to shit you pants take a morning dump. Nobody gets out of the formation. If you don’t feel the need to crap. Tough shit. Sit on the toilet anyway train yourself to be regular. Two: come morning when he turns on the lights to awake us we have two seconds to get out of the rack. If we don’t get out in two seconds he pushes the bunk over. He kept that promise this morning. He turned over five racks, quickly. Bodies went flying, after lipping five bunks we were all up. He then turned his attention to the second floor. He added a third thing: when you address me you will start your sentence with sir and you will finish with sir. “Do you worms understand?” he yelled.

We said, “Sir, yes, sir!”

We formed up outside for the march to chow. He commands us to start our march on the left foot. He yells, “Forward march!” Half the company starts out with the left foot. Half start with the right. We go about a block before we stop. He starts over. “Left foot hut” some of us start to march some stand there. He stops. “Left foot hut means to start marching on the HUT!” We all mummer “Oh.” The CC yells “Left foot hut.” Half start with the left foot, half with the right. We go about a block and he starts all over. Sometimes he is joined by passing stripes. They seem more than happy to scream and yell at us. Making sure that we didn’t forget that we are lower than maggots. Heck we are lower than maggot shit. I wasn’t aware that maggots shit. Live and learn. This went on until we reached the Mess hall.

After breakfast we do it all over again. We marched to a commissary. We were allowed to purchase on credit our toiletries. Tooth paste and tooth brush, finally I can hardly wait. I passed on the comb, I didn’t need it. Soap, shampoo, razors, shaving cream each thing had its own place in the kit. It was done uniformly. And heaven forbid that it was different from the rest of the company. The navy wouldn’t allow it. That would be individualism and it wasn’t floating the boat.

We made our way back to the barracks where we were instructed on how to stencil our cloth. Our name, company number, and serial number. As long as we are on Worm Island we will wash our own cloths.

We did the numbers count off. I was picked to be on the crew with the master-at-arms. It was laundry detail. We gathered all the cloths after we stenciled them. All but our two pairs of dress blues and our peacoats aside. (They were wool.) We plugged the shower drain and turned on all the shower heads to hot. We tossed all the cloths in the shower floor with a lot of shampoo. When the water was about two inches from the concrete lip we turned it off. About twenty of us striped down to our boxer shorts and started to circle in the shower, too wash the cloths. Something resembling a human clothes washer. We did this for a half hour. We drained the basin, filled it up and rinsed. We rinsed again. When we were sure that we got out all the soap we hand rung them. We hauled all the cloths to the outside of the barracks to hang dry.

The rest of the company were separated in groups with different cleaning assignments. It was time to march to lunch and another lesson in the art of marching. Later.

When we finished lunch we attended three classes. One was a class on the General Orders, 12 of them, we were ordered to memorize them. At any time we could be quizzed by any stripe for any reason. Incorrect answers were instantly punishable. Push-ups forever were usually the customary punishment. The other classes were about the different ranks and ropes and knot tying. At the weeks end we will be tested on everything we learn for that week. Fail two weeks in a row and get set back in boot camp one week. This could result in a longer stay in boot camp. God knows we want to get the Hell out of here as soon as possible.

We practiced marched to dinner. Chris the RCO is more of an ass than he was before. He is mad with power. We do not like each other. He is on my back as much as he can be. The work details are handed out daily. The Yeomen, Rodger makes up this list. He takes care of me. I never do a night watch. This pisses off the RCO but he has no power over Rodger. The CC needs a good Yeomen to handle the paperwork. Without it the military would crumble. That rule applies down to the lowest of the low, us. Rodger has free rein, the CC needs him. My detail today is to hand out the dog tags. I like this job, it gives me a chance to meet the whole company. After I give the recruit his tags he looks to see if the information is correct, he hands them back to me. Rodger puts them in the desk drawer. Don’t ask, it’s a boot camp thing.

The front outside of the barracks is an oasis. Green grass, bushes, flowers and clean pathways, we are strictly forbidden to step out front, period. The back outside is a wide 75 ft. asphalt alleyway, with blocks apron countless blocks of barracks on either side. It’s a small city, minus cars.

After we clean the barracks spotless. The CC shows us how to stow away our cloths. Each piece has its own way to be folded. One way for everybody all the time. Each piece of clothing has its own spot on the open locker shelves, setting alongside of the bunks. Each locker had its own spot on the floor. All the ninety lockers and bunk beds were exactly the same and had the same placement on the floor measured out to fit precisely. Be off a centimeter and my cloths would be scattered out into the barracks, leaving me to start over.

We learned how to make a bed using hospital folds. The sheets needed to be tight enough to bounce a quarter on. Yes they did bring the quarter. The CC informed us that in the morning we have five minutes to be ready. Each bunk mate worked as a team. We helped each other make the bunk, before we hit the latrine. It’s now lights out. I haven’t had a cigarette in two days. Later.