A Hero’s Journey

The book brought forth the memories of a difficult early childhood for the Author. A childhood that was filled with love and togetherness but few resources for celebrations. A look back at how his family survived on the wages of a Janitor. How that Janitor shaped his character. The Author is deeply indebted to many people in that small community that saw something in him and guided him in the right direction. The fact that the transition from an all black school two hours away to a school just three blocks from his home and there were no angry mob at the school's entrance, made him a child with bitterness in his heart for no one. The Author mentions that he could have dropped out of school and no one would have cared, in fact, it was expected from most black males in the 1960's. Sports was his motivation to stay in school. The memories of the people that influenced him to do the common good in life such as teachers, coaches, his boss and his Dad, will never be forgotten. The Author often tells people that joining the Military was the best decision that he has ever made, staying in the Military was the second. He remembers that Basic Training was a challenge in many ways. You had to be both physically and mentally tough or you wouldn't make it through training. He recalls that the tours in South Korea were very challenging in part because there were no McDonald's down the street. Your car was not in the parking lot, the country was under an 11:00 PM curfew that was strictly enforced, when soldiers left their Military installation they were subject to Korean Laws, and his unit was a few Kilometers from the DMZ. The Author talks about his first stateside assignment and how hard it was to adjust to removing his keys from his car's ignition because in Norman Park he didn't have to worry about it. His next assignment, he explains that his Battalion was tasked with protecting the Panama Canal Zone locks from destruction. The Panamanians had vowed to destroy them if our United States Senators didn't ratify the Canal Zone Treaties. He talked about A-Company from his Battalion having to go to Jones town, Guyana to recover the bodies of suicide victims, including a U. S. Congressman. The Author explained how difficult it was in succeeding in getting his college degree while working countless hours a day as a soldier. He reminded us how tough it was to raise a family on a young soldier's wages, having to pull other soldiers duty or pawn something out of the house to earn many to put food on the table for the last three days of the Month. The Author talked about the successes he had as a Drill Sergeant and the failures others had by not following the rules. He talked about raising kids and his philosophy as a Parent: There are two words that every parent must master and operate under when raising children. Those two words are Standards and Consequences. Parents must set the standards for their children to live by. When those standards are broken, there must be consequences that are applied for the broken rule. If no consequences are applied, then the broken rule becomes the new standard. You set the standards when the child is a toddler, you can't wait until they are in their teens. When a child is old enough to make the distinction that sugar tastes better than salt, this is the time to start setting standards for your child. Children are expected to break things or make poor choices, it's a part of them weaving their way though life. When this happens, parents are responsible to let the child know how to prevent this from happening again in a positive way. My own kids rarely got the belt, but when they did, it motivated change. The Author spoke about teaching his Cadets a lesson in ethics when he got out of bed at 11:00 PM at night to go pay a restaurant bill that the cadets forgot to pay. He recalls writing the Department of the Army to be placed on orders to go back to South Korea as a 1SG so that he could run his own Company. Very few Americans can say that all 5 of their sons served in the Military. Finally, Family tragedy led him to give up his dream assignment and enter a life of uncertainty outside the Military.