The Castaway Hotel - 8 - 26. Chapter 26 - You're In The Army Now

The previous week had been so busy it seemed to fly by, so before I knew it, Thursday had arrived. I would be leaving for Missouri later in the day and was actually excited about seeing Frankie again. One of the things I was looking forward to was discovering what he would look like in his uniform. Maybe it is childish on my part, but I find it’s true that there is something fascinating about guys in uniform. Not that I had a crush on Frankie or anything like that, but there was something sensual and alluring about seeing a military man in his dress uniform.

Jake wasn’t going to be able to go with me, because he couldn’t get the time off from work, and the older boys were also staying home, because this was the crunch time of year for them. I thought it best they concentrate on their schoolwork and finals. I had agreed to let Andrew and Jesse go with me, because I didn’t want to tie the others down with keeping an eye on them. This meant Jake would have to keep the high school boys under control, so they didn’t try to take advantage of my being away.

After lunch, I picked both boys up from their respective schools and we were on our way to the airport. I had driven the Grand Am today for a couple of reasons. First, we didn’t need a big vehicle to make this trip and, second, I thought it best to leave the larger vehicles at home for family use. We had packed everything in the trunk the night before, so we didn’t have to return home before we left. The trip to the airport was smooth and uneventful and we arrived in plenty of time for our flight. I wanted the boys to grab a quick bite to eat while we were waiting, because I doubted we’d be offered anything on the plane. With that in mind, I took them to a restaurant at the airport and we all managed to down a burger, fries and soda before we boarded. I felt that should hold us until we landed.

This was Jesse’s first flight and he was very excited about it. Andrew was an old pro on jets, so he spent a larger portion of his time explaining to Jesse what flying would be like and what he should expect. Jesse signaled me that he wanted to sit by the window, so he could see what was going on outside the plane. Neither Andrew nor I had any problems with this and Jesse was thrilled when I told him we would honor his request.

When we were allowed to board the jet, I kept an eye on Jesse, mostly to catch his reactions. As we passed through the cabin door, his eyes bulged from their sockets when he saw how large the interior of the plane actually was. After containing his awe, I directed Jesse to the window seat and we were all anxious to get underway. Our seats were slightly behind the left wing, so once we were in the air, he would have a fairly decent view of the ground below.

When the plane started to move, Jesse pressed his nose against the small portal and watched the ground go by. When the plane began to rise into the air, he momentarily looked away from the window and over at me, and I wasn’t surprised to notice his eyes nearly popping from their proper place. He pointed at the window and I merely nodded in response, to let him know I understood his fascination, so he went back to peering through that transparent covering again.

Jesse became even more intrigued as we climbed higher and continued to get either Andrew’s or my attention, so he could share his moments of wonder. He spent much of the flight focused on the world below and once we leveled off, he signaled Andrew and I about the size of the various things we were passing over. He would hold his finger and thumb barely apart to show us how small everything looked. When he wanted to explain how the mighty rivers appeared to him, he removed one of his shoelaces and carefully arranged it on the flight tray.

The trip lasted a couple of hours and then we touched down in St. Louis. After making our way to the baggage carousels, we collected our luggage and went to pick up the rental vehicle I had reserved. I would now have to drive from St. Louis to Fort Leonard Wood, which would take a couple of hours. I was driving along I-44 and about halfway to our destination, I stopped so we could eat. It was getting late and it had been a while since we last had anything, so the boys and I were all getting hungry again. After filling our tummies and making sure we relieved ourselves, we began the final leg of our journey.

It was quite late by the time we got to our motel, so we went directly to the front desk to check in. Once I was given directions to our room, we retrieved our luggage and went to settle in. We turned on the television briefly, while we got comfortable, but I knew we wouldn’t be staying up much later. After a half-hour or so of channel surfing, I turned the television off and tucked the boys into bed. I kissed them good night on their foreheads, and then went to the bathroom to clean up. I hopped into bed a short time later, as exhaustion began to overcome me as well.

The next morning, I was up early and finished dressing before I woke the boys. After getting them bathed and clothed, we went out for breakfast, before heading to the base. After checking in at the gate, I asked permission to drive around, so we could see some more of the area. The M.P. retrieved a map and used a highlighter to trace the battalion location and other spots we would be allowed to visit. I knew better than to ignore his instructions, since he warned me access would be limited due to terrorist activities, so we kept to the designated areas.

The base was obviously quite large, but it was also very nicely kept. The barracks for basic training almost resembled college dorms, at least on the exterior, and there were several movie theaters spread across the base. There were also other places for the trainees to hang out, which included the PX. That is short for Post Exchange. Actually, it’s just a large store that sells nearly everything.

As it approached the time for the ceremony to begin, we drove over to Baker Theatre and parked the car. After entering the auditorium, we found multiple military personnel who were there to direct us to our seats. All the visitor’s seats were located in the sections on either side of the theater, so we got comfortable and waited patiently for the ceremony to begin.

It was another twenty minutes before things actually got underway and it began with a small military band playing some very rousing renditions of Souza marches and other patriotic favorites. While the music was being played, the graduates marched in, looking splendid in their dress uniforms. They maneuvered down the rows of the center section, until they were in front of their designated seat, and then they faced forward and continued to stand at attention. They stayed that way through the playing of the National Anthem and invocation, and then the Senior Drill Instructor gave them the command to sit down. It was impressive as we watched them all lower themselves downward in unison.

Once the trainees were in position and the noise from the spectators had died down, the Battalion Commander gave a brief greeting to everyone in attendance. After he finished his comments, he introduced the keynote speaker, the Post Commander. He was a one-star general and a very dignified looking man. Carefully, he placed his notes on the podium in front of him.

It was a fairly typical address, about duty, honor and what lay ahead for these new soldiers, and thankfully it was also quite brief. After the general’s comments were concluded, the awards were given out. An N.C.O. (non-commissioned officer) read off the name and rank of each trainee, followed by any award or awards he had earned. That person then walked across the stage, accepted his ‘diploma,’ followed by a handshake. After that, he was given any medals, ribbons or plaques he was due.

I was more than pleased when Frankie’s name was called, because it was announced that he was receiving multiple honors. Not only had he earned the highest score on the end of cycle PT (physical training) test, but he also qualified for his marksman’s badge, which is the highest qualification for weapons, and had the third best individual score in his company doing this. He also earned a promotion, going from PVT Currie (private E-1, with no stripe) to PVT Currie (private E-2, with a single stripe), which was temporarily pinned on his sleeve. I was very proud of him, because only a handful of the graduating class had done as well, or better than Frankie, which earned them their promotions.

Once all the graduation awards had been handed out, various cadre members were presented citations for achievement as well, before one final award was presented. It was announced that Bravo Company, Frankie’s basic training unit, won a trophy for setting some kind of record for their end of cycle training. The company commander accepted the trophy on behalf of everyone and held it in the air, which elicited some sort of practiced cheer from those under him. The rhythmic chant must have lasted for thirty or forty seconds, but it was quite entertaining – and loud.

Once the ceremony was over, the graduates marched out of the auditorium, as they responded to an echoing cadence call offered by one of their drill sergeants, who stood just in front of the stage. Row by row they exited the building, only to reform again outside. They stood in formation until all of their friends and relatives were able to form in a horseshoe in front of them. At that point, they did another cadence chant, but this one was done to the tune, ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen. They’d changed the lyrics to reflect the uniqueness of Bravo Company and it was quite amusing and well done.

At that point, the Senior Drill Instructor made another announcement. “You men are free until twenty-one hundred hours, at which time you are to report back to your barracks.”

After saying this, he turned around to address the crowd. “For you civilians that is nine, zero, zero p.m.”

Those of us who had been in the military just chuckled at his comment, but I’m sure some of the others appreciated the clarification. Having shared this information, the company was dismissed and after Frankie wound his way through the mass of bodies, he came up to us. I reached out my hand to congratulate him, because I felt that wouldn’t ruin his macho image, but he ignored my hand and wrapped me up in a mighty hug.

“Hi, Dad,” he greeted me. “I’m so glad you made it,” he added, with a huge grin, which split his face from ear-to-ear. Once he broke his hold on me, he looked down at Andrew and scooped him up, so he could give his little brother an equally energetic embrace. While he was holding Andrew, he glanced down and noticed Jesse, and a confused expression crossed his face.

“Is this Jesse?” he asked, since he’d never seen our newest addition. I had only told him about Jesse in a letter and during our brief conversations on the phone, so I was eager to introduce them.

“Yes, it is. Jesse, this is another of your older brothers, Frankie or Frank.” Without hesitating, Frankie scooped Jesse up in his other arm, and stood holding both his little bothers. They looked so cute that I just had to ask them to hold that pose while I snapped a couple of pictures. Before long, Jesse had Frankie’s dress cap on, which covered his head to below his nose. It was hysterical to see that small boy in such a large hat, and obviously others thought so too. I saw several flashes, as the people around us snapped his picture, while he was still held in Frankie’s muscular arms.

Before everyone went their own way, Frankie introduced me to a few of the young men he’d made friends with during his training and Frankie’s friend from back home was there too. They all seemed to be really nice guys and Frankie took great pride in introducing his little brothers to them as well. Of course, this got some strange looks, once they saw the age and ethnic differences between the boys.

Some of Frankie’s friends also looked at me, as if they were wondering if I wasn’t too old to have such young children, but that didn’t bother me. Instead, Frankie had a good time telling the others how large our family was and how we came together. I’m not sure if the looks on their faces were from disbelief, horror, admiration or a mixture of all three. I also wasn’t sure if they thought me a hero, dupe, glutton for punishment or merely concluded I was insane.

It took them a while before they found their tongues and began asking questions. I actually felt kind of uncomfortable during the interim, since I didn’t know for sure how they were going to react or if this might affect Frankie’s relationship with them. I needn’t have worried, however, as they all seemed to accept us into their tight-knit little group.

Before we left to go out for lunch, I advised Frankie to explain to everyone about Jesse’s inability to speak. He said he would, so I excused myself and took the boys back inside to use the restroom. It was merely an excuse to prevent the younger ones from overhearing what was being discussed, because I didn’t want Jesse to be embarrassed or feel out of place. I was also afraid Andrew would take it wrong and jump to Jesse’s defense, thus possibly making enemies of Frankie’s new friends. By the time we rejoined the others, everyone had been brought up to speed and was aware of the situation.

Two of Frankie’s friends, which included his friend from back home, had no one come to the ceremony on their behalf. One of the other guy’s girlfriend had attended and the last guy’s parents had shown up. They all agreed we should go out to eat together, so it would give us time to chat and get to know each other better.

I wasn’t sure my two little ones would like this idea, seeing they’d be the only ones under 18 in the group, however, I miscalculated. They soon became the center of attention and were doted upon by all of Frankie’s comrades, so the boys were truly in their glory. I don’t think Jesse had ever had so much attention paid to him before, so he was eating it up and even began to clown around for the older boys. He used hand gestures and made faces to get his point across, but everyone seemed to understand his meaning.

After lunch, our new soldiers wanted to take us over to their dayroom and show us around. Once we got there, they played ping-pong and shot pool with Andrew and Jesse, while I chatted with the other parents. We also spent some of our time listening to one of the other recruits play the piano. He was really quite talented and played everything from Billy Joel to Beethoven, with a few show tunes, jazz pieces, swing music and rock numbers in between. It was very enjoyable listening to him play and sometimes the other guys would take breaks from their games to come over and listen too.

Not only did his awesome talent fascinate all of us, but he also drew a lot of attention from others who were wandering in and out of the building. My personal favorite was when he played Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ as it is one of my all-time favorite piano pieces, but I also really enjoyed his rendition of ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel too.

After we decided to leave the day room, Frankie wanted to show us around a little more, so we started to say our good-byes to the others. They didn’t want us to leave, so they made us promise we’d meet back at this location at 6:00, so we could go out to dinner together. It seemed everyone was enjoying the time we’d been spending together and didn’t want it to end just yet, so they thought this would be the best way to keep the good times going. The guy with the girlfriend said they’d make reservations for us and we were happy to let him have that task. We then made a graceful exit and went off on our own.

Frankie not only wanted to show us around his company area, but he also wanted us to see a bit more of the post. He even showed us where he’d be during AIT (Advanced Individual Training), starting on Monday. He was excited about it and we could tell that by everything he said or did. I think Jesse was beginning to develop a case of hero worship with his older brother and I couldn’t blame him. Frankie did look impressive in his uniform and had a distinctive air of leadership about him. I think that’s why the other guys were drawn to him as well, because of the quiet, take charge attitude he had developed after he came back to live with us.

You see, shortly after Frankie was sent away, when he first came to stay with us, it became quite obvious this unscheduled and traumatic separation bothered us both greatly. Therefore, when he came back, Frankie took it upon himself to become the chief protector and defender of all his brothers. I guess it was his way of making up for his misbehavior during the first go around. He always felt bad about what he’d done, even though Trey told him many times he was forgiven, but I’m not sure Frankie had ever forgiven himself. It was during this process that Frankie became the strong and silent leader of the group and all the boys went to him, whenever the going got tough. This was the quiet, yet magnetic, characteristic that caused everyone to admire him so greatly.

Going to dinner turned out to be another very enjoyable experience and it began with a little surprise. A couple of Frankie’s friends had returned with some army clothes for Andrew and Jesse to wear, and the pair was thrilled with these gifts. The guys must have run over to the PX and bought these things for them, which was very thoughtful, but I’d quietly see about reimbursing them later. Andrew and Jesse wanted to wear them immediately, so I took the to the men’s room, so they could change. When they came back out, they strutted their stuff and paraded around as if they were part of the graduating class. It was very comical to watch.

Their new uniforms also got them special recognition from the hostess, once we got to the restaurant. She playfully ‘thanked them for protecting our country,’ and the boys just giggled, snapped to attention and saluted her. After she led us to our table, she brought the boys a soda in a wine glass, with a little American flag stuck through the cherry she had placed in it. Both boys thought that was really awesome, especially when they learned their drinks were ‘on the house,’ not that they were paying for anything anyway.

We had another nice meal and the conversation was quite stimulating. Frankie and his friends told us stories about their time here, which included some rather comical incidents that happened during their training. The first such occurrence occurred on the rifle range. It seemed one of the other trainees, who apparently lacked basic coordination and focus at times, accidentally fell into a foxhole and broke his leg. No one was laughing over the fact he had gotten hurt, but the boys said his accident was understandable, since the foxholes were camouflaged. Once they explained this meant they were painted a bright yellow, it sent the rest of us howling, as we pictured that young man walking into one of those pits. We could all mentally see it happen, but that also made us wonder if he might be a danger to himself or others, if he were ever put in a combat situation.

Another funny story they told us was about an incident that concerned one of their drill sergeants. They said they were out doing their mile run one morning and the drill instructor was running beside them. At one point, he suddenly turned around and started running backward, so he could see if there were any laggards at the rear of the formation. He had only taken three or four steps in reverse when he stumbled over a rough patch of ground. Realizing he was going down, he tried desperately to catch his balance, but failed miserably and landed on his back. The jolt he got from hitting the ground caused his hat to come off and it flew in the air, before it landed in a ditch filled with muddy water.

No one dared to laugh, as he picked himself off the ground. He then retrieved his soggy headgear and placed it back on his head, but everyone knew he would be in a foul mood for the rest of the day, or at least most of it. They said he also took a ribbing from the other drill instructors when he got back, which didn’t improve his disposition, but eventually he began to see the humor in the incident too. Slowly, he started to release his anger and embarrassment and joked about his mishap with the others.

After dinner was over, we walked around for a brief time before our troops had to report back to their barracks. Frankie asked me if we wanted to go to church in the morning and I told him that would be nice. I knew he would also expect such an outing to include a meal, especially since he’d do almost anything to avoid army chow, but I explained we’d have to eat before the service this time. I told him we had to do this, because Andrew, Jesse and I would have to rush to catch our flight, so there wouldn’t be time to eat afterward. He said that would be fine and suggested we could all go to the post chapel, if we didn’t mind. I said that would be agreeable and then informed him what time we’d pick him up.

After driving back to our motel room, I had the boys take their showers and I was surprised to see Jesse emerge from the bathroom without his towel this time. I wasn’t sure if he was becoming more comfortable about his body or whether he did it because there were only the three of us this time. There was also a chance he was so caught up in the excitement of the weekend that he merely forgot what he was doing. Whatever the case, he was cute to watch.

After getting a good night’s sleep, we drove to the barracks and picked Frankie up. After downing a quick breakfast, we attended the church Frankie had been going to for the past eight weeks. It was a standard service, but we enjoyed being there together. Once it was over, we took Frankie back to his barracks and said our good-byes. After a few hugs, especially between Frankie and his little brothers, we were off. We’d all really enjoyed ourselves, but now I was anxious to get home and resume my routine.