[ponyakr]

it took a couple of weeks to get used to the routine. after that we figured we might survive if we could just hold out long enuff. i lost 20lbs that first 2 weeks even tho i was eating all i could get my hands on. we had a sorry cook. most of the guys wouldn't eat any more than they had to. so i'd watch, & when i'd see somebody get up from the table, i'd say " hey, if you ain't gonna eat that, give it here. i'll eat it". we were burnin some serious calories. 1 guy had enuff & decided he was gonna leave. he waited til late at nite when he figured no body was lookin, thru his duffle bag over his shoulder & struck out walkin. but a drill sargent spotted him. & this guy was a bad dude. he was black, about 6' 6" tall & he taught all our classes on hand to hand combat, including bayonet training. so in a few minutes this guy came back in with a black eye, draggin his duffle bag behind him. he never tried to leave again. i met 1 nice kid from houston. he was a tall lanky white haired kid, 1 of those i mentioned who came there with shoulder length hair. he had a '57 chevy street ride, & after he found out my name was hurst, from then on he called me 4-speed. now i want to tell you about the young man who inspired me to name my goat " gung ho ". there was this tall country boy who was always serious. took all the training as very serious business & tried to be the best at everything he did. i can still remember in our long runs you could always see him far ahead pumping his arms wildly,trying to run even faster. i remember us saying, " boy he's really gung ho " we later found out that he didn't even have to be there. his brother had been killed in viet nam, so he joined up to go get some revenge on those who had don it. now we understood why he was so " gung ho " --he was on a mission. i don't know if he survied it or not-- i sure hope so. thats what inspired me to put "gung ho " on my goat--i was on a mission. T.J. even rigged up an american flag with our co name on it, for the trunk lid. i'll post some pics. T.J. just came thru & reminded me to tell ya'll this. on thanksgiving day 1970 we got up at 3am, packed up our tents & other gear & marched about 3 miles thru the woods to attack a mock viet nam village at dawn. it was complete with a full system of underground tunnels. & i remember it was cold that morning(about 22 degrees). after we got back from training, about noon, they gave us the rest of the day off. they had told us in advance & said we could invite friends or relatives to visit as long as we didn't leave the post. so i told T.J. & she got in the ole goat & her & the girfriend of a fellow trainee from our home town drove on down to see us. i don't know which i was happier to see T.J. or my ole goat--"cause i loved them both dearly. anyway we drove out in the woods & had us a picnic. it was like a cool drink of water to a man who had been out in the desert for days. a man in my co lived in a nearby town, & he let any body that wanted to bring their car down that last week so they'd have a ride home. his yard was full of cars. i had the goat brought down & when we were released, i jumped in & headed for home. the best way i know how to describe to you my feelings on that goat ride home are captured in the words of martin luther king, " free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, i'm free at last".