Returning to Reno on a Tuesday evening in early January, 1956, l found Ted and Ben at the cabaret in the Golden Hotel. They are enjoying the performance of,
can you believe it?!...ELLA FITZGERALD! That was then. ln the Reno of today, you won't see any acts of Ella's stature in any cabaret. lf you want entertainment of quality, you'll need to pay a couple of hundred bucks for a seat
in the "Big Room" of one of the Mega Hotels. You may want to avail yourself of
information on dress codes as well. l'm just sayin'.
Too soon was Ella's set at an end and the three of us picked up and headed for
Ben's house. l was nearly out of subscription applications and l intended to sell
magazines for most of the days in the current week. Ben gave me a good pile of apps and some new fliers announcing some discounted prices on some of America's most popular periodicals. That completed, l thanked my two friends:
"You guys have been like older brothers to me, sharing your friendship, your
livelihood,your knowledge...l can't help wondering how my life would be if l hadn't neglected to replace that crankcase plug in Fred's delivery truck. l not only avoided months at a filthy job crawling in the dirt under those beastly
trucks, l wound up with knowledge that can be used in any city to earn a good
and honest living. l can't thank you enough".
"Well, l know l speak for both of us when l say 'We're glad to have helped'
especially when we see our instruction followed to success. Realize; many who have received the same instructions have been unable to make them work
with any consistency. Realize another thing; every time you make money, l
make money. So it could be said that our helping you is part of our investment
in our own futures",said Ted.
"When someone invests in me to the extent that you guys have, l'm going to do
everything l possibly can to avoid disappointing. Besides, l've always liked work that required relating to people. Nearly every job l had while working in my Dad's businesses did require it."
"l have to change the subject for a moment, guys. While l do presently find most of my life to be quite copacetic,there are a couple of issues l'll need to
confront in the next couple of days and l'm hoping you can help me with....
At that point,as one they said "Well, Hell yes we'll help you. Why wouldn....."
"l'm glad you said that, both of you", l said laughingly. "lemme get right to the
details:You already know that l'm failing miserably in the quest to acquire a
degree in architectural engineering and there is no chance that my Dad will be
satisfied with anything less. More to the point, UNR is so alarmed about my
scholarly comportment that, not only did they expel me; they bagged my stuff,
labeled the bag and leaned it against the locked front door of my former room.
lf l could stay with one of you, for a day or two, l'll get a weekly hotel room now and look for something better,later".
"Between the two of us", said Ted "we own 4 perfectly good, unused beds, two in each of the two 3Bdrm homes, here; the house we're in now, and the
one next door. We have plenty of space. Move your stuff from the U tomorrow.
What's the other issue?"
l started by explaining how WWII, which began when l was 3 and ended when l was 7,had really spooked me and before it was over l had promised myself a no
combat existence,of great length, with no slogging, crawling or dying in the grunge-infested mud. Now, l'm just a few months away from draft age and l got nothin'. Except the National Guard, and even that is shaky. l was connected
to the Guard thru my ROTC class at UNR. That link is now severed. to save my relationship with the Guard l think it would be necessary to move to Elko and
attend meetings. (That being my NG home base). But l don't want to live in Elko. l have already had more than enough Elko. The ideal would be a position
in the military itself that never required being in battle. Now we're in fantasy
country. l'm sure there is a way ,though. lt was quiet for a moment or so and
then Ben said that he thought he might know how it could work. He said that his
sister's youngest son, who was educated in electronics, was interested in the
Signal Corps because they were heavy into electronics. Once he had enlisted and been assigned, he found himself in the Army Security Agency,which is a
part of the Signal Corps. ASA inductees must have the highest security clearance to get in and then it's all about keeping those secrets from those who seek to harm us.By the time the ASA inductee completes his in-service training,
he/she knows a bunch of secrets. Uncle Sam( US ) wants you to keep the secrets that you know, to yourself. The deep background investigation is used to verify a law-abiding past. The law requiring you to keep secrets to yourself or
suffer a fine of up to $10,000 and/or ten years in Federal prison is probably enough to discourage most folks (especially those with clean records)
from sharing any secrets they may know.
But US can't stop there. (here's where it gets relevant,finally).He has to make
sure, as much as possible, that no one can take from you, or force you to. divulge, your secrets. And he goes to great lengths to cover his bets. To start
with: Soldiers assigned to the Army Security Agency CANNOT LATER BE ASSIGNED TO A COMBAT UNIT where they could be captured and interrogated.
l think that all of this applies to all of US's military but l'm talking here about the
Army only. At any ASA operation site a detachment of Us Marine guards is provided,around the clock, to further ensure that all the secrets of all the soldiers are kept, whether at work, at meals or asleep. Ben didn't present all of
this quite as l have, but you've got the substance of it.
The three of us talked about the possibilities that now presented themselves,
into the early morning. l crashed in one of Ben's extra bedrooms but couldn't fall asleep so, a little before daybreak, l walked downtown, to the CalNeva and had
one of their great steak and eggs breakfasts while waiting for the Army recruiter to get to work.
,
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