"Captain Myer, how could you have known that little Opel belonged to Herman Shultz, how do you know him?
"Well, we met at the golf course at Fort Meade, uhm about ,well almost a year
ago. A few days before Thanksgiving 57. And the car: My dad was part of the occupation of Germany after The War (WWII). When l reached driving age, my
dad, passed his three-year-old Opel on to me and got himself a new one. They were very reliable and fuel efficient AND though they're made in Germany, they-re made BY General Motors. Essentially an american car built to the standards required by German engineering. So, once Herman let me know he was looking for something light and economical to replace his 52
Buick, l probably had more to do with his purchase than the Salesman did."
With the hope that my visitors would be impressed, l showed them into the house thru the basement's outside entrance at the side of the house. lt was somewhat smaller than the front entrance, but made of the same materials
in the same design. The front entrance with stoop of seven steps carried one
from ground level, up four feet to the first floor, while the side entrance
carried arrivals to four feet below ground level, to the basement floor. Silver-
hued framework holding bevel-edged glass gave the rntries a very finished look. The basement, having as many square feet as each of the other floors,
seemed huge owing to having many less walls than the floors above. Even
with the regulation, full-size pool table,the table-tennis court and the over-sized chairs l had brought from upstairs, not to mention various chairs and tables(one expandable old dining table l got at St. Vincent dePaul for about
five bux). We still had a lot of open floor space but we had done such a good job of putting it all together (every one of us had pitched in) the place had the look of something out of an issue of House Beautiful. Like a dang bunch
of artists.
As my two visitors (the billet inspection team) got their first look at the base-
ment, Lt Goodale blurted "wow". "Really" said Capt.Myer, (without irony). l
thought "OK, two points!".
After that little outburst, they seemed to tighten up just a bit. They looked into every room in the house and they were even admitted to the garage on
their request. The whole place passsed without demerit or so much as a single suggestion for improvement. l excused myself for a moment to find Herman.
he was nowhere in the house. As l returned to the group, just before l entered the room, that they were then inspecting, l heard the Lt. say "l'd sure like to
live in a house like this". Since there was, at that time, a possibility that Roy
might soon be leaving us at the end of the current month, l was tempted to
tentatively off er the Lt that possibillity. but thought better of it. Besides, is iteven legal for the Exec. of the company in which l am the no-stripe soldier to
share a domicile with me?
l walked the officers out to their staff car, apologized for Herman's absence
and thanked the Captain for taking the time to see for himself what the condition of our home truly was. l'm pretty sure they didn't think l was being sarcastic.
"Well, Private you'll get a written statement as to the house's suitability, but
for now, let's just say you passed"
Thank You, Captain, come back any time. Hopefully, your visit will be graced by Herman's presence.
"Excuse me Private, do any of you, living here, know how to work that pool table", asked Lt Goodale, with a big smile.
"Oh, one or two of us can do it pretty good, especially if wagering is happening".
As they left, l'm thinking "Wow, me and the top command structure of
Headquarters Company are about to be buddies. Wait 'til Herman hears about this. Such a situation could make my early-out happen sooner. For sure! l decided to go into the Company's office the nest day so l could spend a little
time schmoozing with my old/new buddies. At least get started on it,right?
Have l mentioned before, how l seem to get so far-removed from my surrounding reality; so lost in my own fantasization of that reality that what's real is not real to me.
So, l'm in HQ Company office, hangin' with the Capt.' Lt. and Sgt Vaughn.
(More accurately,just sorta dancing between their desks, spewing my blather)
At about 11:15 AM, two military policemen walk into the office and ask for me.
Every one in the room seemed to have their backs to me and the MPs as the three of us go out the door.
The Charges: Forging of documents to be used to secure early release from active duty.
After that there was a lot of waiting. My offence was not offencive enough to
require me to stay in the brig until the Courts Martial was scheduled. l did
wait several months for it, but most time, day or night l spent at home
Time rolls by and, day after day; no news.Finally, my Estimated Termination
of Service date is three days away. But, my name doesn't appear that day on the Mustering Out Notice as it should. l had hoped that my ETS would be
reached before the Courts Martial was ready and figured they would have to
let me go Honorably.
Not happening. they plan to keep me for as long as it takes .
l requested permission to visit my Congressman, at the time, Nevada's only
representative in the House, the Honorable Walter S. Baring. A a kid l had
put up campaign posters for him at election times. He and my dad were good friends. As a prominent businessman in our town, my dad was on a first-name
basis with most of our elected officials
l spent about an hour. l talked first to the Congressman's Aid. Then l repeated the whole story of my Army experience for the Aid and the Congresasman and then, after we were joined by an Army General (introduced as the Congressional liaison to the Army) l told my story the third time. The Aid sai that l had told the same story all three times, and though l didn't quite under-
stand the logic, that convinced everyone that l had told the truth. And l
deserved to be honorably, tomorrow morning.
Before l left for home, the Aid told me that he would call me when my
Company Commander agreed with their decision. l had been home about a half hour when the Aid called to say its a done deal the next morning at 9.
c
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