l reported to HQ Company at the stroke of 9 AM, as ordered. SGT Vaughn, with-
out so much as a "hello" to me, told Jamey to drive me to Mustering Out. Jamey didn't have much to say to me either except to make sure l knew  l had
screwed up.
My regular release day was Feb. 5. My name had failed to appear on the bulletin board on Feb 2, when it should have. The meeting with Rep. Baring was in the early PM the same day. My orders did not require me to wait at Mustering Out until my ETS, but required that l be released on the same day that l had arrived there.So, at about 1:30 PM on Feb.3,1959, The Army and l
officially parted company. For good or ill.

With the good of that day, came some not-so-good: When my house mates
heard about my visit with Rep. Baring, an impromptu party came together despite it's being Monday. Everyone had ideas of things l might do while 
processing out that might help me be remembered. Goldstein offered to 
trade cars with me for the day. Being seen driving that big beautiful Caddy
might give somebody the idea that my ship had come in (overnite) Maybe
the Army had stood in the way of my success and things changed for me the moment l left it. A lot more stupid ideas were advanced (some very funny).
All easily rejected. Except the Caddy.Not that it was likely that anyone would
even so much as notice who was driving it, but l enjoyed driving it and l
believed it might get me laid; it worked for Goldstein. Pretty funny story, l'll
try to get back to it. 

Almost as soon as l got on the Baltimore-Washington Expressway l was passed by a Greyhound Bus. The next glance at my mirrors saw them full of flashing red lights. l had just over $600. cash on me at the time,most of it
mustering out money. The cop told me to follow him to a magistrate's house
a few miles down the road. l was fined $750. (And, l swear l was BELOW the
speed limit) He took the $600 l had and set me up to pay the balance over
the next three months.

Well, l wasn't ready to have such an arguably celebratable day go south.
When l returned home, l let everybody know how much l enjoyed flashing
that big, beautiful boat, as l saw the 6th Cav and then all of Fort Meade
disappear from the rear mirrors. l said nothing to anyone about the speeding ticket, that night or even to now as l write about it. We all had a great nite.
l thought about the speeding ticket for a long time. At one point l thought
that someone in HQ Company had given a description of me and of Goldstein's
Caddy to a Highway Patrolman friend who could do the dirty work.

At mustering out, l was given a pile of papers including the sought-after
champion: form DD214.It describes the soldier's history in service and
certifies the length and honorability of that service. Because l enlisted before
l was of draft age, l was told that l would need to visit the draft board within
a few days after my release from active duty and register for the draft.Having
served more than 28 and 1/2 months active duty l would be required to be a reserve soldier but in the inactive reserve, not the active reserve.All the forms
come in a sealed manila envelope with orders to deliver it, as is, to the draft board.

About two days out, l visit the draft board. What a hoot: l told the lady "serving" me, that until mustering out, l had no idea l might be draftable in
the future. l wanted to know what my chances of actually being drafted actually were, considering that l had honorably served 35 9/10 months.Going
into the Army, l was told that 28 1/2 months of active service would totally
fulfill one's military obligation. "l was hoping that l wouldn't have to come
back. Ever. She had opened the jacket when l gave it to her but had placed it such that l was unable to see the forms. On hearing what l had hoped for, she
moved the pile of forms to where l could clearly see them. She picked up each form (six or seven in all) and held them so l could easily read the text.
On every page, the letters P I appear in red ink eight or nine inches high.
These pages are 8 1/2 X l l. "Pl, that's not my initials,LP is what you want".

"We weren't trying for your initials. "PI" is the initials of "Political Influence"
and that means that we'll be drafting women and children before we get back
to you".
How can an intended insult bring the recipient of it such sheer joy ?Immediately!  On the down side though, it did occur to me that she,being obviously out of patience with me (let's say angry)she might very well remember me and the next time they need soldiers she could "mistakenly" send me her very first draft notice

About two years later, (mid 1961) l actually received notice that my reserve unit was soon to be activated. Were it not for the fact that my living situation
did not allow for re-location, l could have had to return to duty, then. We'll
re-visit that situation when our story reaches mid 61.

Whatever the future might bring l was very much going to enjoy life as a
civillian. The first week out, it was enough, heavenly really, to lie in bed for an hour after waking, then some breakfast while watching some of Dave 
Garroway's Today Show. Then, put some paint on the stretched canvas 
prepared earlier. l hoped to knock out a half-dozen or so paintings before
the materials l had were exhausted. Arrangements were made to display
paintings in some of the business establishments (coffee houses, cocktail
lounges, dinner houses---a hell of a selling job in it'self) in the Virginia, DC
Maryland area. A 30% commission was paid the businesses.

That first batch was good: The materials were sufficient to complete the
3'x4' that l had stretched first, five more 3'x4's and two 3'x5's. Those nine 
paintings sold within 70 days(one wondered)and brought me $2,520 in 1959 dollars after commissions and other expenses.





































































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