Tough Recruiters Not Easily Fooled
Dear Ann Landers: You recommended a career in the Armed Forces for a trouble teenager and took some heat from your readers. I agree with your comments on the positive aspects of serving in the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces will not collapse because of some smart-aleck underachiever. That lad will have to clean up his act before he can enlist. No green hair. No earrings. The recruiting sergeants cannot be fooled. They know what they are looking at.
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas is a training center, and the authorities there have thousands of letters from parents thanking them for what they have done for their sons. This is my favorite: <,
“Our son gave us nothing but trouble starting at age 13. Weird clothes, crazy hair, failing in school, scruffy-looking, smelly, ill-mannered. We didn’t think he would graduate from high school. When he announced that he was enlisting in the Air Force, I said to myself, ‘If they take him, he’ll be home within a month.’
“They did take him. But I shook every time the phone rang. I knew it would be him, down at the Greyhound station, kicked out of the Air Force and waiting for us to come and get him. Then, one day, we did get a phone call from Lackland. He had graduated from boot camp, had a furlough and was coming home for a few days.
“I was stunned when our handsome young airman got off the plane - neatly barbered, perfectly groomed, grinning from ear to ear. We still can’t get used to all the ‘Yes, sirs’ and ‘No, sirs’ around the house. His table manners are flawless. He even smells good.
“His mother and I wanted to let you know that, if this is our son, thank you not only for what you have done for him but also for what you have done to him. If there has been a mistake, and this is not really our son, can we keep him, anyway?”
Keep up the good work, Ann. - Richard B. Noah, colonel, USAF (Ret.), Colorado Springs, Colo.
Dear Colonel: Here’s a 21-gun salute for Lackland Air Force Base. Thanks for a splendid letter.
Dear Ann Landers: When you started to run those “how we met” letters a few years ago, I kept thinking I should tell you our story, but I never got around to it. Well, today, I’m sending it, no matter what, and I’d be thrilled if you shared it with your readers.
In September 1945, I went back to Tulsa after three years of defense-plant work during the war. I took a room in Mrs. Gaither’s home. Her youngest son, Gene, was home from the war and decided I really should meet his brother, Pat, who would be coming home soon. We met the train three nights in a row, but no Pat. Then, finally, there he was, trim and handsome, hat at a cocky angle, in his Navy uniform. We had a wonderful time together, and when his leave was over, I was really sad. We agreed to stay in close touch and wrote to one another almost daily until April 1946.
Pat intended to re-enlist, and then the war ended. We had so much fun celebrating the end of the war that we were totally slap-happy. It dawned on us that we were madly in love. On June 9, 1946, we were married.
Fifty years later, June 1996, our three sons and our daughter, their spouses and our 12 grandchildren celebrated our golden anniversary. We are both healthy and happy and ever so thankful for our blessings. - Pat and Thelma Gaither
Dear Pat and Thelma: What a beautiful love story. Those World War II romances had a marvelous combination of excitement and daring. Thanks for sharing yours.