Just a Story From a Long Time Ago

Back in my "second" single days I would go out a lot of weekends with a couple of friends, Jolly and Andy.  Jolly was a guy I was in the Army with and Andy (Andrea) was a woman he met after I had gotten out of the Army.  They lived in Myrtle Beach would come to Columbia a couple of weekends a month and we'd go to five-points and hang out in a couple of bars.  Our favorite was a bar called "Group Therapy".  I thought the name was somehow appropriate.

There are more than one story to tell from these nights but I'm only going to relate one.  Jolly, Andy and I were all in personnel at Ft Jackson.  I wrote up paperwork for people getting out of the Army and coming from Germany and Panama.  After a while (when I got my NCO's trained) I stopped doing ETS (regular exit from the Army.  Expiration Term of Service.  I only did "chapters".  They were people getting kicked out for one reason or another and were much more interesting to write up because I got to read all the chapter packets.)

The two most common chapters were "Misconduct:Pattern of Misconduct and Homosexuality'.  Some of the stories I read would make a really successful reality TV series.  But just say I was familiar with certain modes of activity and attitudes.

I've put out a First Sergeant with over 20 years as a private with no benefits just because he could not wait a few more months to smoke some pot.  I put out my first sergeant from the reception station because he could not keep it in his pants with female trainees.  I put out a girl I went to school with in Ft Ben Harrison up in Indiana.  She was mental I think.

However, this is just about one evening at Group Therapy.  Jolly and I were both more solitary but Andy was a social person and when she found a group of young men were at Ft Jackson waiting to get out the next day she invited them to sit with us.

Sit, is not the right word, as in Group Therapy there was an area where there were no seats but had huge wire rollers as tables.  We were all standing around one.  There were four or five of the guys from the Fort and us there.  We'd stood and drank beer (pitchers) and talked for a good while.  There was one very short black guy who exhibited  all the stereotypical aspects of a homosexual and Jolly, Andy and  I all assumed he was a Homo Chapter.

Anyway, Jolly, Andy and the other guys all went to the bar for another pitcher leaving me and shorty at the table by ourselves.  He moved around to stand right beside me and filled my glass and said, "So Frank, where are you from?"

I just told him the truth and told him I was from the coal fields of  Eastern Kentucky.  When I said that I did not seem him move.  He just disappeared from my side and reappeared on the other side of the table.  I always have to smile when I think of that.  What a reputation Kentucky must have.  LOL.

We later questioned the rest of the group and found out he was a regular ETS and not getting chaptered at all.  We were all quite surprised as it was like he was shouting I'm gay with every move he made and every word he said.  I still believe he was queer as a three-dollar bill but he apparently made it through enlistment without getting caught.

Not sure what brought that to mind this morning but that is what I was remembering.