War Stories

My father used to tell some funny stories about being a GI.

He hated being in the army.

Following orders was NOT his strong suit. Giving orders was more his style. He always had a ‘better way to do that’…..         

                                                      

This was obviously a sore point between him and his sergeant when he was in boot camp. 

One day the sergeant gave him an order, “See that pile of cement bags? Load them into that truck over there.” Pointing to a truck parked a block away.

So my father moved the truck next to the pile of bags and proceeded to dutifully load them into the truck.

The sergeant stood at a distance and watched. 

My father said it took him the better part of the afternoon to single handedly stack all the bags onto the truck.

When he was finished he moved the truck back and reported to the sergeant that he was done.

The sergeant walked over, inspected the truck, then told my father to unload all the bags back to where they were to begin with.

My father was, to put it mildly, miffed but did as he was told.

He moved the truck to where the pile had been and unloaded them all, moved the truck back to its original parking spot and reported to the sergeant.

The sergeant then said to him, “Now take those bags of cement and load them into the truck WHERE IT SITS, like you were told to do in the first place!”

He could never understand why he wasn’t commended for finding a better, more efficient way to get the job done!