I have already told you one humorous story that my father told me about World War I. That story was called “Middleweight Fighter.”
Let me tell you another story.
Oh, yes, before I forget, during the War, soldiers were nicknamed “Doughboys.”
Now, before I begin, let me say that this story was excellent advice for a young fellow who had only been in the Air Force for a year or so.
It’s like this. Orders must be explicit in the sense that there is no ambiguity. Has to be to avoid confusion. But the thing is that an order can be a bit too explicit. This advice from Dad helped me out a few times when I was a GI.
And please understand that Dad was not giving me advice, he was telling me a story. I had to be smart enough to understand the advice. Daddy never preached.
I think that the buildup to the story is longer than the story.
Anyway, here it is.
Dad told me that there was an establishment in the town where he was stationed which was off-limits The place was a bar but I had a feeling that it was off-limits because it was also a whorehouse.
He said, “Some lieutenant stationed me at the front door of this joint and gave me an explicit order, ‘Do not allow any soldier through this door.’”
Dad took a sip of beer and a drag from his cigarette and continued, “Well, a Doughboy came to the front door and tried to get in.”
I said, “What did you do, Dad?”
“Son, I told him that I couldn’t allow a soldier through the front door. Then I told him that there was no guard at the back door.”
I don’t know what you think but I think that is funny. The lieutenant was overly explicit.
Listen to the audio version:
Another one of Daddy’s funny military stories is called Middleweight Fighter.
