Basic and A.I.T Training at Fort Lewis, Washington in 1970

  Let me note here a truth about my deceased wife, the love of my life, if it hadn't been for her meticulous record keeping, and collecting all kinds of receipts and official business and military records all of her life, I would have been completely lost. She was more educated than me so therefore I owe her a great deal of gratitude and above all I owe my "God" everything and more for all that "He" has done for me. If anyone was more undeserving of "The Almighty's" blessings and favor here on earth it was me. Nonetheless I still say that I did have many great White Americans and German people to whom I am indebted for because it was them who encouraged me to pursue higher education. I am indebted to them because ever since I can remember I have struggled to learn because of many reasons outside of my control. And one big reason, one that I was not aware of way back that many years ago, was Institutional  Racism that existed at every level of The White American Establishment. And that Institution was dead set against me and had placed many obstacle in my way so that I would fail at many objectives that I only dreamed of attaining. Little did I know back then that one insane English theory called The Origin of the species would be carried over to be claimed not only a theory but dogmatic religious Doctrine by many elitists claiming that White people were the Superior Race because they were the strongest, most educated, and most fit to rule over all the other inferior races. And as a direct result people like myself couldn't overcome those rigged obstacles so rapidly because of our culture differences in language and so forth. But it was Liberal and conservative White people who acquainted me with these American trappings. And it was them who explained The Monroe Doctrine to me and also told me about The White's idea and belief  about how they were justified to take everything in America on the basis of their so-called Manifest Destiny Doctrine that was a direct product of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species Theory. I said all that to say that when I was accepted at the U. S. Military in June of 1970, it was not because I had passed the Military Armed Forces Qualification Test required by Law for admission into the Military. The lowest score for admission into the Army was a score of 31. For the U. S. Marines it was higher and it was 32. For the Air Force and Navy it was 33 and 34. And I scored below 31 and yet they took me into The Army's Combat Infantry. Remember U. S. Law governing these I. Q. Test and Aptitude Examinations for the military stated that no one scoring below 31 was qualified for Military service. But in the Case when then U. S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and his desperate action to win the War in Viet Nam, he had to introduce a Temporary Law and Policy that would make allowances for reducing and waiving such low scores when service personnel forces were lacking in any given department in the Military. And in this case, like today, it is The Infantry Divisions, or Combat Divisions, that need more human volunteers, but no one seems to want to join. This is where Mr. McNamara and President Johnson found themselves during the War in Viet Nam. So this is the Draft Age period and the A.F.Q.T. score was waived and hence, made a way to gain new recruits because the War had stagnated in favor of Ho Chi Minh. And back here in the States the educated Whites didn't want to go to war. Their lives and future careers were foremost on their minds. And so Johnson and McNamara concocted a Welfare Program based on White Lie that said Poverty stricken young people needed an opportunity at a better life with benefits through the military. They did this because this way Military deferments would only be available to the wealthy White young people. Therefore, there Program to enlist 100,000 young people a year during this Viet Nam War period was established. And if one bothers to read about this American shameful history you can, just Google it. I call these dishonorable Politicians, Molech's high priest who offer him his daily human blood sacrifice. But anyway, Mr. McNamara was criticized highly by high and mighty big wigs  in the Military and at the White House for admitting Felons and people with I. Q. 's as low as what they classified as Morons and Idiots, or mentally disabled. However, keep in mind that these I. Q. tests are based on White's Educational Standards. And another reason for my slow learning progress was that from the very start of Public School... Blacks and Minorities were placed on a very slow learning tracking system so that they would never advance to achieve the levels of the Whites Academic standards and as a result could not compete against them. And also this Tracking System would ensure that minorities would be educationally prepared for only the most menial labor force such as factory work, being custodians, house maids and gardeners, and garbage collectors. Anyhow all the racism notwithstanding, the Military waived my low entry score of 31 and never told us anything about this political situation and put us through their own set of racist obstacles. I happen to have my Form from the Army's A. F. Q. T. test result for when I was exiting the Army in 1976 and it showed that I did not make that required score of 31 for official qualification into the Military. My Baby had saved it for me and I had told her about this story too and she just laughed and so did I. Therefore, one can clearly see how Politics work throughout all American Institutions. All it takes is a wave of the magic pen and you are in sickly first Cousin; set aside that crazy notion about Darwinism and superiority and such nonsense for now; remember we are Brothers and Sisters.  And as I said earlier in another letter, after being accepted we were put in a Jet Airliner and shipped to the great base at Fort Lewis, Washington State 2,400 miles away from San Antonio, Texas. We were quarantined for over 20 days there and herded like cattle everywhere. Then the great dreaded day for us to head off to our Basic Training Unit came. On that afternoon it was overcast and gloomy, however, the great pine trees and the great snow capped Mt. Rainer were standing at attention and it seemed that they were watching us. The natural beauty here was mind blowing for me because I had never even heard of this place, much less seen pictures of this natural wonder. I remember though that while at this sequestered station many young guys full of testosterone would be talking great shit about themselves because they were saying out loud for many days prior that they were over prepared for this cake walk in the park called Basic Training. They would show off their lean muscular bodies to each other, but on this departing day we were all marched with all our full gear to a large parking lot. And at this parking lot there were about six or seven huge silver steel cattle trucks parked and Army drivers were waiting for us to find comfortable accommodations on the floor so we could then be driven to our Battalion Unit. The side doors were opened and we were told to place our gear in there and then we loaded into them. And as they closed and locked the doors all we could do was stare at each other and or look out those holes throughout the trailer of the truck like livestock do. But, before our truck left to follow the others in front of us... there was complete silence inside our truck and I mean no one was talking shit about how bad they were, not even the R. O. T. C. guys. And all that we could hear was the beautiful sound of the humming of the engines running. Then a young light skin Black guy named Childress from San Antonio, Texas broke the silence halfway to the South Fort Lewis base. This guy Childress was a good guy and kind of a guy who likes to clown and talk trash. But on this day he was sitting on the floor and facing me and all I could see was anxiety in his eyes. The humming of the engine on the truck just added another element to the drama and suspense that awaited us only minutes away. Then Childress just opened his mouth and in a loud solemn voice and said to all of us in that cattle truck that day, he said, "Guys, I would like to say a prayer for all of us before we get to our Companies if you all don't mind." He said he was a Christian so he was gonna pray to "The Father" and he bowed his head and said again, "Father", please be merciful to all of us here in this cattle truck and those other guys in the other trucks and please keep us safe so we can all survive this Basic Training Cycle together."  Then he said amen. And as I looked at all the other guys they all too had closed their eyes and had their heads lowered and facing the floor and they all said, "Amen." I was not accustomed to saying prayers out loud and I also thought that all the other noise talking guys would laugh at Childress for suggesting something like that. But not one guy objected, not even me. And even I said, Amen. Then all the trucks came to a stop at the front of Charlie Company Second Battalion and second Basic Training Brigade Training Company and all of our excited and thrilled welcoming committee from hell were waiting for us there in that big parking lot wearing funny looking hats like Smokey the Bear to receive us. And no they didn't have trays with cookies, cake, and cold milk for us. And they didn't have colorful rainbowed colored balloons all around to hand each and everyone of us as we tippy toed through the tulips coming out from those cattle trucks. Because as soon as the drivers opened the cattle guard doors on the passenger  sides, then all hell broke loose. Because as the crazy Drill Sergeants peaked in and glanced at us like starving pack of wolves as we sat there in complete shock like chickens going off to the slaughter house they began to rant and screamed obscenities at us. And at that moment I couldn't understand how in the world does one go from being in the Holy presence of "God" to this nightmare scenario so damn fast!? This was hard to compute, but they didn't give anyone there any time to register, rationalize, or process shit about what was on their mind long enough and started calling us and all our family members of which they didn't know anything about and called us and them, all kinds of obscene names. These drill sergeants were giving all kinds of conflicting and confusing orders at the same time as they screamed out in our faces to do this and not do that and you better get your ass over to your company formation fast. And all of us scattered, bumping and tripping into each other like frightened chickens running from rabid coyotes as we unpacked the  trucks and listened for our names for which company to run to. This was a complete circus act because only those guys who went through this place at this time know what it looked like. It was a nightmare. And this was only the prelude to the introduction of what was still to come after the formalities of getting to your right platoon etc. was accomplished. After that, orders were given to us to get to our companies dorms with all our gear packed on us and we were told the numbers to our bunks and told to get all our gear up to them in five minutes and stand at attention at the foot of the bunks. Then we had to run around to the right side of the building which was on our left as we faced the building, and it was a long way around and to the side and middle back doors. And since I was on the second floor, we had stairs to climb too. Needless to say when hundreds of guys are running with duffle bags full of gear and one is running in combat boots, and no reference for where your bunk is, you are not gonna make it up narrow stairs in time. You should have seen the chaos. So once upstairs we didn't make it in time and neither did guys on the first floor, and we are given the next instructions and that was that since we didn't make it in five minutes that now we had five minutes to get ourselves with all gear back to the same place at formation at the front parking lot. Then the drill instructors began to bark more obscenities and chased us back to the parking lot as people were dropping their bags and things because they were  were running into each other and having to pick up their things and keep running again. Some guys tumbled down steps as people pushed and shoved each other to make it in time. Our Senior Drill Sergeant, who was a big Black muscular man,  was waiting at the parking lot and looked at his watch and said that we didn't make it in time. So the junior drill sergeants shout more graphic stuff at us and there we go again running back upstairs. We did this for about two hours. But by this time people are dropping like flies on the sides of the sidewalks and on the parking lot and on the stairs. I am running and jumping over fallen guys and people stooped over trying to hold their breath. But as these guys fall behind they get caught by the vicious drill instructors on a one to one basis and poor guys. This went on until supper time and man the obstacle course we had to go through just to get to the kitchen was even more pure hell. We had to run and then low crawl through a short sanded area and then go through the monkey bars that were loose at the rungs and that was a surprise because we just kept falling off at the start because we had no traction in our hand grip. After that feat we had to climb a thirty foot high rope and come down fast and get into a line going into the kitchen standing at attention and at parade rest with every step in there. Then upon entering the mess hall someone would ask you if you were a Draftee or Volunteer. Then one responded loudly and accordingly. Then once we were served we had three minutes to eat and that was fast because the plates were loaded with food and we had to eat it all or get punished with Kitchen Police duty later or clean toilets with old toothbrushes. There were many ways one could get punished here. But all this was like a very strict discipline applied at Martial Arts classes, especially Kung Fu, to test one's Obedience to orders. The styles of fighting were not as important because the idea was whether or not one was obedient and teachable to the spirit of the training. And no sooner than we sat at the table to eat, the drill sergeants screamed at us to get the hell out and run back to the barracks. Once back from the Kitchen we were instructed on what we were to expect the next day. That first night, all I could think of as I lay on my bunk was about Childress' prayer. And how we still had another nine long ass weeks of this thing to go. But I felt comforted because just like at Gatesville Reform School I could look around the barrack and clearly see that I was not The Lone Ranger here. All the guys there were also shocked as they stared at the ceiling that night. The cruel reception on this day and night at basic training put a big damper on many of those guys' ideas that this was gonna be a summer breeze walk in the park event walking hand in hand with the one I love. And we didn't know yet what other horror-filled days and nights were still ahead. And so I will pause for today and say that I didn't pray at all that night, not because I did not believe in "God" but because I was not accustomed to praying back then. And all that I could think about was how grateful I was for this privilege and opportunity to be accepted into this great outfit. I wasn't thinking about any benefits after the Service because I was even aware of benefits. All I wanted was that Honorable Discharge and be proud of something good that I did accomplish for once in my life. And at that time I wasn't aware about McNamara's Morons or Idiots as they had labeled me and others and didn't care. I just knew that I knew how to survive in the jungles of war. I wasn't educated, but I knew that if given the right teachers with the right hearts I could learn. I thank "God" that I had Drill Sergeants who saw that potential in me and they helped me to get through basic training, not like a loving mother would, but a warrior father would. They didn't cheat for me or anyone else. These were Honorable Men in American Uniform. They were mean and they had to be. What they wanted to turn out was efficient Killing Machines and wanted us to survive the War we would be sent too afterwards. That was their job. After all these years I only Remember my Drill Sergeant Gibson, he was a young White guy and an Engineer. We had a great young Black assistant to Sgt. Gibson but I can't remember his name now. They were about the same age so they worked well together. But Drill Sergeant Gibson took a liking to my attitude and made efforts to help me and encouraged me to keep trying and not give up. Here I will close and say... let us sleep on that and I hope to continue with Basic Training and then move on to the Advanced Infantry Training at the old North Fort Lewis base. And believe me..., Mt. Rainer is a majestic site! Even at a distance away. I loved it. And yes it rained a lot here. Thanks again.                                                                                                             Respectfully,                                                          Ruben N. Gutierrez

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