Fort Hood, Texas: Part Four

     Bloggers, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell used to sing a song that said, "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby, ain't nothing like the real thing!" And it was 1974, and my Company from Fort Hood had just got back from Claxton, Georgia..., The Fruitcake Capital of the World, and I had tasted and ate that Claxton fruitcake and I was hooked to it. And upon arrival back to Texas my second baby was born. He was healthy like his older sister Melissa and we named him Michael John. He was born on February the 13th, 1974 and he was dark skinned like me and his momma. And I requested another 30 day leave from my Company Commander Captain Showalter. The Captain didn't like the idea for my 30 day request, but I got it anyway. And our hatred for each other grew by the day until I E.T.S. from the Army in May 1976. A few months later I got Orders from The Army to report to Germany. I had dreaded being called to over seas duty during this time because it was known among the G.I.'s that this was a tactic used by the Army to get people to Re-Enlist and gain favorability in picking a spot you would like to serve in while on one's over seas assignment. Well, I had no intentions of staying in The Army anymore. Once my time would come up, I was gonna be free of all the stress and anxiety that comes from insurmountable pressures that pull a poor person apart in The Military. I had no connection to "God" then and didn't care that much for someone that didn't speak at all. I respected "Him" because I still remembered who "He" was. Yet all I could do was live day by day and hope to avoid my enemies because violent conflict would destroy what I was trying to accomplish here while at this Institution. And now the wild animal was trying to be Human because he had a beautiful young fine wife and two babies; a girl and a boy. And with no training at being a Husband or a Father; much less being a responsible and obligated civilized human being, this experience and the marriage between me and The Army and miserable misery, well, I was hard pressed in heavy starch. The Army knew that I was married and that sending me to Germany with just less than two years to my Discharge would mean that I would have to pay out off my own pocket for all the expenses to transport my beautiful and super fine Chicana wife and babies to Germany if I wanted them to be with me. Further, I had to fine a place to house myself and them off post because I wouldn't qualify for their Housing Program on base unless I had three years remaining on my enlistment. And furthermore, I had to buy all the furniture to furnish the house or apartment myself. So you talk about a quandary, this was a big one. And those are the only sized quandaries that The Army loved to put us in. It was always a choice between life and death it seemed. And I just couldn't leave my Babies behind and be without them for so long, especially my wife! So I told the Army that I was intent on taking my wife and family and they offered their proposal to alleviate my problems but I didn't accept it. I told them that I would find a way to get them to Germany with me, but that I would go first and then send for them and pay for everything myself. When I got to Germany I went to Frankfurt to an Army Replacement there. And unbeknown to me a White guy named Sergeant Hageman who was my squad leader at Charlie Company First of The Twelve Cav. in Fort Hood, Texas was working in a high position at the Personnel Office at this Replacement. And one day he saw me there and happily came over to greet me. He called me Sgt. G. So after a long visit together I told him my story even though I didn't know the power and influence that he had there. And I didn't know about how well he was connected to the high ranking Officers in charge at Personnel either. I was just talking to him as a friend who I had served under at Charlie Company at Fort Hood. Then he got up from a table that we were at and he said to me, "G, is there something else that you would like while here in Germany?" I said yeah, "I don't want to be out in the boondocks everyday and night training out here like we did at Fort Hood because I would like a lot of time in bed with my wife at nights." And I said that jokingly because again he was a Sergeant like me, we don't have influence over our daily life or accommodations. Then he said to me, "G, I am going to talk to my Boss and I'll get back with you." Then he was gone and I didn't see him for a few days. Afterwards he shows up and tells me that everything has been arranged legally to accommodate my requests. Then he gives me information on which Forms to apply for furniture and stove and refrigerators and how and where to go for assistance for many other perks available to G.I.'s while there. Then he shakes my hand and wishes me well on my journey to my new assignment which he and his boss arranged for me. I thanked him for his help and I was impressed by his new influence and power and wished him well. I never saw him again ever, but I still see him in my dreams now. And I will always be grateful to have known him. And a couple of days later I was assigned to the 545th Ordinance Unit in Munster Bei Dieburg, Germany. This was a small Unit about two miles in the boondocks away from the Village of Munster. Dieburg was a couple miles away also. But the small kaserne that we were in had a great deal of Nuclear Warhead Power. And I was attached to a small Infantry Security outfit here. This whole place and its atmosphere and look to it, was older than Savannah, Georgia or Charleston, South Carolina had. This place was like really stepping back into Medieval time. And I didn't even have a car or monies saved to pay for transportation to get my family to this new place that I was destined to encounter. Sergeant Hageman gave me many tips on who to see and where to get my best discounts from the Military for my Housing project. So I worked on that first while I was introduced to my work assignment and the people that I would have to work with while there. And from the very get go, the Lieutenant, a White Officer, turned me off with his uppity attitude and patronizing ways. We didn't have our own C.O. because we were not even a Company size unit. We had a Major for our Company Commander because he was over all the M'P.'s, Cooks, Fire Station personnel, and clerks there; and us, which were not many. Nevertheless, this place was heavily fortified and secured and we worked in close unison with soldiers based in Babenhausen about ten miles away. What a story this was! This was a place where The German people tolerated us because they needed protection from the big Bear next door to them that wanted to eat everything in that Great Stepes region and beyond. And that big bear was sold on spreading Communism to the World whether they like it or not. And that idea conflicted with the idea that Uncle Sam believed in, and Sam had hired us to fight against any Socialist or Communist because he believed in Capitalism. And shit, all I cared for was being free to enjoy my wife and family and newly found freedom from a crazy Correctional facility that was intent on making me American whether I liked or not. But, I chose to side with the lesser of two evils and sided with America; despite the fact that the two were one and the same composite animal. But this is where I found myself in history in 1974. Right smack in the middle of War, disease, famine, and troubles coupled with pain and misery. Papa Staples once asked, "Why am I treated so bad?" Everywhere I went when I was off duty I searched for my apartment, my furniture, saved money, and had to talk to German people who refused to speak English to me. And to make matters worst, I had to do everything by walking and while on crutches because I broke my ankle. No one who had a car on base would give me a ride to get to some far off places where I would get my furniture and things for free from Military Depots like at Darmstadt. And it was a good thing because they delivered everything to my apartment for free and threw in dishes, pots and pans and fancy China cabinets, beds, sofas and lazy boy sofa chair and kitchen table with chairs. Sgt. Hageman really paved the way for me in many ways despite my other hardships. Anyway, I did it and one day my Babies showed up at Frankfurt airport and from there we caught a train to Munster. And from there we took a taxi to our new apartment at "911 Kornblumen Strasse." And on March the 30th of 1975 our baby boy died due to a misdiagnosed medical condition that a Medic in charge of a hospital at Babenhausen Army base made. My job as security had me working weird hours and days and nights, so I couldn't help my wife taking them to the hospital at other bases. Besides, I didn't have a car. If it hadn't been for White American female friends that my wife had, she wouldn't have had anybody to take her anywhere. And no one in our apartment complex owned a car either. And we had Turkish friends and German friends there too. But mostly everyone was working class people and barely making it themselves. The German Doctors there in Munster were disappointed at us because they were not pleased that we didn't take our baby to them to treat him. They said to us that they would have never let him die by neglect like our Army doctors had done. I was grateful to them for that but my patched up heart had now been broken beyond repair. And all I wanted to do was kill that medic and the Babenhausen Doctors knew it, so they shipped my ass home permanently. And they paid for my wife and daughter's airplane fees too. And in April of 1975 after my son's burial services I reported back to Captain Showalter at Charlie Company second of the twelve Cav. Unit. When we meet, I see that look in his face of great disgust and disappointment because he thought that he would never see me again. I reciprocated that mutual feeling to him too. Then a few months later he finds a way to send me far away with perks to do recruiting in Flagstaff, Arizona among the Native Indians there. But I rented a nice apartment in Phoenix and reported to the White man's recruiting station at Glendale instead. And those White Navy recruiters didn't want me there either and they tried other ways of getting me shipped to Flagstaff. But as destiny would have it, other unforeseen circumstances that even I couldn't have scripted or conjured up came out of nowhere and I was shipped back to Fort Hood with more Perks than before, and back to Captain Showalter. But all the crap and perks notwithstanding, I was still plagued every night with haunting paralyzing nightmares. For many years I have experienced these bad dreams. I never had them while in Gatesville Reform School. But all the years that I was in The Army I experience them. Even today these things try to invade my sleep. However now, I have something for them. And thanks to "God" that "He" has let me walk through this long crazy and wild journey that seems incredible that I survived it this long. Nonetheless, I just wanted to share with my soldier brothers and friends that to fight was our destiny and still is. Regardless of the monsters that rise up against us and who want to see us destroyed. Our mission is not to Stand Down and Rest and Relax, but to look for the enemy and kill him first before he kills us. We are in this War and battle not to lose, but to win. And if we lose, so what, "God" will raise others to take our place. Amen. So with that I will close the Fort Hood and U.S. Army experience and expedition Service for 1970 through 1976. This was the best learning experience for me ever. And I made the greatest of friends and I had the best years with my wife ever also. Our sex was pleasurable, meaningful, and most satisfying. And it seemed that I couldn't get enough of her. And it was about expressing true love damn it. It was not about those moments of sexual pleasure just to release frustrating lustful tension locked up inside of us. We wanted to be together and stay together forever. But..., regrettably it didn't work out that way. So in closing, I say that this was an unforgettable chapter in my life as well, nevertheless it has come to a close. And a newer chapter opens as I become an embittered civilian. Let us sleep on that for now. And thanks again. Oh a postscript of import. In 1973 when the Army became an All Volunteer Army, the lower Enlisted Members who were married and had families became eligible for Food Stamps. To me this was a pathetic statement and commentary about how American Soldiers were treated by their so called grateful for your Service American Government and their people. Think about that! The richest and most powerful Nation in the World, who were profiteering from Wars, and yet they didn't care whether their proud Soldiers who serve them got enough pay to provide proudly for their own families. What a damn shame. And the Housing struggles that they went through was equally embarrassing. That too is what I saw in the Great U.S. Army.                                                                                 Respectfully,                                                                                                                                        Ruben N. Gutierrez