Well just sparing with Stan, waiting for Morning Formation, and my glasses get knocked off and broken (i have no spare). The Master Sergeant informs me i will be going by bus back into Pusan, to have a couple of pairs made. That little errand took all day, and when i walked into my hut i was told my name was on the bulletin board (Pvt. Kern, report to the office of the Base Commander at 0900 hours, the next morning). So now my roommates start to razz me about just arriving and already i must go visit The Commander, of course i believed he wanted to discuss my spending the whole day, getting my glasses replaced, but i was way off the mark.
I present myself before our Commander and a civilian wearing olive drab clothes, the civilian wants to talk to me, and says Pvt Kern your civilian job was working with component parts of anti-personnel devices (commonly called booby trap devices). I explain exactly what my work was, and he was disappointed when i said these parts were all "inert" (had no explosive component). It seemed that the assistant to Mr.Rego, was about to rotate back to the U.S. and Rego needed a new assistant. So Mr.Rego said "I might as well take you" and he did. However when I returned to my hut, many important questions were asked... about what punishment was given to me? Well I had coffee with Rego and the Base Commander, I would now assist Mr.Rego... and pull NO Guard duty, K.P. or "fire watch". My skills were much too important to waste my energy. No I am the assistant to the Big Boss Mr Rego, I can't be wasting my time on K.P. or Guard Duty, No ! No ! I am much too important. That's what I believed until my name was on the roster for guard duty.
And just imagine I had to sign out a 30 caliber carbine, and a couple of Banana Clips, and I was out in the Boonies protecting valuable Ammo (I will write about that adventure) i was the assistant to Mr. Rego (his rank was about a G-S 12). Like a full bird but he just wore a GS on his lapels. I acquired a vast amount of General Knowledge, just keeping eyes and ears open, when he would be making judgments if a certain lot # number of ammo should be re-packed or destroyed. It was not long before my opinion regarding Ammo was sought after, by junior officers, always seeking to keep on the right side of Rego, by treating his assistant with respect.
Next Time ...I will think of something !
ScribbleMeister
Jesse Kern
Korea 53-54
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