A Day in the Life of: Sgt. R__

One of my favorite people that I actually know is an elderly gentleman in my church. He's like another grandpa. Besides being kindly and intelligent, he's also an excellent story teller. And the great thing is that his stories are true. I considered recording his stories and perhaps I still might sometime. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a tape-recorder. So, while I can't tell his stories with quite the impact that he tells them, I'll do my best, because they're worth telling. His are the stories which can inspire and amuse generations to come, but only if they're written down.

If you knew Mr. R__ today, you would never believe that he could ever have been anything other than a wonderful, gentle and meek man. He was however, when a younger man, a very colorful character with a colorful life that comes with all non-Christian Army drill instructors, Army Sergeants, and Police chiefs.

Sgt. R__ tells this story of his time as an Army Sgt. during WWII. He was a squadron leader of tanks, and they were practicing with the 10th group of something or other. The 10th group of something or other used jeeps with rocket launchers. Sgt. R__ and the tanks under him would practice fighting the 10th group rocket launchers. They used duds for practice, not live rockets.

Each time, after the practice was over, the two groups would leave the field. Usually, the tanks went first. 10th group had a 'twisted' sense of humor. As the Sgt. R__'s tanks would leave the field, the 10th group would launch blank rockets at the tanks. Even a blank rocket is nothing to laugh at. They made huge noises, and packed an even larger wallop.

After a time of enduring this harassment, Sgt. R__ had a fantastic idea. All soldiers were issued cans of pork and beans for their meals. With his fellow soldiers, Sgt. R__ opened these cans and poured them out into a couple of empty shells. Then, they put masking tape over the top of the shells to hold the pork and beans in until it was time.

Then, after practice, they started off the field. As usual, the soldiers in the jeeps launched their duds and then raced off ahead of the tanks laughing. The men in the tanks ducked, the duds hit, the men in the tanks got up, and Sgt. R__ loaded the 'live' cartridges. He cranked the gun on his tank down, waited until the jeeps were in his sights and then...BAM! out of the barrel flew a couple of cans worth of pork and beans! DEAD ON!!! The joke was on the other guys.

The way Mr. R__ tells it, it was worth a million bucks to see the looks on their faces.

"Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; And he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him." Proverbs 26:27

(This has been: A Day in the Life of: Sgt. R__. Look in next time to read: Snippets of__)