"HEY SARGE"

One day last week, Virginia and I had just parked at WalMart store for weekly shopping, and from way across the parking lot came this loud shout, "HEY SARGE".  I had not heard that greeting very often since I was a 19 year old regular army Sergeant teaching R. O. T. C. at L. S. U.  Louis Peters identified himself as one of my former students.

We both laughed and chatted briefly and I thanked him for having such a great memory!  The date of the class was 1946 -  SIXTY FOUR YEARS AGO!

In one or two of my blog stories earlier, I told about my transfer from Camp Pickett, Virginia to L. S. U. Military Department.  At that time R. O. T. C. was a required course for all freshmen and sophomores (male only).  There must have been 5-6 thousand students in the program at the time.

Part of my duties consisted of teaching close order drill on the parade ground, map reading, rifle range shooting, and military science and tactics.  I found this to be very interesting and most of the students were very intelligent, and my students' average grades were B or C.

Both of my older brothers, Wren and Malcolm,  had served overseas in Europe during the war, and I felt very fortunate to land an assignment at L. S. U. and did not have to go overseas.  I also happened to meet a student while I was on duty there.   Virginia and I married August 5, 1947 at the First Methodist Church in Baton Rouge.

I was discharged in 1948, and enrolled as a freshman the very next day.  We built our first home near the campus, and my goal in school was to graduate as soon as possible.  I took the maximum number of hours each semester and graduated in August, 1951.  We have stayed in Baton Rouge ever since.

I still have a few former students who still call me "Sarge", and yes it is nice to be remembered.