“The MPs Always Bring Me Back”

It seems I was always filling in for someone. One week the commanding officer of my battery, a captain, was on leave and all the other officers were otherwise occupied. It was a Monday and the first sergeant (with a little knowing glint in his eye) said one of the men had been picked up by the Military Police in Indianapolis for drunkenness. It is the duty of the commanding officer (that was me, pro-tem) to administer punishment in such a case.

The outfit I was with was composed mostly of Alabama National Guardsmen who were called up for the Korean emergency. They were nearly finished with their tours of duty and were being sent home in small groups. Since they were short timers, they were not really attentive to duty.

So here I was, a 23 year old lieutenant, having to call on the carpet a “40 something” corporal who could care less about morality. I talked to him a while about the seriousness of his actions and how drink could affect his life, et cetera.

After a bit, I said he would have to take company punishment (I could have had him court-marshaled) and confined him to the barracks for three weekends.

I asked him if he had learned anything from his experience and his reply was quite sanguine. “Yes, sir, Lieutenant. I’ll never buy another round trip ticket into town. The MPs always bring me back!”