|
STORIES Kenneth Anderson
| Bill Briggs After Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., in 1945, 95 percent of my platoon was shipped to China. To my chagrin, I was assigned to buglers school at Parris Island. While most Marines found nine weeks at P.I. unbearable, I was to spend four years there! But I advanced rapidly, becoming a member of the drum and bugle corps, then an instructor, a bugle master and finally a drum major. Sometime in late 1946, I acquired a female fox terrier that I named “Smokey.” She later became the mascot for the drum and bugle corps and accompanied us to every function on base. Smokey was as well known as we were. One day Smokey had to be confined to quarters when she came into heat. That was the reason she did not accompany us as we marched to the flagpole to conduct “call to colors.” It was a routine task, but we still made it an impressive sight with the drums rolling, cymbals crashing and bugles blasting a military march. As we were about to make a turn, I looked back to check the corps’ alignment. There was Smokey coming our way at a dead run with about a dozen suitors in pursuit. Pandemonium broke out, and I was up to my knees in dogs, half of which were fighting. Of course, the march music stopped as all the buglers were laughing. The drummers also were laughing, but at least they kept up the beat. I solved the problem by calling a bugler out of the ranks and telling him to take Smokey back to the barracks. The rest of us then made the turn and carried on as though nothing had happened. There were no repercussions from the incident, probably because the commanding general had seen Smokey many times and knew she was a lady. Smokey and I were discharged together. She lived with my wife, a Marine I met at Parris Island, and me until 1963, when I played taps for her. She really was a lady. |