Word: platoonic
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...serving on the base. Observes Corporal Smith: "When they get to know you, the men are nice. Those in our barracks look out for us." There also appears to be a growing respect for women's martial abilities. Private David Fisher, 19, a member of Shirley's platoon, confesses: "I felt that this was no place for girls. But after they outshot me on the firing range, I changed my mind...
...attained. This innocence led to alienation when I declined all invitations to "go run in the park." Not only did I lack satin shorts and expensive sneakers, I did not speak jog-ese. Here I've been, dressed in fatigues and combat boots, double-timing in platoon formation without realizing the social significance of my actions...
...that greeted him in the Third World. In Western Samoa in 1970, he stood before an outdoor altar in the blazing sun while eight sarong-draped men came forward, bearing on their shoulders an immense 400-Ib. pig, a traditional Samoan gift. In Uganda he was delighted by a platoon of blue-haltered, red-skirted dancing girls who met the papal jet in Kampala. More somberly, especially in his Third World visits, Paul made a point of seeking out the poorest neighborhoods. In India in 1964, he wept at the poverty...
There's no anger in his voice, though. And even with the crewcut and Canal St., New Orleans tattoos--one of a mermaid, another of a clipper ship--the image of Richardson as a platoon sergeant just doesn't fit. His soft voice belies some of the memories--of "mowing down" North Koreans as an infantryman in MacArthur's Yalu River-bound 24th Division and carrying out "search and destroy" missions in the Central Highlands of Vientnam...
...longer such an automatic reflex. The knee-jerk liberals no longer twitch when reminded of Chicago and Kent State, of the cries of a generation that would not go to war, a generation that could not support a system that it believed reaped extra dollars out of every platoon that charged into battle. Instead the talk in Congress is now of prudence and economy, and the virtues of a lean, hard fighting force. It is safe--even profitable--to forget the lessons of the past decade...