Word: sergeant
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...compared with 21 in Vietnam) and better trained than the troops of past wars. More than 95% of last year's recruits had graduated from high school, in contrast to 54% a decade ago, and they are more physically fit. "I hate the new Army," says a sergeant as he tries to bum a cigarette. "Nobody smokes...
...Baghdad Betty, who used to taunt soldiers that their wives back home were being unfaithful. (One cuckolder was said to be Bart Simpson.) She has not been heard from since the bombing began. By and large, music tastes are fairly sedate. Since the fighting started, says program director Sergeant Major Bob Nelson, "it's like someone put a pillow on it; we got a lot of requests for soft and sentimental songs. When it heats up, we slow down." Army Private Brian Chavez, 18, of Wagner, Okla., worries about being out of touch. "There will be all new music when...
...most precious distraction, the source of the most pleasure and some pain, is the mail, typically weighing in at 400 tons. A letter from home is reread until the pages crumble. "I had just opened the letter from my wife when we had a Scud alert," says Sergeant Darrell Thompson, 37, of the XVIII Airborne. "I dropped my mail to run off to the bunker, but I put the photo of my little girl in my pocket, like a good-luck charm...
...They move time forward, even in painful ways, as fathers and mothers discover, from one letter to the next, that their children are growing up in their absence. Every word from home inflames the desire to get the fighting started, and finished. "It's like an exam," concludes Marine Sergeant H.B. McDuffie, 26, of Tallahassee, Fla. "You can only study so long, and then you're ready to take it. The whole thing is personal with me now. I missed Christmas. I missed New Year's Day, and now Valentine's Day, because of this...
...sent to the gulf -- particularly, recruiters noted wryly, those who turned out to be overage or underqualified. At some stations, like the Air Force recruiting office in Quincy, Mass., the number of enlistments almost doubled. "I haven't seen anything like this since I began recruiting," says Technical Sergeant Rick Shellene. "A lot of kids feel it is about time to start standing behind the country...