Andy- feel for ya bud. But sometimes losing is still winning. My cousin ( passed on now ) snuck home while on R& R from Vietnam. Soldiers back then got a mid-tour R&R but were not allowed to return to the states. Anyway he calls me up says we got to do one night like we did in the old times. Love my cuz cause I was like big brother to him as he was 4 years younger than me.
But it always ends up bad somehow when we celebrated stuff together. So against my better judgement we go out on the town.
To my amazement we do not get into a fight with anybody. Drunker than two skunks we decide its time to head for home. He convinces me he is ok to drive. Youngstown city police pull us over for doing 5 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. They haul us down to the iron bar palace that is known as the city jail. Get hauled in front of night duty desk sargeant. This guy starts out being a real @#$!%$$% and then some. Finally it comes out where my cuz is supposed to be. Sarge softens as he realizes an arrest will cause undue hardship on cousins military standing. An arrest record will cause him to be charged as an AWOL.
Sarge has change of heart and asks us to spend the night in his jail. Morning comes we can go and no charges will be filed. Since they do not book us they take nothing off of us. Back then they took your keys , wallet even your cigarettes.
So they throw us in a four man cell with two sets of steel bunk beds. Two guys that are in there don't look too friendly. Cuz jumps in bottom bunk I clamber up in the top one. Lying on my back I try to appraise where I misspent youth is taking me. Head starts to hurt so I think cigarette may help ease the pain. I light one up take a long drag on it and lay back.
When I fished that one out I notice I only got maybe 1/2 pack left. Mister tuff guy ( or so he thought ) on opposing bottom bunk says " Give me them cigarettes punk ". I reply that while I have only a few I will gladly give him one. He says something to the effect that he is going to get them all one way or another. I tell him if he is feeling that froggy leap forward.
He jumps up and goes to go for me. His face is introduced to my cousins airborne size 13 boot. He crumples to the floor like a rag doll and remains there. His buddy who had started to get up lies back down immediately. Almost as fast as I sobered up. Spent the next 4-5 hours keeping an eye on those two. In the morning sarge releases us before day shift gets there.
Two nights later cuz want to go again out before he departs for vietnam. I invite him over to house for nice home cooked meal . Drive him to airport in Cleveland next day. He travels back to his R&R spot as a civilian and no one is the wiser. Especially the Army.
