T. S. Eliot may have thought April to be “the cruelest month” but I like it! It’s our first full month of spring, it’s the month we celebrate tulips and daffodils here in Washington State, and it’s the month I got married. So to honor April and my anniversary, and perhaps to put a smile on your face, I salute both the month AND our Armed Forces:A group of GIs are trying to get back to base before their leaves expire. They get to the train station, but they’ve already spent all their money on girls, booze, and other necessities, and the station master absolutely refuses to let them aboard without a ticket. As the enlisted men are pleading their case, a young captain from the same base strides up, sees the commotion, and asks the station master, “What’s the problem here?”
“Well, Sir, these men are trying to get aboard the train, but they don’t have tickets.”
“You just leave this to me,” the captain tells him. Then he turns to the soldiers and barks out, “Atten-HUT! About face! Forwaaaaard, MARCH!!” and the soldiers march right past the surprised station master onto the train.
Once aboard, the uniformed men relax and begin to thank the officer, but he stops them. “Don’t thank me, boys. I needed you as much as you needed me.”
T. S. Eliot may have thought April to be “the cruelest month” but I like it! It’s our first full month of spring, it’s the month we celebrate tulips and daffodils here in Washington State, and it’s the month I got married. So to honor April and my anniversary, and perhaps to put a smile on your face, I salute both the month AND our Armed Forces:A group of GIs are trying to get back to base before their leaves expire. They get to the train station, but they’ve already spent all their money on girls, booze, and other necessities, and the station master absolutely refuses to let them aboard without a ticket. As the enlisted men are pleading their case, a young captain from the same base strides up, sees the commotion, and asks the station master, “What’s the problem here?”
“Well, Sir, these men are trying to get aboard the train, but they don’t have tickets.”
“You just leave this to me,” the captain tells him. Then he turns to the soldiers and barks out, “Atten-HUT! About face! Forwaaaaard, MARCH!!” and the soldiers march right past the surprised station master onto the train.
Once aboard, the uniformed men relax and begin to thank the officer, but he stops them. “Don’t thank me, boys. I needed you as much as you needed me.”
“How so, Sir?” asks one of the GIs.
“I didn’t have a ticket, either.”