Gruntland Redux

     Truly I expected nothing else. Bottom of the scrap heap was right up my Army alley and felt right at home. Actually I gave it no thought. All I was thinking was home on leave and being assigned to any kind of outfit was a step in the right direction. Gathered up my two duffle bags, my personnel files and hopped in the truck.
     Once there I grabbed my duffels, thanked the driver and reported in. It was there I realized my personnel files had flown the coop. Didn't know whether I left them in the truck or dropped them on the street. Or the fickled hand of Irony whisked them away. Oh well. So I did the only honorable thing and lied that they'd been lost in some kind of Army snafu back in Vietnam. That the Army screwed up was as believable a lie as possible. If they showed up later my plan was to play dumb.
     Playing dumb was a military skill of the first order. Used to call it tactical stupidity. I was just an E-4 enlisted man grunt. In a shooting army that's about the dumbest thing you could be. So a slack jaw and vacant stare was not only accepted, it was expected. Yeah, I was kind of proud about being smart enough to play dumb at the drop of a hat.
     My duffle of jungle gear was stored in the supply room. The other I dragged into my squad bay, stowed the uniforms and gear and was home. Shit. Call it the 5th of September.
     Next day who should come hobbling in but Bobby Woolworth. Felt like old home week even though it was only the two of us. Didn't have a clue who the hell the rest of the men were. Each time I scoped out someone new I checked to see if they had a CIB on their uniform. Especially the non-coms. 'Course I didn't wear one myself unless in dress khakis. Kinda funny how the brain works and how arrogant someone like me can be. A person could get his ass in a wringer with an attitude like I carried on my shoulder.
     Right off the bat both Bobby and I put in for the full thirty day leave. He got his. I got twenty-seven. That was a minor problem. When the orders came down I quickly called Lois so she could set a date for the wedding. What I didn't tell her was the leave was a tad shorter than expected. No problem. We settled on October 4th. That put it on day twenty-four of my leave. Didn't leave much time for a honeymoon. The plan was to not worry about the time till it was gone.