COMMUNITY STORYTELLING: U.S. ARMY 1974-1976

The definition of community for Community Storytelling from Oregon Humanities:

 

When we say “community,” we mean any group of people who share a common experience thanks to where they live, the language they speak, their race, their religion, their age, or some other attribute.

When we say “storytelling,” we mean nonfiction stories conveyed through writing, photos, audio, video, comics, or any other medium.

 

Some Other Attribute: Army veterans from the mid-70’s.

 

Army recruiters in the mid-70’s didn’t have a war, even though Vietnam wasn’t officially over April 30, 1975.

What they had instead was promoting what amounted to a career path, a chance to gain more experience in any field than any of your peers will ever have.

Without a war, without a draft feeding conscripts into the meat-grinding gore all war boils down to, joining the New Army in 1974 would be a vacation.

Fort Ord is on the Monterey Peninsula surrounded by beaches.

Fort Sam Houston is in San Antonio, Texas. It had a World’s Fair, a HemisFair. Beautiful place. River Walk.

You ever fly in a jet airliner? Now you will.

So I did.

 

Falling In

Like every service guy is taught at the beginning, the Army owned my ass.

It sounded just as weird back then.

“My Army owns your ass. Do you understand what that means?”

What’s my ass got to do with anything?

I understood the message, but ‘owns my ass?”

I didn’t ask any follow up questions, didn’t want to know what they meant, and understood what I understood at the time, which was don’t ask questions about some jackass talk about any ass.

That was a good choice then and good advice today.

Here’s why:

My regular readers (hi all) have heard my take on culture, which I copied and paraphrased from someone or somewhere:

 

Culture: I know that you know what I know.

 

My cultural understanding, or misunderstanding, among my peers began when a group of recruits from Alabama went out on their first leave, first time off base, which meant Monterey, all talking about going out for a ‘shot of c@ck.’

Me:

I didn’t know what they knew and didn’t want to know if I had to ask.

It sounded off then and it still sounds off. It’s a phrase that never entered my vocabulary.

First establish a cultural understanding, then do what you need to do, then say what you need to say.

Build a strong foundation before adding all of the extras and things will work out better.

Community storytelling requires a strong foundation, shared cultural aspects, along with the characters and settings for adventure and learning.

 

Foundation Building For Community Storytelling

The status of being a Vietnam Era Veteran comes with a responsibility to others who also climbed the ranks from E-1 to E-3, to the young E-3’s working toward E-4.

 

• SPC (E-4)– Automatic Promotion at 24 months Time-In-Service, 6 months Time-In-Grade – – Minimum 18 months Time-In-Service, 3 months Time-In-Grade with waiver.

 

Look at your leadership, your chain of command, and ask yourself the culture question:

Do you know they know what you know?

Then ask, ‘Do you care?’ ‘Do they care?’

The career move is keep your nose clean and hit the automatic promotions.

Doing the extras for the waivers could be misinterpreted in future promotions when leadership changes from authority to a song and dance show.

Some kid today will do a community storytelling about the time they heard the top guy trash decorated soldiers.

 

“Out with the Chiarelli, the McKenzies and the Milleys and in with the Stockdales the Schwartzkopfs and the Pattons,” Hegseth said, denigrating former Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli, ex-U.S. Central Command commander and Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie Jr, and ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Army General Mark Milley, each of whom has been critical of Trump or his administration.

 

 

History is odd in the moment, unusual in the first telling, and funnier the further down the line it’s told for what is added and what’s left out.

The recent group of soldiers, sailors, and airmen pulled in from around the world to attend a revival-style meeting with a former Fox News shill was the wrong audience for a television event with all of  the dramatic camera moves.

No one in the theater spoke in tongues, no one fell over in rapture, no one cheered or moved for the applause line breaks.

Their communal expression was one I hoped to see from my betters.

No one said it, but I guarantee everyone thought, how stupid it sounded when living generals were mocked and dead generals and admirals were praised. In front of living generals and admirals.

In the world of community storytelling, all of these soldiers with advanced degrees and experience gained from a lifetime of service will work to reshape their cultural identity.

They too will ask, “Does this guy know that we know he doesn’t know shit from the shinola on his head?”

 

PS: Never present a puppet show without the puppet master’s hand up the puppet’s back. Anything less is too confusing.

PSS: Never tell a gathering of grizzled soldiers one of their own is inadequate when they all know better than to speak up at the time. Community storytelling will do the job eventually.