Dead Men Tell No Tales

I may have shared this story before, but if so, bear with me. This event happened after I finished Boot Camp in the Great Lakes Naval Training Facility and after Corps School Training. My first assignment was to the hospital of the Naval Training Center in Orlando, Florida. My aunt Helen and Uncle Jake Stahl lived close by which made it convenient to visit them. I enjoyed the time I spent with them and my cousins and their families.

The corpsmen were housed together in several buildings on the training center’s property. My roommate’s name was Eric. A thin guy with wire rim glasses from Indianapolis, Indiana. He had a habit of letting chores build until he could wait no longer, then he would choose a weekend, and fueled by amphetamines, he would be in constant motion, which earned him the nickname of Buzz.

He owned a tan Volkswagen beetle and because he had wheels he was the main source of transportation for several of us when we left base. His friends liked marijuana, but their preference was hashish. I didn’t do drugs or even use alcohol. I was too much of a country bumpkin to try. Being a naïve bumpkin kept me out of a lot of trouble, but one time it almost cost me my life. What made it worse was my roommate and my “friends” were the ones who plotted to kill me.

The O.N.I. (Orlando Naval Intelligence) were investigating a report that several corpsmen were using drugs. Buzz and each of the “friends” were called in individually and questioned about their involvement. While being questioned, the investigator had a list of the names of suspects on the desk in front of him and one of the “friends” could read upside down. Each of the group members were listed but mine. My name was glaringly absent.

In their paranoia and fear, they initially reasoned that I was the informant and made plans to kill me, but I wasn’t in the barracks. I was visiting with my kinfolk that weekend. Coming back to the base, I was unaware of my assassination plot, but having the time to calm down and think more rationally, they decided that my name shouldn’t be on the list, because I’d never done drugs. I’d just chummed around with them. I was unaware of the plot until one evening Eric shared the entire scenario with me. But because of the grace of God, I am still alive today and able to share this story.