THE HARD-BITTEN COMMANDER of my infantry company in Vietnam was frustrated in his efforts to make a soldier out of one particular PFC. The young man lagged behind on patrols, feigned illness and managed to spend most of his time at headquarters. One day, though, he changed his ways, and we asked the commander why. “Threats and punishment didn’t work,” he admitted, “so I had to use the ultimate weapon. I wrote his mother.”

–Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by Thomas A. Stave

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