"Forward ... Run"

Whoa … hold everything … time out … stop the presses …

Now Hear This … I want to collect stories of your military experiences … nothing gruesome but send me funny stories or scary stories. With your permission some of these accounts may be shared in some of my columns. Mr. Thomas Taschinger, the Beaumont Enterprise Opinions Page Editor, has authorized me to proceed with this approach. A couple of examples follow:

My brother-in-law, Sid King, of Beaumont used to be a tail gunner in a B-29 Super Fortress bomber. He told me that the main problem with being a tail gunner is that you could not see where you were going … you could only see where you had been. He told me, “If you want a taste of what it’s like riding in the tail gunner position, try walking backwards down a sidewalk. Don’t look around. Just walk backwards.” He did add that he had full confidence in the pilots up front who were flying the craft but that he always felt a slight sensation of wondering what was coming up behind him which actually was in front of him but with his back turned.

And did you know that I marched in an army band while playing the National Anthem? Now everyone is supposed to stand at attention during the playing of the anthem, right? Well here is what happened.

In 1960, I was stationed with the 79th U. S. Army Band with headquarters in the Panama Canal Zone. One day we were assigned to go to Shaler’s Triangle. This was a place in the Canal Zone that bordered Panama City. President Eisenhower had ordered that the Panamanian flag be raised along side the American flag. This raising of the flags would symbolize the titular sovereignty of Panama over the Canal Zone. There had been for some time considerable unrest generated by communist activists complaining about the Canal Zone cutting Panama in half. The Zone reached from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans and extended five miles on either side of the canal. The United States had leased the zone for 99 years. And the lease was perpetual, meaning that it could renew automatically at the end of that time.

This ceremony was part of a project called “Operation Friendship.” I’ll share more about that project at a future time. Anyway, There were thousands of spectators gathered around to witness the, “raising of the flags.”

The band was standing in front of the speakers’ podium. I played trombone and stood in the front row of the band. This gave me a good vantage point to see what was going on.

After several speeches, the Panamanian flag was raised. Our band played the Panamanian National Anthem. Following that, the American flag was raised on a pole next to the Panamanian flag. We began playing the U. S. National Anthem.
While we were playing, a broadcaster stood in front of the band holding up a microphone so that the radio audience could hear the music.

Suddenly, a man rushed from the crowd and stabbed the radio announcer with a knife. The announcer slumped to the ground while the police tackled the perpetrator. Our band director immediately gave us a forward march. While still playing the National Anthem, we marched to our bus which was parked down the street about one block. Everyone else in the crowd stood at attention as the band marched away.

I suspect this is the only time in history that a military band has ever marched while playing the National Anthem. But it was the ideal time to do so.

So send me some accounts of your military experiences. It should make for interesting reading.

Winston Hamby
The Beaumont Enterprise
WinHamby@gmail.com