Fame

What the hell does a GI know about fame?

How does that figure in with his game

Of ducking the brass and scamming Old Sarge

While narrowly avoiding being hit with a charge

Of 'Failure to Repair' for that extra time

Spent shacked up in town instead of on the line?

He might be famous for drinking more booze

Than anybody ever while on a Med cruise

Or for the fastest time in the Barefoot Dash

When he discovered that ‘lady’ demanding cash

Was a Billy Boy built to the exact same specs

As any male who ever swabbed a deck.

Or, maybe the reason for his great renown

Is the time he won the undisputed crown

As the best trader with the smoothest rap

When he managed to con an unsuspecting chap

Into supplying all the fixings for a squadron spree

For four hundred bucks in recalled MPC.

It’s an elusive thing, this whimsical fame

And your average GI's not looking for acclaim

He’s more concerned with managing his day

In order to keep well out of the way

Of Chiefs and Tops and Gunnies and the rest.

A day free of them is an unqualified success.

~©5/2/2004 Thurman P. Woodfork~