WEBVTT 00:00:04.969 --> 00:00:08.810 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.810 --> 00:00:26.109 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:26.109 --> 00:00:34.469 now, your host for today's program... Is what? 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:36.719 It's Dale Throneberry. Is he going to be your 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.439 host today? I'm not sure where our announcer 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.240 meant. He must have stepped out of the room for 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.439 a moment. Anyway, you're listening to Veterans 00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:44.700 Radio and we want to welcome all of you to our 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:46.679 program today. We're very excited to have you 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:49.539 here in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor where it 00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:52.020 is snowing. That's right, it's April 10th and 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:53.920 it's snowing, but what else is going on in the 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.859 world? It's kind of a strange place out there. 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:58.289 And we've got a couple of really great guests. 00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:01.149 The theme of our program today is humor in uniform, 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:03.229 and we want to have a good time. So we've got 00:01:03.229 --> 00:01:05.930 a couple of great guests. We've got Bob Woolsey, 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:08.209 and Bob wrote a book entitled The General's Briefer, 00:01:09.609 --> 00:01:13.790 and just reading the book is a very funny book, 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:15.829 and he talks about his experiences working in 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:18.609 Army intelligence. I know, ba -bum -bum, yes. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:21.239 We will be talking about that in a little bit 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:23.579 after we take our first break. And during the 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:27.340 second half of the program, we've got Mark Benevito, 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:30.579 and Mark is going to be talking about his experiences 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:34.519 at the Virginia Military Institute. And we'll 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:36.840 talk more about that with Mark in the second 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.609 half of the program. I want you to give us a 00:01:40.609 --> 00:01:42.769 call today. If you have a story about the service 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:45.609 that you can relate to with our guests, please 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:47.489 feel free to give us a call here on Veterans 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:52.010 Radio. The number locally is 734 -822 -1600. 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:56.250 That's 734 -822 -1600. You can listen to Veterans 00:01:56.250 --> 00:01:59.370 Radio on the WAM website. You can listen to it 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:02.170 on the veteransradio .net website. You can listen 00:02:02.170 --> 00:02:05.310 to our podcasts at our website. You can also 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:09.009 follow us on Facebook. Veterans Radio at Facebook. 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:10.969 We're on Twitter. What else are we on, Nina? 00:02:11.090 --> 00:02:12.770 I can't remember all the other different social 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:15.330 media things that are out there, but you can 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:16.969 always follow us and we're always interested 00:02:16.969 --> 00:02:19.030 in hearing from you. We'd love to get our story 00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:21.030 ideas from you because those are the best kind. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.659 We love telling the stories of America's veterans 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:26.240 and military and we can get them from you. They're 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.099 even better than if we dig them out ourselves. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:30.599 So again, you can send me an email at dale at 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.199 veteransradio .net or you can send Bob an email 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.900 at bob at veteransradio .net. I do have to let 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:39.020 everybody know that Bob came through his surgery 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:41.539 successfully as far as we know. I talked with 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:43.319 him earlier in the week and he was feeling pretty 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.219 good. So we're hopeful that Bob can get back 00:02:46.219 --> 00:02:48.840 on the program in the next couple of weeks and 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:52.039 bring his perspective of the world. to us all. 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.840 I think it'll be exciting. A couple of announcements 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.639 for you. Number one locally here is the Iraq 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:01.259 and Afghanistan Veterans of America are having 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:05.240 a fundraiser on April 16th, 2016. It says they 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.680 are having a live trivia game, prizes and foods 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:11.740 at the Plymouth VFW. That's in Plymouth, Michigan, 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:15.090 Southeast Michigan, supporting the IAVA. And 00:03:15.090 --> 00:03:16.590 they've got a number of businesses that are going 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:19.310 to help them out. They've got My Trivia Live, 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:22.469 Valentin Vodka, Snap Fitness Center, Bonefish 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:25.509 Gill, Grill and Novi, Tony Sacco's Cold Oven 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:30.050 Pizza, Tattoo Parlor, My Little Needle Tattoo, 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:33.030 Plymouth Cyclone Speed, U .S. Hockey, and Michigan 00:03:33.030 --> 00:03:35.729 International Speedway. Anyway, their goal is 00:03:35.729 --> 00:03:39.590 to raise $10 ,000. to contribute to the Iraq, 00:03:39.650 --> 00:03:42.069 Afghanistan Veterans of America in order to support 00:03:42.069 --> 00:03:44.949 their online environment called Vets Together. 00:03:45.710 --> 00:03:48.370 And Vets Together, like this event and visibility 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:51.590 of events, to connect all these veterans from 00:03:51.590 --> 00:03:55.550 these last conflict that we have been involved 00:03:55.550 --> 00:04:01.810 in. And so we invite you to go to the IAVA .Shannon 00:04:01.810 --> 00:04:05.750 Adams at outlook .com. That's Shannon Adams. 00:04:05.750 --> 00:04:08.710 She's a community leader. for Iraq and Afghanistan 00:04:08.710 --> 00:04:11.370 Veterans of America locally. And you can give 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:17.470 her a call for more information at 734 -233 -1799. 00:04:18.310 --> 00:04:26.370 734 -233 -1799. This all begins on April 16th. 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:28.129 And it is, again, as I said, it's going to be 00:04:28.129 --> 00:04:30.930 at the Plymouth VFW, which is on Mill Road or 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:33.329 Mill Street in Plymouth, Michigan, starting at 00:04:33.329 --> 00:04:35.490 7 o 'clock and goes until you're finished. So 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:38.930 have a great time and go. Go help out the IAVA. 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:43.149 For the little older generation, we've got a 00:04:43.149 --> 00:04:45.410 Vietnam Era Veterans Commemoration event coming 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:48.230 up at the Ann Arbor VA. And this is going to 00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:51.449 be on May 6th, 2016 from 9 o 'clock in the morning 00:04:51.449 --> 00:04:55.529 till noon. And this is at 2215 Fuller Road, Ann 00:04:55.529 --> 00:04:58.589 Arbor, Michigan, Vietnam Veterans Commemoration 00:04:58.589 --> 00:05:03.430 event, May 6th. 2016, our guest speaker is going 00:05:03.430 --> 00:05:05.209 to be Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kettles, who 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:07.230 is hopefully going to be receiving his Medal 00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:10.110 of Honor at any moment. And we will be meeting 00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:14.129 in the auditorium, B14. And music is going to 00:05:14.129 --> 00:05:16.829 be presented by Kelly Trudell. There's going 00:05:16.829 --> 00:05:19.009 to be, for all you Vietnam veterans, there is 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:21.209 a Vietnam War commemorative pin presentation 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:23.189 to all of us. There's going to be the colors. 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:25.569 There's going to be a military memorabilia exhibit, 00:05:26.189 --> 00:05:28.839 all kinds of things. Buddy to Buddy Veterans 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:30.839 Program, the National Security Administration 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:32.759 is going to be there, a different information 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:34.779 booth. So write it on your calendar. This is 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:36.560 why Bob always says to make sure you have a pen 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:42.000 during Veterans Radio for May 6, 2016, 9 o 'clock 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.259 in the morning. See you there, I hope. The last 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.180 event coming up, as we mentioned last week, is 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:50.420 the Anki Air Museum is presenting their 12th 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:54.220 annual American Bistro Night, the 1940s USO Dinner 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:57.199 and Dance. And that is on Saturday, April 30, 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:01.019 2016. Doors open at 5 .30. Dinner is at 6 .30. 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.720 And this is to raise money, obviously, for the 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:06.560 Yankee Air Museum to keep their planes flying, 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:09.439 to keep their static displays going. This place 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.220 is amazing. You've got to get out there and see 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:14.980 it. The Yankee Air Force is a great organization, 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:16.860 and we're very happy to always publicize what 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:19.060 they've got. For more information, you can go 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:22.779 to yankeeairmuseum .org. YankeeAirMuseum .org 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:26.720 and you can go dancing 1940 style on Saturday, 00:06:26.779 --> 00:06:29.879 April 30th at the Yankee Air Museum. And the 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:32.019 last thing is just a little free advertising 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:34.079 for General Motors. I picked this out of the 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:36.339 Detroit Free Press this morning and I don't know 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:38.060 how many of you are aware but they have a veterans 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:42.620 buying program at General Motors and it was initially 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.839 for only the, I don't want to say only, but for 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:48.319 the veterans that have been discharged in the 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.759 last year or so. Well, they have opened this 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.339 program to all veterans. Every one of you, all 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:58.339 22 million of us out there, it is now open to 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:01.399 you until the end of May. And so all you've got 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:05.740 to do is contact your GM dealer and ask them 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:08.220 about their veterans buying program, and they'll 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:09.819 be more than happy to help you out. It says, 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:12.920 GM Widen's Military Veteran Discount. So you 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:14.639 get a special deal on some of the cards that 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.720 are available. When I was looking it up today, 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.519 they have, you know, 2015, 16, and 17 models. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:24.439 It's not for all the GM products, but it includes 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.660 Chevrolet, Malibu, GM, Sierras, Buick, Encores. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.319 For details, it says visit gmmilitarydiscount 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:36.800 .com. Okay, so we are going to take our first 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.439 break, and then we'll be right back with my first 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.920 guest, Bob Woolsey, and you're listening to Veterans 00:07:41.920 --> 00:08:03.899 Radio. And we're back on Veterans Radio, and 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:05.939 I have the privilege of talking to another Jersey 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.779 boy today as one being from New Jersey, so we'll 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:11.899 be able to talk a little bit about that as well. 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.220 But my guest is Bob Woolsey, and I've got a great 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:18.120 background here. Let's see. He graduated from 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.319 St. Peter's College in Jersey City. He majored 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.899 in German classical literature. He was awarded 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:25.759 a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany, 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:29.420 and while abroad, he traveled extensively. throughout 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:31.600 Europe. He's fluent in Italian and German and 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.059 Jerseyese. After returning to the US, he studied 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:36.919 law at the University of Virginia Law School, 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:40.480 got his JD in 1967, and then I think he made 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:43.299 a misstep somewhere along the line, and he entered 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:45.460 the United States Army Intelligence Corps as 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.639 a first lieutenant in 1968, serving for two years 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.779 as a briefing officer to the general staff at 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:54.600 the Pentagon. So Bob, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.620 Hello. How are you doing today? Very good, thanks. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.480 How are things in Jersey? It's not snowing. It's 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.179 over cold. It's about 60 degrees, I guess. But 00:09:07.179 --> 00:09:09.600 as long as it doesn't snow, we can get the way, 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.919 Paul. I think we'll be all right. I think so. 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.480 I totally agree. Being from Jersey myself, I 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.659 can relate to the whole thing about that fine 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:22.100 state. Good. Nice to hear that. Well, I do. People 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:24.460 don't understand that New Jersey is a beautiful 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:26.600 state. You can go skiing. You can go to the shore. 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:28.740 You can do anything you want, pretty much, in 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:32.100 New Jersey. Sure. It's a great place. So tell 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:34.379 me about this experience that you had after you 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:36.399 went to college. Did you go through college on 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.720 a ROTC program? Yes, I did. I went and they sort 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.899 of guaranteed me a post in Germany. This was 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:46.220 in the early 60s. So you could just sort of pick 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:48.519 out where you wanted to go. And in the early 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:51.299 60s, even though there was a draft, I said, sure, 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:54.139 you can go to Germany. And then the Vietnam came 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:59.659 along, and between college and the grant to Europe, 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.460 I went to law school at the beginning of 1964. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:06.059 I didn't like law school very much, but it piqued 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:08.740 Vietnam. It kept promising us that the war was 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:10.860 going to be over. Yeah, that's what they told 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.679 me, too. I applied. I asked for Germany, but 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.639 I didn't get it. Oh, well. Yeah. All right. So 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:21.440 once you're back, And you have to end up going, 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:23.600 where did you do basic training? Was it basic 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:27.500 training or off the training? Yes. I don't know 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:29.480 what the difference is, but it was basic training. 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:32.940 We had to run through, do the mile and run about 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:36.480 obstacle course and the map location and things 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:40.899 like that. And I was very poor at that. And I 00:10:40.899 --> 00:10:44.080 couldn't run. And fortunately, the job that I 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.620 got was at the Pentagon. You didn't need to run. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:49.200 All you had to do was talk. So I was the world's 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.559 worst. If your definition of a soldier is a guy 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.879 who fights a rifle and is able to find supplies, 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:59.139 it wasn't me. But I got, they had an odd way 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:02.539 of selecting people to go to Washington. And 00:11:02.539 --> 00:11:04.539 I asked the colonel who was in charge of our 00:11:04.539 --> 00:11:06.559 unit at Pentagon, why he picked me. He said, 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.500 well, you were a lawyer and we need somebody 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:12.419 in the overall briefers department at our unit. 00:11:13.700 --> 00:11:17.759 And so this will pick you. And so I spent two 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:22.580 years, very good years, between July 68 and March 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:28.600 70. Well, your experiences, you also had some 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.919 interesting experiences down in Georgia at Fort 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:37.019 Benning. Oh, yes, yes. Several chapters about 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:41.740 my experiences at Fort Benning. and with the 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:45.179 map, getting lost with the maps and attacking 00:11:45.179 --> 00:11:49.340 at home. But I made it through. All you had to 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:53.139 do was just make it through. And I was an intelligence 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:55.779 officer. I wasn't an infantryman. But everybody, 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.580 they didn't want people that were out of shape. 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.820 I could understand that. So they gave us basic 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:04.539 training for 10 weeks, then they sent us to intelligence 00:12:04.539 --> 00:12:10.039 school, which was really easy. What would intelligence 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:16.500 school include? Well, it was how to interrogate 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:21.340 a prisoner. Everything then was Vietnam, and 00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:28.720 it was how to find out certain things. I wasn't 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.820 cleared for the highest kind of intelligence 00:12:30.820 --> 00:12:33.100 that I was going to be briefing at the Pentagon, 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:36.100 but it gave me basic intelligence. I can't even 00:12:36.100 --> 00:12:41.090 recall what it was. interrogating people who 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:44.509 were prisoners of war, things that I really never 00:12:44.509 --> 00:12:48.429 had to use when I was briefing. And I did six 00:12:48.429 --> 00:12:50.950 weeks of it. I bet it was just sort of to get 00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.389 your feet wet in the intelligence business. And 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:55.370 then I got word that I was going to the Pentagon. 00:12:55.990 --> 00:12:58.929 I said, this is great. I'm only 250 miles from 00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:01.450 home, and it's not Germany, but it's pretty nice. 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:05.629 It wasn't too shabby. So what would describe 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.070 your first couple of days at the Pentagon? Yeah, 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:11.990 well, fortunately, I was there a couple weeks 00:13:11.990 --> 00:13:14.769 before the big head of intelligence, General 00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:18.529 McChristian, arrived. He came up with Westmoreland. 00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:21.149 He was the head of intelligence. In the beginning, 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:24.690 I would get in at 3 .30 in the morning, and my 00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:27.669 boss and I would compile an oral briefing. And 00:13:27.669 --> 00:13:31.450 this was 10 or 12 minutes of people who were 00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:34.029 officers who were sort of falling asleep. And 00:13:34.029 --> 00:13:36.110 we'd keep them awake for a while. But this all 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:38.870 changed when General McChristian got in. He wanted 00:13:38.870 --> 00:13:41.470 to see the briefing. I mean, he actually took 00:13:41.470 --> 00:13:43.490 an interest in it. So he said, well, why are 00:13:43.490 --> 00:13:46.470 you got 20 expert desk officers? And we had desk 00:13:46.470 --> 00:13:50.889 officers from Japan and China and Latin America, 00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:56.309 Vietnam, of course, South Asia. And the general 00:13:56.309 --> 00:13:59.009 was pretty smart. He said, well, why do you have 00:13:59.009 --> 00:14:01.929 these two guys here for producing a briefing 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:05.080 for The morning, I think they were lying at their 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.460 desk offices. So from now on, they read what 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:11.440 the desk office has given them. So that's what 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.779 I did. So from late July or the beginning of 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:18.460 August 1968, I would just read from what we call 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:21.639 the black book. And that was 15 minutes of stuff. 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.399 A lot of it was Vietnam. But you know, in the 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:30.639 Middle East, there were skirmishes between Syrian 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:36.549 and Israeli troops. student unrest in South America, 00:14:38.429 --> 00:14:41.110 and the two biggest events that happened weren't 00:14:41.110 --> 00:14:44.669 in Vietnam when I was in the service. The Chinese 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:48.769 and Soviets had a little war, and the Soviets 00:14:48.769 --> 00:14:51.629 and the Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia. 00:14:53.110 --> 00:14:55.289 How did the Pentagon react to that? I mean, I 00:14:55.289 --> 00:14:57.830 know that in our experience, you're talking to 00:14:57.830 --> 00:15:00.070 people on Veterans Radio, we found that, you 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:01.570 know, the one thing that the military does is 00:15:01.570 --> 00:15:04.269 they plan, they plan, they plan for pretty much 00:15:04.269 --> 00:15:07.990 any possibilities out there. Well, we had plans, 00:15:08.190 --> 00:15:11.870 we had all sorts of intelligence sources, but 00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:16.090 we were surprised by the Czechoslovakian invasion. 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:19.580 And we had a special briefing on it and I went 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:21.480 in to see the Eastern European desk analyst. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:23.620 I said, what happened? He said, we were all caught 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:25.960 with our pants down. We didn't know that the 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:28.980 Russians and the Warsaw Pact were going in and 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:32.259 they shot to Milwaukee. So this briefing is courtesy 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:36.860 of the New York Times. So we had a couple of 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:40.460 facts that was top secret code word that we threw 00:15:40.460 --> 00:15:44.230 in to make it sound like was top secret. But 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:47.129 we just didn't realize the Soviets had been planning 00:15:47.129 --> 00:15:49.830 war games. We knew about these war games, but 00:15:49.830 --> 00:15:51.850 suddenly they turned the war games into a natural 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:55.370 invasion. Into a real war game. Yeah, into a 00:15:55.370 --> 00:15:58.409 real, live war game. And so they invaded Czechoslovakia 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:00.350 along with Poland, Hungary, and East Germany. 00:16:01.490 --> 00:16:03.769 And I got a call around two o 'clock in the morning. 00:16:03.970 --> 00:16:05.389 We said, you know, you've got to come in in a 00:16:05.389 --> 00:16:11.409 few hours to talk about this invasion of Czechoslovakia. 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:15.320 by all the rest of Eastern Europe. Wow. We're 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:17.840 talking with Bob Woolsey here on Veterans Radio, 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:20.080 and his new book is called The General's Briefer, 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.779 and his job was to take all the information from 00:16:23.779 --> 00:16:26.700 all these various expert people in the Pentagon, 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:29.279 and I guess put together a 15 -minute presentation 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.259 every day that you would give to just the head 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.659 of the security? Who did you give this to, everybody? 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:38.919 Well, first of all, the main briefing was that 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:40.820 the insistence to use the status of intelligence 00:16:41.149 --> 00:16:44.250 who was a two -star general called Joseph McChristian. 00:16:44.309 --> 00:16:46.210 He reported directly to General Westmoreland. 00:16:46.629 --> 00:16:48.690 And then we'd give a courtesy briefing to a three 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:50.610 -star general, and I think his name was Stillwell. 00:16:51.129 --> 00:16:54.110 He was the son of the World War II, Stillwell. 00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:57.070 And we'd give him a briefing around 8 o 'clock. 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:00.769 So between, all our work was done between 5 .30 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:05.430 and, say, 8 .30. It was very hectic for about, 00:17:05.609 --> 00:17:07.190 well, particularly putting the book together. 00:17:07.750 --> 00:17:11.589 But after the eight thirty when you come back 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:16.509 from that briefing to the head of operations 00:17:16.509 --> 00:17:20.750 for the army we'd get talked to the colonel a 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.130 little about what happened that morning and that 00:17:23.130 --> 00:17:25.869 was it and so we sort of we had other things 00:17:25.869 --> 00:17:29.190 we had to deliver this black book to different 00:17:29.190 --> 00:17:33.410 generals like in Baltimore and different places 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:40.680 around the DC area And I told one of the chapters 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:44.240 where I had to deliver it to Fort Oliver, which 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.700 is in Mount Baltimore, handcuffed my wrist. Oh, 00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:50.960 one of those? Oh, yeah. Yeah, there was the handcuff. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.359 And the key stayed at ISB, which was our office. 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:58.599 And I had to do everything with that damn briefcase. 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:01.640 I had to eat with it. And that was because I 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:04.079 didn't want to lose it. So I had to go to the 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:09.140 bathroom with it. Yeah, you have some very interesting 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:12.640 stories in the book and it sounds like you had 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.400 a pretty good time. Yeah, I mean some of the 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.339 best people I've met, I mean we were at the Pentagon. 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:22.539 It was like every phrase else, you know, you're 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:25.180 good guys, you've got bad guys. But most of the 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:26.779 guys in our office were pretty good. The head 00:18:26.779 --> 00:18:30.819 of the office was very good. And, you know, we 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.480 had, it was a nine, I'm not going to say nine 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:36.049 to five job, but it was early. But we only worked 00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:37.890 five days a week. We didn't work Saturday or 00:18:37.890 --> 00:18:40.990 Sunday. And we couldn't believe it was the Pentagon. 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:45.450 I lived in a high -rise in Arlington for most 00:18:45.450 --> 00:18:48.410 of the time there. That's not too shabby. No, 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:51.150 and I got paid for all this. That wasn't too 00:18:51.150 --> 00:18:53.609 bad. Now tell me, when were you at the Pentagon? 00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:58.450 I was in the Pentagon from early July 1968 until 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:02.289 March 1970. And you mentioned, the reason I ask 00:19:02.289 --> 00:19:05.660 that question is Many of our listeners are our 00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:10.660 age and they live through that time period. You 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:13.119 give us a perspective of not only what was going 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.380 on with the generals, but what was going on in 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:18.940 the country at the same time. Starting in 1968 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:22.539 was when things really went bad. Yeah, there 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:27.500 was a bad year. We had all sorts of... Martin 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:29.819 Luther King was killed, Bobby Kennedy was killed, 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:35.130 the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia. But then 00:19:35.130 --> 00:19:38.230 we had a good time. Later on, when I was there, 00:19:38.349 --> 00:19:43.509 we put a man on loan. And it wasn't all bad. 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:50.009 But one thing that I liked was General McChristian, 00:19:50.289 --> 00:19:55.309 who was the intelligence chief, liked me. He 00:19:55.309 --> 00:19:59.589 thought that I was a good briefer, and he even 00:19:59.589 --> 00:20:02.950 asked me to brief on the Czechoslovakian. situation. 00:20:03.910 --> 00:20:07.750 So I enjoyed myself. A lot of the book tells 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:10.089 not only of my days at the Pentagon, but the 00:20:10.089 --> 00:20:12.150 Army is very great with vacations. They gave 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:18.769 it a month, a year. So I had vacations and you 00:20:18.769 --> 00:20:22.150 could take planes and they provided free flights, 00:20:22.390 --> 00:20:25.650 the cargo planes to Europe. You could get on 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:30.329 there for nothing. And so it was a fine time. 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:36.690 And as I said, Washington DC was only three hours 00:20:36.690 --> 00:20:41.789 from home. So I had a fine time. Unfortunately, 00:20:42.230 --> 00:20:44.269 a lot of people who were in the Army at that 00:20:44.269 --> 00:20:49.250 time had to go to Vietnam. Right, yeah. We've 00:20:49.250 --> 00:20:51.950 talked to a few of them too. Yeah, yeah. But 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:56.490 what I wanted you to talk about is some of these... 00:20:57.139 --> 00:20:59.359 adventures that you did have. You mentioned that, 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:01.599 you know, you were able to catch flights overseas 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.559 and I thought you were, if I remember reading 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.079 it, you were going to meet somebody over there 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.420 and you didn't quite hook up until the end of 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:10.720 their time period? Yeah, well, there's a chapter 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.900 in the book where I talk about what we explored, 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:16.079 where to go, because I only had flights to Rio 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:18.339 de Janeiro, but there weren't too many of these 00:21:18.339 --> 00:21:20.859 things, but there was always a flight to Frankfurt. 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:23.920 Frankfurt was sort of like the hub. We figured, 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:25.759 okay, we could take a flight to Frankfurt, we'll 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:30.440 get there and we'll take the trains out to Costa 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:34.880 del Sol, a place in Spain. And it'll be nice, 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:38.299 nice and warm weather in May. And we had it all 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:42.740 planned out. Unfortunately, the flights were 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:44.599 restricted in the beginning because there was 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:48.619 hazardous cargo on board. The only thing that 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:51.700 was flammable, you couldn't get on. So we had 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:58.000 a... hang around in Dover, Maryland for three 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:00.680 or four days. Then I went to Europe. I got the 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:05.900 flight, went to Germany. There were four of us 00:22:05.900 --> 00:22:08.539 going over. I got the flight with the guy I liked 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:11.759 the least out of the four of us. So I went to 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:14.400 Frankfurt with him and said, hey, we've got to 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:17.460 split up. We're not getting along. So I left 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:19.019 him, you know, I called up, he was staying in 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:23.220 the hotel. And so then I went to visit an army 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.579 buddy from Fort Benny who had been stationed 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:28.240 in Germany. Then I visited my family in Italy 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.980 and we traveled around a little bit and I came 00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:37.170 home. But the cargo, the flights... but weren't 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:39.390 too bad. I mean, if you could catch a flight 00:22:39.390 --> 00:22:41.109 over there and catch a flight back, you'd have 00:22:41.109 --> 00:22:43.210 a lot of money. Yeah, I am sure that you would. 00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:45.390 After you spent two years in the service, what 00:22:45.390 --> 00:22:47.869 did you do when you got out? Well, after that, 00:22:47.869 --> 00:22:52.609 I went to become a lawyer. I got out in 1970, 00:22:52.809 --> 00:22:55.950 hunted around, and of course military experience 00:22:55.950 --> 00:23:00.430 didn't hold any water with any war firms. But 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:04.950 I finally got different positions in different 00:23:04.950 --> 00:23:07.539 firms. And I became a trust in the states lawyer. 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:10.759 And I was pretty good at it. And I was a trust 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:14.460 in the states lawyer from, I think, downtown 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:17.500 New York on Wall Street for about 30 years, I 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:20.900 guess. Oh, okay. So are you retired now? Do you 00:23:20.900 --> 00:23:22.740 still live in Jersey? Sort of semi -retired, 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:26.299 yeah. Well, I don't go into any of this in the 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:30.740 book, but the exemptions now, I was pretty good 00:23:30.740 --> 00:23:34.299 at getting people state tax savings. Oh, okay. 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:37.640 Attempts because they're so big now for married 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:40.440 couples like 11 million dollars, right? I don't 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:42.799 know anybody has 11 million dollars. I don't 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.359 know too many myself It was a little different 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.619 and then you know, we had exemptions of 1 million 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:49.720 million and a half to there were some people 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.279 where people have had that kind of money but 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:54.319 not too many people have 11 so you don't have 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.460 to have too many people that That needn't estate 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:59.740 plan. First of all, you leave money all to your 00:23:59.740 --> 00:24:02.859 wife Right. Yeah, that's 11 million dollars for 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:06.779 tax free anyway And you've got an exemption of 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:09.279 like five and a half million dollars. There's 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:13.559 no planning anymore. And so I do some work versus 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:18.740 some other attorneys, things like closing and 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:21.880 some estate planning, wills. And you write books. 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:26.880 And I write books, yeah. I'm trying to sell books. 00:24:27.069 --> 00:24:29.269 Well, we're working on that for you. We'll see 00:24:29.269 --> 00:24:30.730 what we can do with that. We've got a couple 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:33.630 of minutes to go. So tell me, actually, why did 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:36.210 you sit down and finally write this adventure 00:24:36.210 --> 00:24:39.309 of your life? We've got two minutes. OK. I wrote 00:24:39.309 --> 00:24:41.269 this book a long time ago. It's called No Fighting 00:24:41.269 --> 00:24:44.890 in the War Room. It didn't sell. But I had faith 00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:47.269 in it. I said, I think this is a pretty funny 00:24:47.269 --> 00:24:49.470 book. And I think some of the people would want 00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:56.289 to read. So why go and just... get a book out 00:24:56.289 --> 00:24:58.690 that's not proofread or edited. So what I did 00:24:58.690 --> 00:25:01.109 was I had the thing proofread and edited, made 00:25:01.109 --> 00:25:06.130 it hardcover, and decided to put it on the market. 00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:09.289 And I gave it to people, and people liked reading 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:16.750 it. And Vietnam, it was long ago, but not all 00:25:16.750 --> 00:25:19.490 that far. And we have things in common, you know, 00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:22.410 like there was a riot at the Chicago Convention. 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:24.890 Who knows? It could be right at the Republican 00:25:24.890 --> 00:25:26.690 convention this year. There might be. Things 00:25:26.690 --> 00:25:28.630 have a tendency to repeat themselves as we're 00:25:28.630 --> 00:25:30.730 finding out. They do, yeah. We had an unpopular 00:25:30.730 --> 00:25:33.529 war in South Vietnam. Now we have an unpopular 00:25:33.529 --> 00:25:37.089 war in the Middle East. We don't want to be in 00:25:37.089 --> 00:25:40.869 Iraq, I don't think. We're there, and we're in 00:25:40.869 --> 00:25:45.589 Afghanistan. But I don't know. It does tend to 00:25:45.589 --> 00:25:50.490 repeat itself. I wrote the book as a funny book. 00:25:50.670 --> 00:25:52.710 It is a funny book, and I have to kind of end 00:25:52.710 --> 00:25:54.569 our interview quickly because I'm getting jumped 00:25:54.569 --> 00:25:57.069 on from across the room. The name of the book 00:25:57.069 --> 00:25:58.950 is The General's Briefer by Bob Woolsey. You 00:25:58.950 --> 00:26:00.970 can find it on Amazon. You can find it on our 00:26:00.970 --> 00:26:03.549 website. Please check it out. I found it to be 00:26:03.549 --> 00:26:05.549 a very humorous book. Bob, thank you very much 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:08.130 for being on our program, and let us know if 00:26:08.130 --> 00:26:09.950 we can help you out in the future. Thank you 00:26:09.950 --> 00:26:13.220 so much. All right. All right, we will be back 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:15.240 in just a moment with our second half of our 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:17.759 program, and our guest is going to be Mark Benavito 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:20.500 Benvenuto, excuse me. And we're going to be taking 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:23.180 a look at the Virginia Military Institute. We'll 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:43.170 be right back. And we're back on Veterans Radio. 00:26:43.390 --> 00:26:44.950 We're playing a little Army theme, although it 00:26:44.950 --> 00:26:46.769 probably would not necessarily be appropriate. 00:26:46.890 --> 00:26:49.549 I couldn't find a VMI fight song that I could 00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:53.170 download quickly enough. But joining me now on 00:26:53.170 --> 00:26:57.069 Veterans Radio is Mark Benvenuto. I'll get it 00:26:57.069 --> 00:26:59.890 right one of these days, Mark. He's the author 00:26:59.890 --> 00:27:03.049 of a funny little book titled Twisted Tales from 00:27:03.049 --> 00:27:05.589 VMI, Real -Life Stories from the Virginia Military 00:27:05.589 --> 00:27:09.230 Institute. And a couple of comments here by his 00:27:09.230 --> 00:27:11.819 buddies. It looks like it says one said, I laughed 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:17.099 till I stopped. Me too. A roommate was in serious 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:20.059 need of some psychiatric help. That was from 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:21.880 one of his roommates. The funniest thing I've 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:24.480 read since the last funny thing I read. The one 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.960 I liked was, I am now convinced that my brother 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.079 Rat was dropped on his head as a youngster many, 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:32.240 many times. Then there's a little clip at the 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.430 bottom of the. back cover the book that it says 00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:38.250 Mark was a member of the Virginia Military Institute 00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:42.789 class of 1983 and thinks he's as sane as a bucket 00:27:42.789 --> 00:27:45.329 of dirt and checked with his mom who claims that 00:27:45.329 --> 00:27:47.009 when he was little she only dropped him on his 00:27:47.009 --> 00:27:49.890 head only once or twice. So joining me on Veterans 00:27:49.890 --> 00:27:54.390 Radio is author of Twisted Tales from VMI, Mark 00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:57.670 Benvenuto. Mark, welcome to Veterans Radio. Well, 00:27:57.670 --> 00:28:00.009 good evening. Thanks a bunch. Love that intro. 00:28:01.049 --> 00:28:04.170 I had to practice. One of the problems I always 00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:07.269 have with people's names is I like to add letters 00:28:07.269 --> 00:28:10.049 and it's not right to do that. I don't worry 00:28:10.049 --> 00:28:11.950 about it. It's very Italian and it means welcome. 00:28:12.329 --> 00:28:13.730 Benvenuto. That's all you get out of it. There 00:28:13.730 --> 00:28:16.210 I got it now. I got it now. So Mark, tell me 00:28:16.210 --> 00:28:19.869 about that. I have to tell you that when I sent 00:28:19.869 --> 00:28:22.130 out the flyer, I had put something in there that 00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:24.890 VMI was the West Point of the South and I immediately 00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:27.650 got bombarded with emails from people I didn't 00:28:27.650 --> 00:28:29.529 even know listened to our program from a place 00:28:29.529 --> 00:28:33.420 called the Citadel. Oh no. That's you hasn't 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:35.160 ended, has it? They're the Citadel of the South, 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:37.259 they'll tell you, right? That's very on the West 00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:39.180 Point of the South. And I said, oh brother, I 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:40.640 guess I'm going to have to give them a program 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:44.660 as well. But anyway, so we got a response. I 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.619 thought that was fun. It's good to know folks 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:48.759 are listening, eh? It is. Because sometimes you 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.759 feel like you're talking to yourself. But anyway, 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:56.740 Mark is actually in our area here in southeast 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:58.700 Michigan. What do you do in your civilian life? 00:28:59.389 --> 00:29:01.529 My copious free time when I'm not writing books 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:04.150 about how crazy it was in the military. I'm a 00:29:04.150 --> 00:29:05.990 chemistry professor at the University of Detroit 00:29:05.990 --> 00:29:11.710 Mercy. Ooh, smart guy. Oh, come on now. One of 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:14.349 those intimidators, right? Stop it. Somebody 00:29:14.349 --> 00:29:17.589 has to do the job, right? I know, I know. All 00:29:17.589 --> 00:29:19.829 right, so how did you get there? How did you 00:29:19.829 --> 00:29:23.230 end up at VMI? Okay, I think like... That's a 00:29:23.230 --> 00:29:25.329 good part. You know, it's a veterans radio. We 00:29:25.329 --> 00:29:27.109 all got to admit it I think when we were 10 years 00:29:27.109 --> 00:29:28.890 old everybody wanted to be in the army or the 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:30.650 Navy or Marines or something like that You know, 00:29:30.650 --> 00:29:32.349 my dad was in the Air Force. I want to join the 00:29:32.349 --> 00:29:35.009 Air Force Most of us grow out of that. I guess 00:29:35.009 --> 00:29:41.269 I just never grew out of that In the 80s no Exactly. 00:29:42.170 --> 00:29:44.190 So well, why did you choose the MI? How come 00:29:44.190 --> 00:29:46.630 not not, you know, the other academies or schools? 00:29:47.089 --> 00:29:49.049 Oh, it was let's let's give a shout out to the 00:29:49.049 --> 00:29:51.049 people who said hey the Citadel is the West Point 00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:52.769 of the South Well, I wanted to go into the service. 00:29:52.769 --> 00:29:55.359 So I When it was time to apply for college, I 00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:57.839 applied to West Point, VMI, and the Citadel. 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:01.980 That was it. And I think the Citadel and VMI 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:04.079 accepted me with this accent. I come from up 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:05.900 here. Actually, I come from upstate New York. 00:30:06.339 --> 00:30:09.019 And when VMI had said yes, I said, that's far 00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:10.559 enough away from home. The mom won't come to 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:12.299 visit all the time. It won't drop me on my head 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:15.200 anymore. And close enough to home that she can 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.980 come visit when I need money. So that's kind 00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:19.339 of where it ended up. OK. All right. That makes 00:30:19.339 --> 00:30:22.730 sense. The other thing as I was reading your 00:30:22.730 --> 00:30:24.490 book and then I tried to do a little history 00:30:24.490 --> 00:30:27.890 background on VMI is that it's a little more, 00:30:27.910 --> 00:30:31.170 I don't know what the term is I'm trying to think, 00:30:31.289 --> 00:30:34.309 more Spartan I guess, you can say that in Michigan, 00:30:34.690 --> 00:30:37.529 but more Spartan than it was even at West Point. 00:30:38.329 --> 00:30:39.970 You know they take great pride in the misery 00:30:39.970 --> 00:30:42.150 they inflict on their cadets, at least they did 00:30:42.150 --> 00:30:44.109 when I was there. That's kind of where the book 00:30:44.109 --> 00:30:47.119 ended up coming out of. We used to joke about 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.299 this, the guys, well, we still joke about this, 00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:51.559 the guys who get together here in Southeast Michigan, 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:54.680 the chapter of alumni for about once a month 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.480 for lunch. We used to joke that we had more free 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.460 time in the Army than we ever had at VMI. They 00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:01.640 had more time out of uniform and whatnot. And 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:03.299 I always joke, oh, that's why I met and married 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:07.279 my wife because I had so much free time. Careful 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:08.980 what happens with all that free time, right? 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:14.180 Exactly. So when you arrived at VMI in 1979, 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:19.119 Yeah, very good. Fall of 79. Okay. You were called 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.059 Rats. Oh, yes, we were. What's a Rat? Oh, come 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:25.480 on. Anybody at the bottom of a military totem 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:27.640 pole has to have some sort of horrid title, right? 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:30.180 So I guess at the Academies, they're, what is 00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:32.220 it, at West Point, they're plebes. I forget what 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:34.740 they are, what the lowest ranking midshipman 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:38.079 is at Annapolis. But VMI, they called you Rats. 00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:40.220 And so for the rest of eternity, you're apparently, 00:31:40.380 --> 00:31:41.880 everybody went in together, we're all brother 00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:46.740 Rats. Okay, so you were a rat, and how well were 00:31:46.740 --> 00:31:50.799 you received at VMI? Oh, with all the 80 decibel 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.180 pleasures that any guy with a bad haircut can 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:58.279 give to you. As I recall, they took a 3x5 card 00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:01.119 with your name on it, tinned it to your T -shirt, 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:02.660 and then eventually your white shirt, and you 00:32:02.660 --> 00:32:04.119 ran around with that for a week until they got 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:07.420 you decent name tags. What was the name Benvenuto 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:09.319 you just said about having problems? Trust me, 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:11.160 every guy from Virginia couldn't pronounce that. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:14.420 Absolutely every single guy on the cadre couldn't 00:32:14.420 --> 00:32:16.160 pronounce that. I have to relate. I can relate 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:17.859 to that because I was stationed in Alabama and 00:32:17.859 --> 00:32:20.839 I couldn't understand anybody there. Understood. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:27.000 So it's a lot of physical exercise, I'm sure. 00:32:27.099 --> 00:32:31.420 A lot of mental cruelty and calling your parents 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:34.069 various names. Oh, all sorts of things. Anything 00:32:34.069 --> 00:32:35.730 they could do to get a rise out of you. The first 00:32:35.730 --> 00:32:38.990 week that gets called Cadre Week, which in most 00:32:38.990 --> 00:32:41.730 universities and colleges they have this welcome 00:32:41.730 --> 00:32:44.049 week and there's prologues and transitions. No, 00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:46.509 this week was to try and get people out instead 00:32:46.509 --> 00:32:49.369 of try and embrace you into it. So yeah, after 00:32:49.369 --> 00:32:52.589 that... You're still a rat who's still in the 00:32:52.589 --> 00:32:54.190 rat line and all this sort of stuff going on 00:32:54.190 --> 00:32:55.690 You're still at the bottom of the totem pole 00:32:55.690 --> 00:32:57.890 But at least classes were going on and the people 00:32:57.890 --> 00:32:59.710 that from a rat's point of view were the most 00:32:59.710 --> 00:33:01.569 sadistic guys in the universe At least had to 00:33:01.569 --> 00:33:04.150 go to class and so we quickly learned that was 00:33:04.150 --> 00:33:06.309 one of those sorts of things when Someone was 00:33:06.309 --> 00:33:07.930 messing with you and they they would ask you 00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:09.450 these questions and you're only supposed to say 00:33:09.450 --> 00:33:11.809 yes, sir No, sir. No excuse sir when it got long 00:33:11.809 --> 00:33:14.930 you kind of say how are your grades sir? Let 00:33:14.930 --> 00:33:22.859 it hang there That's true. We're talking with 00:33:22.859 --> 00:33:27.900 Mark Benvenito from Twisted Tales from VMI and 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:30.859 we're trying to find out what life was like at 00:33:30.859 --> 00:33:34.680 VMI in the late 70s, early 80s. So did you have 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:37.799 to eat square meals and, you know, strack the 00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:41.619 wall and all that stuff? No, let's see. The exaggerated 00:33:41.619 --> 00:33:43.740 position of attention is what they call it. It 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:45.839 was called straining. I mean, you tucked your 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:47.380 chin into the back of your neck if you could. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:49.759 had your breastbone sticking out and your arms 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:51.640 back and all that. The square meals at the mess 00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.640 hall had turned into, it was called sitting at 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:57.099 attention, where you had to sit with your feet 00:33:57.099 --> 00:33:58.740 together and what not. You could shovel it in 00:33:58.740 --> 00:34:00.740 as fast as you could, but you had to sit there 00:34:00.740 --> 00:34:02.420 on the front couple inches of your chair and 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:04.960 all that. All the usual miseries that make people 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:06.819 sort of think, why on earth did I come here? 00:34:06.900 --> 00:34:09.340 Like I said, they did their utmost to make sure 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:12.800 we were. Welcome as little as possible and then 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:14.639 you'll see who falls out and the rest of us are 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:16.239 supposed to be tougher because we took it, right? 00:34:16.300 --> 00:34:18.500 That's right. Yeah, we're tough. We can stand 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:20.639 this stuff. Exactly. So you could shovel it in. 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:23.320 I only did that as a warrant officer. We just 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:27.440 had four weeks of officer training. And so we 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:29.559 had to eat, you know, try to eat the square meals 00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:32.059 where you know the bring this spoon up and into 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:34.440 your mouth without spilling and if you spilled 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:35.960 you got the merits and when you got the merits 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:37.679 you got push -ups and you know all that other 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:43.119 good stuff. So, I found the book to be very humorous. 00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:46.940 A lot of things I could relate to, not only from 00:34:46.940 --> 00:34:49.119 my own experiences, but also from experiences 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.739 of other veterans that we have talked to on our 00:34:52.739 --> 00:34:56.920 program. So, from being a rat, what was the worst 00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:58.639 thing that you had to go through in that first 00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:01.679 year? What other wonderful traditions did they 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:03.440 force you to go through? You know, I thought 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:04.579 you were going to come up with that question. 00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:07.920 What was the worst of all that misery? The thing 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:10.840 at the end of the rat line, the seniors, the 00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:13.719 first class come up with a date and when this 00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:15.639 mania is supposed to end and you just go back 00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:18.059 into being a regular, you're a class now and 00:35:18.059 --> 00:35:19.800 go to class and you're on the bottom of the totem 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:21.780 pole with all the elements screaming ends, there 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:25.500 was this thing called breakout. I put a chapter 00:35:25.500 --> 00:35:28.179 in there, a chapter, it's 40 short stories, so 00:35:28.179 --> 00:35:30.159 it's a little short story in there, about the 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:33.139 class that didn't have breakout because the superintendent, 00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:35.739 who really is a military officer, said to their 00:35:35.739 --> 00:35:37.639 guys, hey, guess what? You gotta let the rats 00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:39.179 out of the rat line with breakout in the next 00:35:39.179 --> 00:35:41.900 couple days or else. And a lot of miscommunication 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:44.360 there. But when I was there, it was a sort of 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:46.440 ritualized combat. No one was supposed to actually 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:48.519 get killed or broken legs or anything, but you 00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:51.380 had to charge up these three flights of stairs 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:53.360 up to the fourth floor, because the barracks 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:56.320 was like a figure eight open to the sky, and 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:58.300 you basically had to get up there with all these 00:35:58.300 --> 00:36:00.769 guys fighting you trying to keep it down. The 00:36:00.769 --> 00:36:02.389 rules where you weren't supposed to throw any 00:36:02.389 --> 00:36:04.909 body fluids or dead animals, who would enforce 00:36:04.909 --> 00:36:07.150 such rules? The fact that they had to make them 00:36:07.150 --> 00:36:10.329 means people were doing that. That was pretty 00:36:10.329 --> 00:36:12.369 much a long -term memory that, now that you've 00:36:12.369 --> 00:36:13.869 mentioned it, I'll probably dream about again 00:36:13.869 --> 00:36:15.929 tonight. I know. You'll start therapy again tomorrow. 00:36:16.690 --> 00:36:21.869 Exactly. Did you guys live on particular floors? 00:36:21.909 --> 00:36:24.610 Did you move up in the dorm as you went through 00:36:24.610 --> 00:36:27.769 the program? Other way around. You were a fourth 00:36:27.769 --> 00:36:30.070 -classman. You were up there on the fourth floor 00:36:30.070 --> 00:36:33.949 of the barracks. And the fourth, because there's 00:36:33.949 --> 00:36:36.389 attrition all the time, a few guys lived on the 00:36:36.389 --> 00:36:38.170 third. They put them all together. But every 00:36:38.170 --> 00:36:40.630 year you move down one. So your sophomore year, 00:36:40.650 --> 00:36:42.230 which was called your third class year, you were 00:36:42.230 --> 00:36:44.429 down on the third floor. Your second class year, 00:36:44.469 --> 00:36:45.789 which is your junior year, you're down on the 00:36:45.789 --> 00:36:47.349 second floor. And your first class year, your 00:36:47.349 --> 00:36:48.630 senior year, you're finally down at the bottom. 00:36:49.050 --> 00:36:51.829 The rationale for that, why people wanted it 00:36:51.829 --> 00:36:54.030 that way, is it's quicker to get to class if 00:36:54.030 --> 00:36:55.630 you don't have to go down four flights of stairs. 00:36:55.849 --> 00:37:00.280 That's true. or get back to your room for inspection. 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:07.260 Tell me about George Washington, the statue thereof. 00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:09.760 You know, some of our listeners may have seen 00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:12.039 that George Washington. That George Washington 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:15.179 statue at what was called Washington Arch is 00:37:15.179 --> 00:37:17.760 in Lexington, Virginia. I believe there is one 00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:20.079 in Richmond, Virginia. I'm not making this up. 00:37:20.099 --> 00:37:22.719 I've seen the same statue at the side of Trafalgar 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:26.130 Square in London. The reason it's over at the 00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:27.909 side of Trafalgar Square, we apparently gave 00:37:27.909 --> 00:37:29.670 it to the British, another copy of this famous 00:37:29.670 --> 00:37:31.570 statue. Oh, yes, and there's a smaller version 00:37:31.570 --> 00:37:34.769 at Mount Vernon. We gave the one to the British, 00:37:34.889 --> 00:37:36.829 and they weren't sure in the first war which 00:37:36.829 --> 00:37:39.070 side we were coming out at. We gave it to them, 00:37:39.070 --> 00:37:41.809 I think, in 1915. So they put it in cold storage 00:37:41.809 --> 00:37:44.269 until 1921, then they popped Georgie up on the 00:37:44.269 --> 00:37:46.590 side of Trafalgar Square. Nelson's much higher 00:37:46.590 --> 00:37:47.789 than him, because, you know, he's the British 00:37:47.789 --> 00:37:51.349 hero. But, yeah, one year I was sleeping in a 00:37:51.349 --> 00:37:53.929 room that was over Washington Arch, they called 00:37:53.929 --> 00:37:56.510 it. I heard this bizarre clinkling sound that 00:37:56.510 --> 00:37:58.630 I couldn't peg down. You know, there's times 00:37:58.630 --> 00:38:00.489 you should just let it go, just go to sleep. 00:38:00.590 --> 00:38:02.210 No, not me. I stuck my head out the window. These 00:38:02.210 --> 00:38:04.989 two maniacs are out there TP -ing George. They're 00:38:04.989 --> 00:38:07.070 wrapping him up in that big industrial roll of 00:38:07.070 --> 00:38:09.309 toilet paper. I mean, cane and hands and everything, 00:38:09.630 --> 00:38:11.989 except the head. They put this gigantic pumpkin 00:38:11.989 --> 00:38:15.530 over his head. And I'm completely mystified. 00:38:15.690 --> 00:38:17.349 I think we've just been done with a rat line. 00:38:17.469 --> 00:38:18.829 I'm looking out the window, and finally I just 00:38:18.829 --> 00:38:21.489 yelled down to these two bozos, why are you doing 00:38:21.489 --> 00:38:24.679 this? You shouldn't ask these whys, because there's 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:26.860 always no reason. There's never any good reason. 00:38:27.059 --> 00:38:29.539 One guy looks up and goes, hey man, it's tradition. 00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:32.480 Oh, sure. OK, thanks. Good night. Going back 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:35.239 to bed. Yeah. And George stood there and took 00:38:35.239 --> 00:38:40.619 it off. Poor George. Poor guy. Well, let's remind 00:38:40.619 --> 00:38:43.579 our audience just real quickly that VMI has a 00:38:43.579 --> 00:38:47.739 very excellent reputation for turning out incredible 00:38:47.739 --> 00:38:50.750 military officers. Thank you very much. George 00:38:50.750 --> 00:38:52.610 Patton started there, but he was crazy enough 00:38:52.610 --> 00:38:54.570 to do West Point as well, so he sort of did the 00:38:54.570 --> 00:38:58.349 Rat Line twice. General Marshall, George C. Marshall, 00:38:58.570 --> 00:39:00.550 is the only five -star Army general who did not 00:39:00.550 --> 00:39:03.269 go to West Point, went to VMI. And God knows 00:39:03.269 --> 00:39:04.789 there's plenty of other ones that have gone there. 00:39:06.210 --> 00:39:10.449 You mentioned going to Virginia from Michigan. 00:39:10.869 --> 00:39:15.329 How did that play out? Again, I know when I went 00:39:15.329 --> 00:39:17.210 down south to go to my basic training and stuff, 00:39:17.429 --> 00:39:19.250 being from the north, I was immediately a Yankee. 00:39:19.849 --> 00:39:24.190 Oh, yeah. And the war of secession. Oh, come 00:39:24.190 --> 00:39:26.050 on now. It was the war of northern aggression 00:39:26.050 --> 00:39:29.429 down there, wasn't it? Yeah, that's right. We 00:39:29.429 --> 00:39:32.650 were the aggressors on that one. I'm going to 00:39:32.650 --> 00:39:34.590 get some emails on that one, but that's all right. 00:39:36.570 --> 00:39:38.929 What was your experience like? I mean, I know 00:39:38.929 --> 00:39:42.210 it was funny. And this is like, folks, reading 00:39:42.210 --> 00:39:45.130 this story is like any of us out there who went 00:39:45.130 --> 00:39:48.469 to college at the same time or any time and, 00:39:48.469 --> 00:39:51.190 you know, had to go through some of the traditions 00:39:51.190 --> 00:39:53.750 that Mark is talking about. And some of them 00:39:53.750 --> 00:39:56.550 are just so outrageous. You wonder why people 00:39:56.550 --> 00:39:58.469 even thought of them. And then, you know, as 00:39:58.469 --> 00:40:00.050 you mentioned earlier, they come up with the 00:40:00.050 --> 00:40:04.010 rules against them. Yep. They had to come up 00:40:04.010 --> 00:40:05.650 with a rule to stop them from killing themselves. 00:40:06.010 --> 00:40:08.530 Somebody was doing that, exactly. No, I said 00:40:08.530 --> 00:40:10.210 I came from upstate New York. I don't know if 00:40:10.210 --> 00:40:12.050 you remember this one, but we both may be old 00:40:12.050 --> 00:40:15.489 enough. In the 1970s, late 1970s, New York was 00:40:15.489 --> 00:40:17.170 trying to get more people to come visit. Do you 00:40:17.170 --> 00:40:19.250 remember that advertising jingle about, I love 00:40:19.250 --> 00:40:22.929 New York? Yeah, the heart. Oh my God. You had 00:40:22.929 --> 00:40:25.449 to, when the upperclassmen stopped you and said, 00:40:25.449 --> 00:40:27.909 you know, sound off, you had to say... your name, 00:40:28.190 --> 00:40:29.909 your last name, your initials, and then where 00:40:29.909 --> 00:40:31.909 you're from. And so mine was always Benvenuto 00:40:31.909 --> 00:40:34.150 MA, Henrietta New York. And when they heard New 00:40:34.150 --> 00:40:36.530 York and they heard that Yankee accent, they 00:40:36.530 --> 00:40:39.050 would swarm around, sing it, sing it, sing it, 00:40:39.050 --> 00:40:41.590 rat. Oh God, I'm sitting there singing, I love 00:40:41.590 --> 00:40:43.230 New York. And you know, I didn't join a glee 00:40:43.230 --> 00:40:45.989 club for perhaps rather obviously, you know, 00:40:46.210 --> 00:40:48.889 obvious reason. Yeah, exactly. And so, I don't 00:40:48.889 --> 00:40:50.929 know, and if they didn't like it or I didn't 00:40:50.929 --> 00:40:53.159 sing it well enough, it was off key. It was more 00:40:53.159 --> 00:40:55.360 push -ups. I was pretty strong by the end of 00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:58.380 the rat line. You're a real Weisenheimer and 00:40:58.380 --> 00:41:01.179 you're a Yankee and you can't sing. Yeah, I ended 00:41:01.179 --> 00:41:04.719 up doing a lot of push -ups. I know. Push -ups 00:41:04.719 --> 00:41:06.920 are good for you. Yeah, apparently they built 00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:10.340 character. One of the guys that I on purpose 00:41:10.340 --> 00:41:12.039 put some words in the back of his mouth and put 00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:13.340 them on the back of the book, he said, yeah, 00:41:13.340 --> 00:41:15.519 you're a character, man. You built a lot of character 00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:18.059 that way. Speaking of character, we need to take 00:41:18.059 --> 00:41:19.760 a real quick break, Mark. We'll be right back 00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:22.650 in just a minute. uh... with with mark benvenuto 00:41:22.650 --> 00:41:25.050 and their book is twisted tales from p m i will 00:41:25.050 --> 00:41:32.250 be right back after this on veterans radio and 00:41:32.250 --> 00:41:34.550 we're back on veterans radio and we're talking 00:41:34.550 --> 00:41:40.309 with mark benvenuto uh... v m i and uh... we're 00:41:40.309 --> 00:41:42.710 talking about at the experiences of spending 00:41:42.710 --> 00:41:47.190 four years in that wonderful institution in lexington 00:41:47.190 --> 00:41:49.570 virginia Four years in the same clothes, right? 00:41:49.590 --> 00:41:51.050 Never had to decide what to wear in the morning. 00:41:51.429 --> 00:41:54.769 That is a good deal. I had forgotten that about 00:41:54.769 --> 00:41:57.170 the military. That's true. I never had to decide 00:41:57.170 --> 00:41:59.889 which color I was going to wear. I think that's 00:41:59.889 --> 00:42:01.449 fishing for the silver lining, but at least we 00:42:01.449 --> 00:42:09.349 found one, right? Yeah, right. Yeah. Okay. So 00:42:09.349 --> 00:42:12.530 tell me about some of these other unusual roommates 00:42:12.530 --> 00:42:16.449 that you might have had that somehow survived 00:42:16.449 --> 00:42:19.300 their four years. Oh, there's a good bunch. The 00:42:19.300 --> 00:42:21.219 guy I quoted on the back there about saying I 00:42:21.219 --> 00:42:23.980 was in need of serious psychiatric help. He was 00:42:23.980 --> 00:42:27.280 a, Matt was a son of a military family. I believe 00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:30.059 I got it right in saying his great -grandfather, 00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:32.340 his grandfather, his father I know, and his older 00:42:32.340 --> 00:42:35.539 brother all went to VMI. So, yeah, he was kind 00:42:35.539 --> 00:42:39.260 of expected to go there. Let's see, the other 00:42:39.260 --> 00:42:41.639 two that make it in there with pseudonyms, the 00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:44.090 one who's Brad Dunbar in the book. He actually 00:42:44.090 --> 00:42:45.809 ended up as a colonel in the United States Marine 00:42:45.809 --> 00:42:48.570 Corps. He was a real Marines Marine all the way 00:42:48.570 --> 00:42:50.869 through. He used to win the cadet awards for 00:42:50.869 --> 00:42:53.170 something or other almost every year, and I think 00:42:53.170 --> 00:42:55.070 it was senior year. Now this is long before the 00:42:55.070 --> 00:42:56.969 internet or anything like that. He called his 00:42:56.969 --> 00:42:59.349 dad about something. He came back and he said, 00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:02.150 he was from Texas, he says, my dad ain't gonna 00:43:02.150 --> 00:43:05.349 come. He told me unless I win the Medal of Honor. 00:43:07.170 --> 00:43:09.329 His dad was fine with his son winning a bunch 00:43:09.329 --> 00:43:12.199 of other stuff. The fourth one who goes by was 00:43:12.199 --> 00:43:15.320 a Marcus Greenhoe in the book there. He ended 00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:17.219 up becoming a civil engineer, did several years 00:43:17.219 --> 00:43:21.179 in the army, along with me and Matt, and I think 00:43:21.179 --> 00:43:22.840 he's in Colorado right now. He and I don't keep 00:43:22.840 --> 00:43:25.579 in touch as much as we should, but I guess we 00:43:25.579 --> 00:43:27.579 all came out of it sort of alive, despite some 00:43:27.579 --> 00:43:29.440 of the ridiculous crap we did, including, I think 00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:30.760 you said you read the book, you remember that 00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:32.880 one about the turtle? About bringing a turtle 00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:35.480 in from a biology field trip or whatever? That 00:43:35.480 --> 00:43:37.960 really happened, that wasn't... an embellished, 00:43:37.980 --> 00:43:41.159 made -up story or anything like that. My roommate 00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:43.880 brought that silly turtle in. We were trying 00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:46.039 to keep it in a shoe box to see if the TAC officers 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:47.579 wouldn't find it. I think it ate its way out 00:43:47.579 --> 00:43:49.599 of the shoe box and crapped on my bed and all 00:43:49.599 --> 00:43:54.619 sorts of things. The place wasn't weird enough 00:43:54.619 --> 00:43:56.219 without a turtle in your room that you were trying 00:43:56.219 --> 00:44:00.019 to keep from the TAC staff. Well, those guys 00:44:00.019 --> 00:44:02.639 come in and destroy a room if there's anything 00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:05.500 like my TAC officers were. Yeah, exactly. They'd 00:44:05.500 --> 00:44:07.840 tear it all apart. It's fine a bank turtle out 00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:09.880 there. So they tear it apart. We got rid of them. 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.340 They tear it apart and say this room is a mess. 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.219 Exactly. Some things haven't changed and it doesn't 00:44:16.219 --> 00:44:18.099 matter where you go. I'd be willing to bet every 00:44:18.099 --> 00:44:21.019 single vet listening to this has that fond experience 00:44:21.019 --> 00:44:23.260 of cleaning a room up to a perfect military order 00:44:23.260 --> 00:44:25.679 just to have some inspector tear it back to shreds 00:44:25.679 --> 00:44:27.900 and then tell you it's a mess. It's a mess. We 00:44:27.900 --> 00:44:31.639 had a guy. We had the guy who he threw all our 00:44:31.639 --> 00:44:34.329 mattresses out the window. Yep. Every single 00:44:34.329 --> 00:44:36.230 one, because they weren't made correctly. Or 00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:39.510 the one I always enjoyed, and I learned that 00:44:39.510 --> 00:44:41.989 first rat year that there is no correct answer 00:44:41.989 --> 00:44:44.510 to the question I'm about to pose. They get done, 00:44:44.670 --> 00:44:46.409 they tear at all the shreds, and they say something 00:44:46.409 --> 00:44:48.690 to you about how it looks, and then they say, 00:44:48.969 --> 00:44:51.550 do I look stupid to you? Oh, it's tempting. You 00:44:51.550 --> 00:44:53.730 know, there's no good answer to that. Yes, sir, 00:44:53.809 --> 00:44:57.170 is incorrect. How stupid do you think you look 00:44:57.170 --> 00:44:59.110 sir is also incorrect? There's a whole bunch 00:44:59.110 --> 00:45:01.050 of varieties there and all of them are incorrect 00:45:01.050 --> 00:45:03.289 No, you always have to say it sir in my opinion. 00:45:04.389 --> 00:45:06.269 That's right humble opinion sir Well, you look 00:45:06.269 --> 00:45:08.070 stupider than a lot of people I know that got 00:45:08.070 --> 00:45:09.849 a lot of push -ups, too I mean heck everything 00:45:09.849 --> 00:45:15.739 seemed to end up with push -ups Thank you, Mark. 00:45:15.860 --> 00:45:19.059 This is fun. This is a silly trip down memory 00:45:19.059 --> 00:45:22.239 lane, right? It is, and that's the point. Again, 00:45:22.380 --> 00:45:24.639 this book is Twisted Tales from VMI. It's available 00:45:24.639 --> 00:45:28.380 on Amazon, and where else can they buy it? I 00:45:28.380 --> 00:45:30.239 authored it through Friesen Press, so you can 00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:33.719 go to just one word, Friesen Press, F -R -I -E 00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:36.639 -S -E -N, FriesenPress .com. It's a little cheaper 00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:40.159 there, but you can buy it, as you said, at Amazon 00:45:40.159 --> 00:45:42.300 .com. If anybody's listening from all the way 00:45:42.300 --> 00:45:44.690 from Lexington, Virginia, The fine folks at the 00:45:44.690 --> 00:45:46.809 VMI bookstore, I called them and they say, oh, 00:45:46.829 --> 00:45:48.510 you're Mark Benvenuto. Hey, we've actually got 00:45:48.510 --> 00:45:50.110 your book. So they've already got the book there. 00:45:50.190 --> 00:45:52.210 Oh, great. If you want to pick it up at the bookstore 00:45:52.210 --> 00:45:56.489 there. There you go. Head on down to VMI. Yeah, 00:45:56.489 --> 00:45:58.289 reasonpress or amazon .com will do the trick. 00:45:58.510 --> 00:46:03.650 OK. We've got about, what, four minutes left? 00:46:03.690 --> 00:46:09.710 OK. As you head toward the end of the hour. What 00:46:09.710 --> 00:46:12.010 was it like when you finally got to be the top 00:46:12.010 --> 00:46:15.710 rat? or a lower rat, the head cheese there. Yeah, 00:46:15.789 --> 00:46:18.730 the top dog, the first classman. Strangely anti 00:46:18.730 --> 00:46:21.150 -climactic. I know that when I was the rat, I 00:46:21.150 --> 00:46:22.750 thought to myself, these guys have got to be 00:46:22.750 --> 00:46:24.769 the baddest people ever. Walk the face of the 00:46:24.769 --> 00:46:26.750 earth. The only thing that kept me going sometimes 00:46:26.750 --> 00:46:29.590 when things were bad was the thought of what 00:46:29.590 --> 00:46:31.690 my mother's face would look like if I had to 00:46:31.690 --> 00:46:33.969 go home and say I failed. And then when I was 00:46:33.969 --> 00:46:35.610 up there on the top of the totem pole, I thought 00:46:35.610 --> 00:46:38.429 to myself, I feel strangely like I always have. 00:46:38.489 --> 00:46:40.889 I don't feel supermanish or anything like that. 00:46:41.449 --> 00:46:43.010 I don't know. Maybe it's all a big illusion, 00:46:43.030 --> 00:46:44.929 right? I guess so. You went all the way through 00:46:44.929 --> 00:46:47.269 the whole thing without appearing to attract 00:46:47.269 --> 00:46:50.190 any real attention other than doing push -ups 00:46:50.190 --> 00:46:53.010 until your final year when they made you some 00:46:53.010 --> 00:46:56.570 sort of leader. Yeah, it was first class year, 00:46:56.610 --> 00:46:59.469 senior year. Every class had to actually meet 00:46:59.469 --> 00:47:02.769 up outside a building, call roll, and go into 00:47:02.769 --> 00:47:04.489 the classroom. And that person was called the 00:47:04.489 --> 00:47:06.909 section marcher. And I did everything to skate 00:47:06.909 --> 00:47:09.090 even under that radar. And one of my professors 00:47:09.090 --> 00:47:12.519 forced me to be the section marcher. I had a 00:47:12.519 --> 00:47:14.639 friend in that class come up to me one time and 00:47:14.639 --> 00:47:17.420 said, could you be a worse section marcher? Because 00:47:17.420 --> 00:47:19.420 it'll give us a little more time after the bugle 00:47:19.420 --> 00:47:22.119 blows if we're late. Could you drop your pencil 00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:24.219 and do a bunch of things and scratch yourself 00:47:24.219 --> 00:47:28.360 and whatnot? You look at this guy and think, 00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:31.619 we're paying to be educated here. And you're 00:47:31.619 --> 00:47:34.000 telling me to make it five minutes less of class 00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:36.199 each day. What do you say to something like that? 00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:37.920 I just listened to him and then was going to 00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:41.719 complete stupidity said. Yes, sure. Okay, I can 00:47:41.719 --> 00:47:48.139 do that. Yes, exactly. Well, as we approach the 00:47:48.139 --> 00:47:52.320 end of the hour here today, I strongly recommend 00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:54.719 this book. This is just a really fun read, Mark. 00:47:55.019 --> 00:48:00.219 Thank you. And it does bring back a lot of unusual 00:48:00.219 --> 00:48:04.880 behaviors from people I knew and things I'm not 00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:08.059 going to admit to. Well, and I'll be the first 00:48:08.059 --> 00:48:10.219 to say that when I argued it out with my editor, 00:48:10.760 --> 00:48:13.079 sticking VMI in the title, they said, are you 00:48:13.079 --> 00:48:15.480 sure? And I said, trust me, the alumni are pretty 00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:17.639 rabidly loyal. I said, but if you put this down 00:48:17.639 --> 00:48:19.960 as military humor, I don't care where you went 00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:21.780 to school. I don't care where you went to basic 00:48:21.780 --> 00:48:23.400 training. I said, you're going to read this thing. 00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:24.639 You're going to get a few laughs out of it because 00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:27.380 it's going to be recognizable. Sound like you 00:48:27.380 --> 00:48:29.719 had that and I appreciate it. Well, it was great. 00:48:29.920 --> 00:48:31.920 And we're going to talk to everybody we can about 00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:35.760 this book. And when I get the guys from the Citadel 00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:38.539 on, you can give them a call. You want to have 00:48:38.539 --> 00:48:40.900 me back on and we can have that Citadel VMI feud 00:48:40.900 --> 00:48:43.199 and you can officiate? I'll be fine with that. 00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:44.639 I'd be happy to do that. I think it was fun. 00:48:44.820 --> 00:48:47.559 Marco, it was a pleasure having you on. You're 00:48:47.559 --> 00:48:49.579 a funny guy and a joy to have on the program. 00:48:49.920 --> 00:48:52.000 And thank you very much. And we will be in touch 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:54.519 with you. Thank you very much. Take it easy now. 00:48:54.659 --> 00:48:56.920 I will do that. Have a good night. Thank you. 00:48:57.619 --> 00:49:02.420 All right. Well, I'm strongly suggesting to anybody 00:49:02.420 --> 00:49:04.039 out there who's been in the military, if you 00:49:04.039 --> 00:49:06.400 had any barracks experience, that this is something 00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:10.420 that you should read because it brought a lot 00:49:10.420 --> 00:49:12.739 of chuckles and smiles to my face and reminded 00:49:12.739 --> 00:49:15.659 me of a lot of experiences that I had to go through. 00:49:15.710 --> 00:49:18.190 that we all had to go through. We're going to 00:49:18.190 --> 00:49:20.289 end up our program today on kind of a special 00:49:20.289 --> 00:49:24.289 note. This week, Merle Haggard passed away. And 00:49:24.289 --> 00:49:27.670 Merle has been a strong, strong supporter throughout 00:49:27.670 --> 00:49:30.190 his career. And we have played many songs on 00:49:30.190 --> 00:49:31.989 our program from Merle Haggard. And so we're 00:49:31.989 --> 00:49:35.829 going to go out with one of his today. And so 00:49:35.829 --> 00:49:40.769 I want to say thank you to Merle for all of the 00:49:40.769 --> 00:49:44.900 music that he provided to us. and to all the 00:49:44.900 --> 00:49:46.760 people of the world, of course, and I think it's 00:49:46.760 --> 00:49:50.760 going to be very poignant. It's not one of his 00:49:50.760 --> 00:49:52.980 sad songs. I think it's one that you'll recognize, 00:49:52.980 --> 00:49:55.179 but I think it should be very well done. Next 00:49:55.179 --> 00:49:57.659 week, we're going to have a gentleman. It's called 00:49:57.659 --> 00:50:01.199 Battle Rattle, and it's a story. He's a 94 -year 00:50:01.199 --> 00:50:04.420 -old World War II veteran who is going to be 00:50:04.420 --> 00:50:06.400 talking about his experiences. Battle Rattle 00:50:06.400 --> 00:50:09.440 was a terminology from the World War II for post 00:50:09.440 --> 00:50:12.699 -traumatic stress. So until next week, we're 00:50:12.699 --> 00:50:47.300 going to pause. you are dismissed. living right 00:50:47.300 --> 00:50:55.940 and being free we don't make a party out of loving 00:50:55.940 --> 00:51:02.980 but we like holding hands and pitching moves 00:51:02.980 --> 00:51:12.360 we don't let our hair grow long and shaggy like 00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:47.230 the hippies What's this go to do? Weather boots 00:51:47.230 --> 00:51:54.550 are still in style for manly footwear Beads and 00:51:54.550 --> 00:52:02.070 Roman sandals won't be seen And football's still 00:52:02.070 --> 00:52:08.150 the roughest thing on campus And the kids here 00:52:08.150 --> 00:52:34.050 still respect the college dean Down at the courthouse 00:52:34.050 --> 00:52:39.590 White lightning still the biggest thrill of all 00:52:39.590 --> 00:52:44.670 And white lightning still the biggest thrill 00:52:44.670 --> 00:52:45.329 of all