Chapter 3

The old base clubhouse was way far back in the thick pine woods. It perched on pilings driven into the

dark, slow tributary of the river. The structure had occurred a slight tilt over the years. The walls

and ceiling of the long main room was draped and festooned with unit pennants dating back to WW II.

There was always several endless poker games going on at the tables.

The beer was cold and 50 cents a can. Tap beer was a quarter.

The place was always raucous well into the night when the troops where in town.

I sat with Millie outside at a picnic table in a darkly shadowed area under a large over-hanging oak on

the river bank. The jukebox had been cranked up and “Honky Tonk Women” echoed into the night

across the river and against the woods.

I had cut a pair of Millie’s jeans off to make some daringly brief shorts. The bottom swell of her

ass could be seen whenever she stood up. She was very conscientious of trying to tug down the inseam

to be decent. I had to slap her hand and tell her I wanted to see her ass.

I hadn’t let her wear a bra. Her breasts formed nicely against the thin white t-shirt I had

given her.

Each time I had sent her on a bar run there had been whistles and yelled good -spirited

complements. The boys at the bar behaved themselves usually. I could tell the attention thrilled her.

She sat next to me on at the picnic table. I had my hand between her legs and slowly stroked her heat.

“Please” she quietly pleaded. “You’re making me crazy”

“This excites you Millie. Don’t bullshit me”

She pressed against me.

I continued. “They have some decent running shoes at the exchange. Tomorrow I want you to run with

me.”

“Okay” she replied.

I noticed a figure on the porch of the club peering into the darkness. It was our lieutenant. She must

have seen Millie on the last beer run. She came down the steps in our direction.

“Here we go” I said.

Lieutenant Madison Brown was a nurse from the US Virgin Islands. After Vietnam the Air Force had

been critically short of nurses and had started a emergency acquisition program to fill the ranks. The

program had recruited registered nurses from typically untapped geographic locations using the offer of

a commission and fat sign-up bonus.

The problem was staffing. She might have been a competent nurse but she was a terrible officer.

Our reserve outfit only had need of a nurse’s skills if there was actual patients in hospital beds. So

command had assigned the influx of newly commissioned lieutenants to various departmental

command slots, regardless of their experience.

My first encounter with her had the last summer when our unit had been activated during a flood

emergency. For a week a group of us loaded and unloaded cases of fresh water onto trucks. It was

unorganized, emergency hard work. Several of us had been taking a smoke break out of the rain, in the

back of a covered deuce and half truck. She had appeared between the rear flaps yelling about “Enlisted

can’t take breaks while I am still working!” We had hustled back to work. I always did my best after

that to avoid her...

She had gained a unit reputation. At the last unit Christmas party I had seen one of the pilots swoop her

up in his arms and twirl her around off her feet. She had been laughing and kissing him. Another time I