Bivouac was a fancy word for "camping out".
This was pretty routine during basic training.
But I remember a particular occasion fairly well. We had pitched our tents and everything was
in readiness for the night, when we took our mess gear and walked up to the mess truck some
distance away. Everything was dark, to simulate combat conditions, except for the dim light
coming from the kitchen truck, the light which we could see in the distance.
There was a group of about seven of us talking about nothing much, when the talker in the
middle suddenly disappeared! Everyone else stopped, not knowing what happened. As we looked down,
we could hear rumblings and cracking noises from below us. We discovered that we were standing
on the edge of the garbage pit. Our friend had walked right off the edge and into it! The thing
was a square hole, blacker than the rest of the surroundings.
The rumblings and cracking sounds became recognizable expletives, strung out into coherent
sentences. Our friend was trying to get out, with potato peelings, egg shells and various
vegetable pieces hanging from all available places. He looked like someone trying to climb
out of a gigantic salad bowl, where the dressing had already been poured. I laughed so hard
I could not stand up. I know for myself -- if he could have gotten to me -- he would have
annihilated me, and I could have done nothing to stop him.
I would have literally died laughing.
Art Pranger
(1/18/98)
