The Life Story of a Soldier
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Eating was a privilege reserved for the upper class. We soon discovered how difficult it was going to be to get a meal while sitting at attention on the front six inches of a chair and being yelled at and generally prevented from eating very much. We immediately discovered that we could finish our drinks, fruit juice, milk, and/or coffee. The theory was that dehydration was worse than starvation. Since I had been drinking coffee with Mom for several years, I made sure I got coffee and filled it with sugar and cream. I was to live mostly on coffee with sugar and cream for many days.
Larry Eppley and I gave the Beast Detail, upper classmen in charge of new cadets during summer training called Beast Barracks, a hard time. We did not frown or complain about the tough treatment. Most of the time we had difficulty keeping the grins off of our faces. The command was “Wipe it off, Dumb John!” Dumb John and Dumb Smack were the universal and usual names by which plebes were referred to. Larry and I were just having too good a time to be downtrodden, which was what the Beast Detail was trying to achieve. The theory was that if you could break a man down to the bottom of his being, you could train him up to be anything. It wasn’t working with us, and that drove them nuts.
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About the Book
Author John P. Haumersen has led a different and exciting life. In The Life Story of a Solider, he narrates his story with all of its interesting twists and turns during his eighty-plus years.
From his birth in Racine, Wisconsin, through his schooling at West Point, to his service in the military, his life abroad, and his retirement years, Haumersen tells of a life well lived. The anecdotes cover surviving many near-death experiences from the time he was four years old and lasting through much of his military career, including drowning, narrowly escaping a mortar round by eighteen inches, being missed by snipers by less than a foot, and avoiding machine-gun fire from his own ack-ack platoon.
In this memoir, Haumersen offers insight into an array of circumstances, including combat in the Korean War as well as meeting his wife, Elise, and raising a family. The Life Story of a Solider recalls a successful life that was based on always doing what was right.
About the Author
John P. Haumersen graduated from West Point and served in the military for many years, including posts overseas. Haumersen is now retired. He and his wife, Elise, have four grown children.