She grinned and gave him a one armed hug. “We had just started dating then. We got married last year.”
“Jennie’s actually a year older than I am, but it’s not like it matters anymore. I was Class of ’75 back home,” he said.
“What do you do, Jennifer?” asked Marilyn.
“Waitress and bartender in a restaurant near the base. It’s a good job. No matter where he gets stationed, I can always find a job as a waitress or bartender.” She had the look of a professional waitress or bar staffer. I nodded. She was right, there was always work like that near an army base.
“Congratulations. He’s a good man.” I turned to Janos. “So, still with the division?”
Janos sat down, and his wife made herself comfortable on his lap. He shook his head. “No, sir. Last year, after you got your medal, I put in for Ranger School. I made it through that and got my third stripe.”
“I’ll be damned!” I turned to Marilyn. “No wonder why we got back! We had an Airborne Ranger with us!” To Janos, I said, “Rangers Lead The Way, right Sergeant?” repeating the Ranger motto.
“You led us, sir. That numbnuts lieutenant would have gotten us all killed! What the hell happened with him, anyway? After you got arrested, he was never seen again. And what was with you getting arrested, anyway?” asked Janos.
The table erupted with questions! Arrested? What was that about? Well, I couldn’t say specifically, and I didn’t want to break the Top Secret classification, so I had to dance around it. I just waved it down. “That was just a misunderstanding, nothing more. That idiot lieutenant complained that I had taken command illegally, and I had led a mutiny. Once we got back to headquarters and they sorted it out, they cut me loose. A doctor took one look at my leg and had me flown to Walter Reed. It was nothing, really.”
“And the lieutenant?”
I had to grin at that. “Last I heard he was sent to the Congo as military liaison to the cannibals. With any luck, he became dinner!”
That got me a laugh from Janos, who then said, “They probably got indigestion.”
Tusker chimed in. “I have to ask! I know he got a medal and I’ve seen the picture Marilyn has, but he won’t tell us what happened! He just keeps saying it’s Classified! If you were there, what happened?”
I interrupted Janos before he could say anything. “Sorry, but it’s Classified!”
“That’s bullshit!” protested Tusker.
“Okay, I’ll tell you a little bit.” I drank a little more beer, and then leaned forward. I lowered my voice, and said, “You have to swear never to tell anyone!” I waited for a moment, and when nobody said anything, I pushed, “Well? Do you swear?”
Tusker gave me a startled look, and said, “Okay, I swear.” Around the table, the others nodded and agreed. Across from me, I could see Janos starting to smile.
I nodded theatrically, and then glanced around to see if anybody else was listening. “Okay. This all happened in Honduras. The brass was very nervous about the health of the men, and the medal was because of that.” I paused for as much dramatic effect as I could muster. “Our unit — we had the lowest incidence of venereal disease in the entire battalion!”
Around me the table exploded in laughter and outrage. I just sat back and smiled as Tusker sputtered. “It’s true, just ask the Sergeant. He was there.”
Janos was laughing too hard to do much, but he nodded and said, “Yes, sir, we were as clean as a whistle!” and then started laughing some more when his wife nudged him in the ribs. He laughed, and then picked up his Solo cup of beer. Holding it out towards me, he got serious, and said, “Absent companions.”
I knew the old toast, and I knew I was now part of that tradition. I picked mine up and tapped my cup to his. “Absent companions.” We drank some beer together.
At that point, Jennie announced they had to get moving, and she crawled off Janos’ lap. As he stood, I stood also, and said, “Sergeant, it was really good seeing you again. I’m out now, but if you or any of the men need anything from me, look me up.”
“Yes, sir, thank you, sir. It was a real privilege to have served with you, Captain.” Then he stood straight and gave me a textbook salute, straight from the field manual. I returned the salute, and then shook his hand. He departed, as the others stared at me.
I ignored it and sat down again, my thoughts going back to that miserable march in Nicaragua. Marilyn noticed me lost in my thoughts, and said, “You okay?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. You never know who you’re going to meet. I’d have never made it home without Janos and the others. He was the first guy I found when we landed, and he was my lead scout on the ground. Hell of a soldier. He’ll be a good Ranger.”
“What the hell happened?” asked Katie.
I just shook my head. “It really is classified. I can’t say. Hell of a story, though.” I smiled and shook my head.
I had a surprisingly good time, and promised we’d come back for the next reunion, especially if the women would promise not to tell Marilyn any more stories. At the end of the afternoon, after washing up in the restroom, I met my wife at the door, and we headed out to the parking lot. As we walked, hand in hand, she swung her hips and gave me a bump. “So, exactly what is the Carl Buckman Experience?”
Chapter 78: The Carl Buckman Experience, Part II
“Give me a break! There is no such thing as the Carl Buckman Experience!”
“That’s not what your friends said,” teased Marilyn.
“We were just friends!” I protested.
“Yes, it certainly sounded friendly!”
I refused to answer, but unlocked the car and opened the door for her. As I went around to my side, I couldn’t help but think about the movie, still years in the future, with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men. - ‘I want the truth!’ ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ — I redid it in my mind as ‘I want the Carl Buckman Experience!’ ‘You can’t handle the Carl Buckman Experience!’ I chuckled to myself as I opened the driver side door.
Marilyn started up again as soon as I got in the car. “I think there is a Carl Buckman Experience, and you’re embarrassed to tell me what it is!”
It was too much for me! I stopped putting my key in the ignition and just started laughing. It was just too much. I kept laughing long enough for Marilyn to start getting pissed at me. Eventually, as she started to stew, I calmed down. “Okay, you want the Carl Buckman Experience? I don’t think you can handle it, but I’ll give you a shot.”
“You’ll give me a shot?!” she asked incredulously.
I kept laughing. “The others had to work their way up to it, but I’ll let you have a shot at the title.”
“You’ll give me a shot at it! You are such a… a… a jerk!” That just made me laugh some more.
After a minute more, I turned the key in the ignition. I grinned at her. “Do you really want the full Carl Buckman Experience? I warn you, it will ruin you for other men. Once you’ve had the Carl Buckman Experience, no other man will ever be able to satisfy you!”
Marilyn snorted and had a twinkle in her eye. “I’ll just have to take the chance.”
“Well, it might be safe… for me, at least.”
“What?!”
“Well, the others I had sign a waiver of liability, but since you’re my wife, you can’t testify against me in a court of law.”
“Oh, you are so full of crap!”
“Okay by me, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!” I put the car in gear, but only drove up to the entrance to the tennis club. I hopped out and said, “Just wait, I’ll be back in a moment.”