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A black commanding officer who played pro FB
Date: Nov 12, 2009 - 11:05am
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and I got along very well when I was at Ft. Sill, OK in the late 1980's. I was there for basic combat training (in the "6000" area) and he was the commanding officer. In our little section, we had 4 platoons of 50 men each in that unit. I was one of the four Platoon Guides.
The commanding officer was a fairly well-educated man and I was impressed with the way he carried himself. He wasn't a stuffed-shirt type of officer, but he wasn't "one of the guys" either and the soldiers respected him. He was actually pretty approachable in a training area where you just didn't talk to anyone above your rank for fear of being yelled at with high decibels, or you didn't want additional pushups, KP or some crap duty for the next several hours.
Whenever we were out "in the field" learning a drill or were combat training, he'd come around to check on the progress. During those times we were lounging around, waiting for the next assignment, he'd come over to me and test my knowledge of vocabulary words. Then he'd tell me to try to stump him. The other soldiers would kind of crowd around to see who would emerge victorious. Sometimes he'd win and other times I would. He'd laugh and tell the guys sitting around to learn a lot and then they would be his "Vocabulary Buddy"...
After the contest was over, the onlookers would ask me why he was even talking to a lowly PFC like me (he was 3 levels of authority over us: Drill Sergent, Master Sergent, Commanding Officer). I didn't know, but my guess was that he didn't want to talk about someone's 'hood all day long, but instead opted for semi-intelligent conversation (I was in a summer break from BYU where I was studying Mechanical Engineering)...In truth, I really wasn't that smart unless compared to the mass of 17-19 year old HS dropouts that comprised the rest of the unit.
One time, this commanding officer was in a serious mood. We needed to finish some training by the scheduled deadline and a heavy thunderstorm had driven us indoors (into a huge metal shed/barn with low ceilings). We were closely packed inside and there wasn't much room to even move. My "Vocabulary Buddy" started in again with new words...but it soon turned to questions about Mormons and the Bible. I answered all the questions put to me. Sometimes he'd say that he didn't agree with a particular LDS viewpoint, and other times he'd say the LDS were "right on"...but in all cases, he'd say he could see where we'd come to our conclusions from reading the scriptures.
The conversation eventually lagged and I was pretty tired at this point (not much sleep the previous week), so I sat down on the ground with my head hung low. I had been literally falling asleep on my feet with my eyes wide open the day before. I was trying to close my eyes without it being seen since it would only get a person into trouble. The CO was standing/sitting on a high bar stool and was quiet for some time. He suddenly asked me a question about the Biblical account of the seed of Cain being denied the Priesthood. I didn't really hear him very well since I was half-asleep and also since a thunderclap had hit right at the moment he spoke.
I didn't want to be found out (that I was sleeping), and I was too fatigued to get into a deep discussion at that time...so I simply said (with an "awake" voice) that I just didn't know what to think about it.
The CO laughed and told everyone in a loud voice that that was the reason why I was smart and the rest of them were dumb when it came to religious matters. He complimented me on my judicious use of diplomacy on such a sensitive issue. Someone in the back asked him what was said and he repeated it. That's when I found out what the question really was...and it dawned on me in my still-lethargic stupor that my answer would have been much different if I had been awake and engaged in the conversation. But I felt no need to stop the CO in his complimenting me in front of the others...earned or not...I was just too tired to stop it with a debate on issues neither he nor I could change. So I didn't say a word and closed my eyes again.
So there's the extent of my experience with the "seed of Cain" discussion. I was labeled smart because I simply shut up.
The commanding officer was a fairly well-educated man and I was impressed with the way he carried himself. He wasn't a stuffed-shirt type of officer, but he wasn't "one of the guys" either and the soldiers respected him. He was actually pretty approachable in a training area where you just didn't talk to anyone above your rank for fear of being yelled at with high decibels, or you didn't want additional pushups, KP or some crap duty for the next several hours.
Whenever we were out "in the field" learning a drill or were combat training, he'd come around to check on the progress. During those times we were lounging around, waiting for the next assignment, he'd come over to me and test my knowledge of vocabulary words. Then he'd tell me to try to stump him. The other soldiers would kind of crowd around to see who would emerge victorious. Sometimes he'd win and other times I would. He'd laugh and tell the guys sitting around to learn a lot and then they would be his "Vocabulary Buddy"...
After the contest was over, the onlookers would ask me why he was even talking to a lowly PFC like me (he was 3 levels of authority over us: Drill Sergent, Master Sergent, Commanding Officer). I didn't know, but my guess was that he didn't want to talk about someone's 'hood all day long, but instead opted for semi-intelligent conversation (I was in a summer break from BYU where I was studying Mechanical Engineering)...In truth, I really wasn't that smart unless compared to the mass of 17-19 year old HS dropouts that comprised the rest of the unit.
One time, this commanding officer was in a serious mood. We needed to finish some training by the scheduled deadline and a heavy thunderstorm had driven us indoors (into a huge metal shed/barn with low ceilings). We were closely packed inside and there wasn't much room to even move. My "Vocabulary Buddy" started in again with new words...but it soon turned to questions about Mormons and the Bible. I answered all the questions put to me. Sometimes he'd say that he didn't agree with a particular LDS viewpoint, and other times he'd say the LDS were "right on"...but in all cases, he'd say he could see where we'd come to our conclusions from reading the scriptures.
The conversation eventually lagged and I was pretty tired at this point (not much sleep the previous week), so I sat down on the ground with my head hung low. I had been literally falling asleep on my feet with my eyes wide open the day before. I was trying to close my eyes without it being seen since it would only get a person into trouble. The CO was standing/sitting on a high bar stool and was quiet for some time. He suddenly asked me a question about the Biblical account of the seed of Cain being denied the Priesthood. I didn't really hear him very well since I was half-asleep and also since a thunderclap had hit right at the moment he spoke.
I didn't want to be found out (that I was sleeping), and I was too fatigued to get into a deep discussion at that time...so I simply said (with an "awake" voice) that I just didn't know what to think about it.
The CO laughed and told everyone in a loud voice that that was the reason why I was smart and the rest of them were dumb when it came to religious matters. He complimented me on my judicious use of diplomacy on such a sensitive issue. Someone in the back asked him what was said and he repeated it. That's when I found out what the question really was...and it dawned on me in my still-lethargic stupor that my answer would have been much different if I had been awake and engaged in the conversation. But I felt no need to stop the CO in his complimenting me in front of the others...earned or not...I was just too tired to stop it with a debate on issues neither he nor I could change. So I didn't say a word and closed my eyes again.
So there's the extent of my experience with the "seed of Cain" discussion. I was labeled smart because I simply shut up.
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"The most unjust thing in the world is public opinion." Bobby Bowden, 27 OCT 2006 Interview with ESPN.
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