Posted by Ralph Masi on July 7, 2001:

[Originally posted 10 Feb 1999] I had the good fortune of knowing Jesus for four years -- and was his S-1 (3rd Bn, 2nd Regt) Firstie Year... Smoked many Marlboro's late into the night with the man... talking boxing (his passion)... worrying about going "D" instead of doing something about it ** -- but Jesus had an absolute knack for drawing people to himself.. with an abundance of good will, good humor, and charisma. I think of those times often... and God Bless you Jesus!! And... know you are out leading troops somewhere!! ** Actually, we DID decide to do something about it, in fact -- the night before our Weapon Systems Engineering Final, January ' 77... ..so on a beautiful, snow-covered night, we donned our FD... and crept quitely across Central Area. The penalty for getting caught was an instant 15-20 as I recall... but a little analysis convinced us both that the penalty for designing another gun that didn't shoot straight... and flunking... was even greater. On to Gen John Sedgewick's statue we strode, once clear of the minefield that was Central Area!! We gamely "spun the spurs"-- and confident we'd now pass -- we did -- (and now scared to death of getting caught), we SPRINTED from the Plain on to Central Area. Now, you see, a few die-hards were leaning out their windows... watching... waiting... to see who might make a mad dash to General John's -- and right into the jaws of that 15-20. A few solitary yells let out... then more... LOUDER.. into a roar!!! Knees growing weak... panting... sallyports filling... the enemy all around... oh no!! Now, a down-right OVATION... DAMN!!! ...the LAST thing we need now !! Then.. through the glare of spotlights on the snow... a GAP IN THE LINES --and home at last... ..we light a Marlboro, confident of victory... and knowing we DID do the one thing we could to influence the outcome of that TEE. We did it, Zeus...

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