Posted by John Lucas on June 23, 2025:

Jim and I were both in Ranger class 6-70. I formed an indelible impression of his grit and toughness on the bayonet assault course. I recall that particular gut-wrenching exercise as the most exhausting challenge in Ranger School. My recollection is that it was about 10 miles long, although logic today tells me that it was probably closer to 400--500 meters. We had to cover it at full speed, shouting war cries, crawling under barbed wire, and surmounting other obstacles, all while "killing" sandbag dummies with bayonet thrusts or butt strokes from our rifles. Although I was in pretty good physical condition at the time, it was a very challenging and exhausting course. And, naturally, our Ranger instructors were totally dissatisfied with our first effort through the course, so they required us to repeat it multiple times. It was (I think) on our third trip around the circuit that I had my brief encounter with Jim. I felt as if I was close to my limit of physical endurance, and about the time that my-self pity was peaking, I heard a loud noise behind me. Before I could get my brain working adequately to identify it, I was almost bowled over by Jim who passed me at a full sprint while bellowing "Hoooah! RANGER!! KILL!!!" at the top of his lungs. Jim left me in the dust while I struggled on to the finish line. The RIs awarded Jim one of the rare 10-point good spot reports for his outstanding performance. I still remember it almost 56 years later.

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