Well, it all started..., Part 3

Like I said, mom came through again. Mom was talking to the lady that did her hair at that time, Jane Dollins, and she mentioned that her son was in a CAP unit at the Benton Municipal Airport. It was worked out that the next Thursday night I would go to the meeting with David Dollins. So I nervously rode out to the airport with David and we waited outside of a locked, and darkened airport building(the airport will be the subject of a future entry) with what seemed liked to me a bunch of pool hall sharks wearing uniforms and I was the chum in the water. In a little while, a vehicle came down the long winding road and I could see the real narrow headlights that mark a Jeep. The other cadets that were there said real quick to me, "Stand right here on the edge of the sidewalk and when we say, "Present Arms", put your hand up like this and they showed me how to salute, sort of. Anyway, when this highway department orange jeep rolls up, we're all lined up facing the sidewalk as sort of an facetious honor guard. Well, this guy gets out of the jeep and starts up the walk. I hear someone say,"Present Arms", and I whip out what I thought was a right smart salute. The man is wearing a service hat, a navy blue nylon flight jacket, and blue pants. He's carrying a briefcase and fumling with a set of keys. Then I hear the first welcoming words I heard from a senior member in CAP. 1Lt Wayne Sampson said as he came up the walk, "What is this bull****. If I had any thoughts of CAP seniors being a cross between Superman and Gen. Patton, that there seemed to burst my bubble. But here I am. It's been almost 33 years since that cool September night and I am still in CAP. I have had many opportunities to ask the same question myself over those years but I dearly love this outfit. CAP can be an annoying bother when it's bad, but when it's good it's the best bunch on earth. The people I have met in CAP are some of the greatest in the world. Although this history blog is about a unit, the stories will be about people as much as possible, because units don't make history, people do.