The devildog in baggy pants

This handsome soldier's picture was taken as soon as he got dressed in his uniform, his first day in the army You can see how happy he is to be serving his country. The Korean war was on and (a) he knew he would be drafted as soon as he graduated from BYU and (b) he desperately wanted to be a paratrooper. Draftees did not always get their choice. They were called "devildogs in baggy pants", because they wore the legs of their pants stuffed into the top of the boots, bloused they said. He hoped to see the world, starting with Korea, and by the time we met he had volunteered for overseas duty, and was disappointed that they turned him down. It was fate !!  As soon as that big diamond was on my finger I made him promise he would not volunteer for any extra duty. He had been jumping from every airplane that had an extra seat, although he was only obligated to jump once a month to get the "jump pay" which was an extra hundred dollars. 

In this photo his hair looks longer than I remember.  They probably marched him to the barber right after the photo shoot for the signature crew cut. Actually, I did not see see him in uniform for several months. He always wore those neat cashmere sweaters or a suit. In an earlier post I told how we met and that he arranged a four day pass (72 hours) to visit me in Durham. I was too busy to pick him up at the bus station, so my old friend took my car and brought him to my school where I had multi responsibilities for the school Halloween party, the biggest fund raiser for the year. My students were selling homemade candy apples.  I was in charge of the beauty contest. The girl who had the most money raised was the beauty queen. Actually she was the prettiest.  Whew !!

Some of the boys wanted to dress up like girls and put on a fashion show - 25 cents admission.  We borrowed girls clothes and depending on which girls were in the audience, the clever announcer inserted their names into the dialogue. The crowd went wild with the girls' reactions. I put Ted in charge of dressing the boys,  who had been asked to get the outfits complete with the biggest bras they could find. He was busy stuffing  the bras when one guy pulled from each pocket a huge dirty foam falsie saying they were his sisters. It was quite a night.

I took Ted to the YMCA for the weekend and I camped out on the sofa of my old roomies, as I did about every weekend.  The next morning we drove up to Roxboro to do some Relief Society business and in the afternoon we saw a football game, Duke & Georgia Tech.  A movie that night, The Red Shoes (Moira Schearrer) completed the day. It was then I discovered he wore glasses.  Then I insisted he drive my car which he had hesitated to do. From then on he was the driver.

Sunday was mostly church meetings., My car was developing a funny sound so he suggested he should drive me home and take my car to get it fixed.  I decided on my friends' couch another night and have him take me to school in the morning. Anything to keep from building a fire in the coal stove in my apartment !

When school was out, Ted was there and at my door was a huge box of kindling he had cut on the school's woodpile, with a note, "See how handy a man can be around the house."  It was time to take him to the bus station.  We talked and talked and kissed and kissed while we waited for the bus. Just before it came he asked me to marry him and I said I would. He jumped out of my car and ran for the bus.