WHAT, ME DIRTY?

When my brother was discharged from the U.S. Marines, in 1970, I was in the military and he came to live with me at the Air Force base. We were saving our money in order to get an off base apartment, so he got a job, on base, at the aircraft wash rack, directly across the street from the barracks. The only trouble was that he was no longer in the military and therefore, was not authorized to be on base, nor to eat in the mess hall, nor to live in the barracks. He "looked" military, but if it was ever discovered that he was there under false pretenses, we both could get into serious trouble. The deception only had to last for a couple weeks and then we would have enough money to move off base, so we decided to chance it.

To stay in good graces with the Air Force and to qualify to stay off base, it was important that I had a "clean" record. Those who had bad reports on their records were considered "dirty." This, we all tried to avoid, but it was especially on my mind during this period of chance taking. My brother and I had, of course, the same last name, "Ray," and so he wore an extra pair of my coveralls that included no rank or insignia, only the last name. This clothing he wore to his civilian contractor's job at the wash rack.

By the end of the day his coveralls were pretty soiled and keeping us both looking somewhat presentable, took some doing. In the room, at the barracks, next to mine, lived a Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) that was a widower. Almost all others in the dorm were E-5 and below. Considering our circumstances, the Chief being there made me extremely uneasy because he was naturally curious and would want to meet my new roomate. Knowing this, we were careful to avoid his presence.

Despite our efforts, however, my brother was coming back from work one day and accidently bumped into the Chief, coming down the hall, near my room. Taken aback the Chief said, "Boy, Ray, you sure are dirty!" The Chief didn't know how right he was! His remark so bothered me that we packed up and left that night, staying with friends until our own place was ready.