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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: War and Peace (not about the book) (07/07/11)
The woman served on the front lines in the heat of battle, quivering in her boots and longing for a weekend pass with ample R & R. Ms. Green never signed on a dotted line below an Uncle Sam poster at a local recruiting station, yet did not high tale it across the border when drafted into active service. Valiantly the soldier survived ravages of basic training and waited for further instructions. Her CO assured all standing at attention in formation they would be placed where best suited; with butterflies in her stomach the homesick young woman wondered where a WAC with little formal education or training would go.

She moved into home front base housing and found a place to store BDU work duds in a personal footlocker; dress uniforms-starched and pressed hung in a corner closet. Four walls and 3 square meals a day added up to 24-7. KP duty left knuckles raw and top brass did not squawk about foods she served in a drab mess hall. Green desired more action but knew her less heroic job would prepare her for the trenches. Headquarters would dictate all moves as circumstances demanded fresh troops and the commander had timing synchronized to maximum efficiency.

The CO placed two newcomers under her watchful care. They daily tested patience and loyalty to the service; attitudes and actions revealed they were ungrateful for opportunities and privileges awarded them. Ms. Green did not demand excellence, only observance of rules and regulations. A TDY began routinely with packing of supplies for a survival mission with team supervision led by her and a co-worker. The two additions completed the unit and they set out on the cross-country trip in a glorified jeep. Full-blown war broke out in the back seat.

“Mama, she won’t stay on her side of the car! Now she’s shoving me!”

“Liar! He started it!”

“Get away from each other! Read or color. Play with your matchbox cars.”

The skirmishes continued and I wondered if peace was just a pipe-dream. WAC’S (Women as Caretaker’s) hope for the best on long distance family trips and prepare for battle lines to form on opposite sides of the back seat. As mom with a pair of children in the 1970’s I did not have the legal confines of seat belts but the restraints would have shackled the siblings as prisoners of war.

My treasure chest does not hold a Purple Heart or Congressional Medal of Honor; rewards await me in heaven. God, my Commanding Officer looks upon the heart. My role as peacemaker may not put me in the running for the Nobel Prize but I am getting a hankering to tell my old war stories as peace and contentment in retirement from active duty here in the states draws near.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Allison Egley 
07/16/11
Okay. You definitely got me at the end. :)

There was one accronymn you didn't define, and even though you do define most of them later, I'd define them again at the bottom in an author's note. Also, I'd have chosen a different word then "draft" since woman aren't drafted.

Great job with this, once I figured out what was going on. :)