Being in the services has been pretty much the same for a long time. Getting off base for a little free time is essential to sanity. If you’re stationed in Germany, a whole different culture presents itself.'Russ Williams finds the same temptations and advantages that others have found while in the service. And the civilians off base, downright friendly in Freistadt even with snow on the ground.
"Assume the front leaning rest position--now! Move your goddamn asses?" the Sergeant screamed, and a hundred young Air Force trainees obeyed, flopping ' forward into the mud and propping them- selves up on stiff arms.
"By the numbers!" the Sergeant growled, and began counting off, "One and two and three…” as the young men in his charge began the afternoon’s quota of push-ups.
A chilly rain was falling over the company area; the temperature was close to freezing; and Private Russ Williams’s hands were getting numb as they were in the cold mud.
The irony was that this was supposed to be a cushy assignment. Russ had joined the United States Air Force immediately…