Wet bulb. Reinforcement. Heat too
much to drop us. Got Dress As back
from laundry. Cleaning up still.
Little sleep. Good mood overall
today. Leg feels better. I won't
go on sick call tomorrow. I'll
tough it out and see what happens.
One will endure much pain to avoid
the stigma of S. L. & L. status.
Called home--[fiance] not home.
Spoke to mom. Dad still mad
at me apparently. The last thing
I have time to worry about. He'd
best get over it. E-3-10 duty
company all day tomorrow. We
won't carry rucksacks any more!
Will get little sleep tonight.
Wet bulb was the combination of temperature and humidity that halted training or physical exertion. So we sat in the shade and had reviews of tasks we'd need to demonstrate proficiency on.
This actually was probably the day that I was caught asleep sitting up and didn't know it. I know which drill sergeant nailed me and he was a Regular Army drill, so this is likely the time I was caught.
At the risk of repeating myself, my memory of the incident was that I was sitting there attentively listening to our drill sergeant when all of a sudden he was angrily pointing at me and quietly telling me "don't do that again." To which I replied, "yes, sergeant." When the sergeant moved on, I whispered to a guy sitting next to me, "What did I do?"
"You fell asleep!" He whispered it like it was obvious. Not to me. But at least I had avoided being caught falling asleep earlier in training when consequences would have been rougher.
And it is nice to read I was in a good mood. Honestly, regardless of my mood during the day, my memory of basic training is that my mood was almost uniformly good by the end of the day. Surviving a day and going to sleep--even if it was for too short a time--meant I'd get a break and a chance to get through another day.
And I vowed not to go on sick call despite my leg. It felt better, but it wasn't better. Probably just the break in training avoided aggravating the injury. Any relief was welcome and it was enough to keep me from being lumped in with the sick, lame, and lazy.
I finally got calls home. My dad did get over being mad at me. I knew he would. I certainly had more pressing concerns than to dwell on that issue.
We'd have various menial labor the next day, but we would no longer have to carry the weight of our rucksacks and the equipment in it. That weight pales in comparison to what actual infantry must carry around these days, but it was a relief to us.
Still, sleep was not issued to us in adequate amounts.
