Звездный десант

           Thisisthesortofconsummation,whichdoesnothappentoooften,thatneverthelessmakesallofateacher’seffortsworthwhile.Wenecessarilysiftagreatmanypebbles,muchsand,foreachnugget—butthenuggetsarethereward.

           BynowthereasonIdidnotwriteatonceisobvioustoyou.Manyyoungmen,notnecessarilythroughanyreprehensiblefault,aredroppedduringrecruittraining.Ihavewaited(Ihavekeptintouchthroughmyownconnections)untilyouhad‘sweateditout’pastthehump(howwellweallknowthathump!)andwerecertain,barringaccidentsorillness,ofcompletingyourtrainingandyourterm.

           Youarenowgoingthroughthehardestpartofyourservice—notthehardestphysically(thoughphysicalhardshipwillnevertroubleyouagain;younowhaveitsmeasure),butthehardestspiritually...thedeep,soul-turningreadjustmentsandre-evaluationsnecessarytometamorphizeapotentialcitizenintooneinbeing.Or,ratherIshouldsay:youhavealreadygonethroughthehardestpart,despiteallthetribulationsyoustillhaveaheadofyouandallthehurdles,eachhigherthanthelast,whichyoustillmustclear.Butitisthat"hump"thatcounts—and,knowingyou,lad,IknowthatIhavewaitedlongenoughtobesurethatyouarepastyour"hump"oryouwouldbehomenow.

           Whenyoureachedthatspiritualmountaintopyoufeltsomething,anewsomething.Perhapsyouhaven’twordsforit(IknowIdidn’t,whenIwasaboot).Soperhapsyouwillpermitanoldercomradetolendyouthewords,sinceitoftenhelpstohavediscretewords.