Daddy's Response to Pressure

My dad didn't appreciate being told what he had to do. He was a Master Sergeant, very much accustomed to giving orders. In the chain of command, he was also used to taking orders, but there were some officers who felt like they could take advantage of their rank to have their troops do whatever they wanted.

I believe we were in Idaho when one of Dad's "superior" officers decided that all of the men under his command would submit a poster to the base's Fire Safety Campaign. This was going to be mandatory. Daddy wasn't amused. He simply didn't want to do it. No protests are accepted in the military. Get an order? Obey. And there was a deadline.

There's an old saying: Watch what you wish for. That officer got his posters, but they weren't what he he wanted, at least in my dad's case. What he wanted was to look good in the eyes of the base commander. My father might have had to turn in a poster, but they didn't tell him what it had to say. To make matters worse, the judging was done by the men in the fire house on base. They shared my dad's sense of humor. He was awarded a ribbon of some kind. It might have been honorable mention, or maybe third place. I can't remember exactly, but do remember that the poster hung on our wall at home for awhile.

Daddy's poster showed a nice tent in a clearing, with trees all around. It was dark. In front of the tent was a campfire, blazing merrily. Beneath the picture was this proud caption: Never Smoke In Bed. The Sleeping Bag You Burn May Be Your Wife.