Bill Hancock: The best stories veterans carry with them

Every veteran has a unique story when they enter the military. Most people want to listen to war stories and such. Some “war stories” can include a night of partying in a foreign city, foreign port or on post. The stories that don’t include battle can be as interesting as those that do. I was a rural boy from a refinery town outside of Houston. The only thing I knew about the army was my grandfather’s war stories about fighting the Japanese in World War II. I grew up on those stories and had decided from the age of nine that I was going to join the army. I had nothing to go on other than my grandfather as this was long before cell phones, the internet, etc. My first “reality check” was arriving at my training unit in an OD green bus with a myriad of drill sergeants, the most of which were hardened Vietnam vets. The senior drill sergeant, SFC Reeder, stepped on the bus. I was excited, so I’d sat in the first see by the circular stairs of the bus.

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