Bravo57
9 February 2007, 15:52
I'm not a good stroy writer and this is a much better story when told in person, but I'll give it a shot.
My Ranger buddy and I had been in BN for about 8 months and it was getting time for us to go to the suck. We were damn near equal in P.T. (me better at pushups, him better at situps, same same in the run) but he got to BN about 1 1/2 months before me. He "outranked" me so he went first.
At this time, even though we are privates, you have gotten to that point in BN life that you don't really get fucked with unless you deserve it. Both my F.O. and his F.O. at this point are really teaching us great stuff and we are focusing on Ranger school tasks. My Team Sergeant is also providing good mentoring along with some smoke sessions (the fun kind, where you respond with "you can't smoke a rock Sarnt!!) But I digress.....
A couple of days later (T minus one month for my buddy to leave), Our Team Sergeant came into the C.P. with something in his hand. We were both very curious as to what the hell it was, because it was obvious he was trying to keep it hidden. He snaps up to attention with a good "ON YOUR FEET!!!" and all 3 F.O.'s come into the room. Team SGT. starts making a big production about what he has on his desk, the importance of it and then started with the history of the Item.
He starts off with:
"Rangers, this, is the baby shoe. It has 5 Ranger Tabs and the original Drive on Tab, you have nothing. This shoe was found by my Team SGT. in the middle of a suck fest and I was smoked. He looked at me, asked me if I wanted to quit, and I told him no. That night in the patrol base, my Team SGT came up to me with the shoe. He had pinned a Drive on Tab to the inside of the baby shoe and gave it to me. He told me, Ranger, you will keep this baby shoe with you 24/7 and take it through School. You leave for Hooah school in 1 month. Do not fuck this up, or I'll pull your slot. I took the baby shoe through school and got my Tab.
Now Ranger, it's your turn. Are you going to fuck this up?"
My Ranger buddy replies "Negative Sarnt!" He goes through teh suck and comes back with his Tab. After he came back from an extended 4 day pass, he walks in our room, tells me to beat my face. While I'm beating my face, he adds his Ranger Tab to the shoe. My Ranger buddy tells me to recover and hands me the Baby shoe. We then go to the PX because Charles Beckwith was signing books. I told my Ranger Buddy, He NEEDS to sign the shoe!
We got to the PX, stood in line and got to meet Charles Beckwith. What a great honor!
CB: Do you two young Rangers have a book for me to sign?
US: No Sir
CB: What can I do for you then?
Me: Sir, can you please sign my baby shoe?
CB: Confused look
US: We explain that the baby shoe is a conglomerate drive on Tab. He signs the bottom of the shoe laughing the whole time.
I go to the suck. Baby shoe in hand. It gets a lot of attention from the RI's when they see it.
RI: "Ranger, WTF is that?"
Me: "It's my baby shoe Sarnt!!"
RI: "What BN you from Ranger?"
Me: "3/75 Sarnt!"
RI: "Fucking Batt Boys........."
This happened quite a bit. I also had a couple of RI's smoke me because that had seen the shoe before. There was one RI in Florida (can't remember his name, but he was an ex-Batt boy) who knew about the shoe and every time he saw me, I had to present the shoe, and recite all the Tabs that the shoe had and exclaim that I was not good enough to carry the shoe. He would then tell me to give the "contraband" to him, which every time I replied "Negative Sarnt!!, I cannot leave the shoe behind!" I'd do some pushups and he would walk away smiling.
I graduated, got my Tab and passed it on to the next Hooah who was set to go.
Distinct Honors that the Baby Shoe has:
Signed by "Chargin' Charlie" Charles Beckwith
Ranger Tab from:
K. Stewart
S. Stewart
Nelson
Buelow
Kohlman
Goodale
Cash
McLaughlin
Thomas
Carlson
Zuber
Ross
I Tracked the Baby Shoe until I left, I wonder if it still exists?
My Ranger buddy and I had been in BN for about 8 months and it was getting time for us to go to the suck. We were damn near equal in P.T. (me better at pushups, him better at situps, same same in the run) but he got to BN about 1 1/2 months before me. He "outranked" me so he went first.
At this time, even though we are privates, you have gotten to that point in BN life that you don't really get fucked with unless you deserve it. Both my F.O. and his F.O. at this point are really teaching us great stuff and we are focusing on Ranger school tasks. My Team Sergeant is also providing good mentoring along with some smoke sessions (the fun kind, where you respond with "you can't smoke a rock Sarnt!!) But I digress.....
A couple of days later (T minus one month for my buddy to leave), Our Team Sergeant came into the C.P. with something in his hand. We were both very curious as to what the hell it was, because it was obvious he was trying to keep it hidden. He snaps up to attention with a good "ON YOUR FEET!!!" and all 3 F.O.'s come into the room. Team SGT. starts making a big production about what he has on his desk, the importance of it and then started with the history of the Item.
He starts off with:
"Rangers, this, is the baby shoe. It has 5 Ranger Tabs and the original Drive on Tab, you have nothing. This shoe was found by my Team SGT. in the middle of a suck fest and I was smoked. He looked at me, asked me if I wanted to quit, and I told him no. That night in the patrol base, my Team SGT came up to me with the shoe. He had pinned a Drive on Tab to the inside of the baby shoe and gave it to me. He told me, Ranger, you will keep this baby shoe with you 24/7 and take it through School. You leave for Hooah school in 1 month. Do not fuck this up, or I'll pull your slot. I took the baby shoe through school and got my Tab.
Now Ranger, it's your turn. Are you going to fuck this up?"
My Ranger buddy replies "Negative Sarnt!" He goes through teh suck and comes back with his Tab. After he came back from an extended 4 day pass, he walks in our room, tells me to beat my face. While I'm beating my face, he adds his Ranger Tab to the shoe. My Ranger buddy tells me to recover and hands me the Baby shoe. We then go to the PX because Charles Beckwith was signing books. I told my Ranger Buddy, He NEEDS to sign the shoe!
We got to the PX, stood in line and got to meet Charles Beckwith. What a great honor!
CB: Do you two young Rangers have a book for me to sign?
US: No Sir
CB: What can I do for you then?
Me: Sir, can you please sign my baby shoe?
CB: Confused look
US: We explain that the baby shoe is a conglomerate drive on Tab. He signs the bottom of the shoe laughing the whole time.
I go to the suck. Baby shoe in hand. It gets a lot of attention from the RI's when they see it.
RI: "Ranger, WTF is that?"
Me: "It's my baby shoe Sarnt!!"
RI: "What BN you from Ranger?"
Me: "3/75 Sarnt!"
RI: "Fucking Batt Boys........."
This happened quite a bit. I also had a couple of RI's smoke me because that had seen the shoe before. There was one RI in Florida (can't remember his name, but he was an ex-Batt boy) who knew about the shoe and every time he saw me, I had to present the shoe, and recite all the Tabs that the shoe had and exclaim that I was not good enough to carry the shoe. He would then tell me to give the "contraband" to him, which every time I replied "Negative Sarnt!!, I cannot leave the shoe behind!" I'd do some pushups and he would walk away smiling.
I graduated, got my Tab and passed it on to the next Hooah who was set to go.
Distinct Honors that the Baby Shoe has:
Signed by "Chargin' Charlie" Charles Beckwith
Ranger Tab from:
K. Stewart
S. Stewart
Nelson
Buelow
Kohlman
Goodale
Cash
McLaughlin
Thomas
Carlson
Zuber
Ross
I Tracked the Baby Shoe until I left, I wonder if it still exists?