The second day we were in camp the bugle sounded the assembly. Of course I did not know an "assembly" from a mess call, but the others ran for the parade ground and so I followed.
Gee! what a mob! There was a big man sitting on a horse. Bill said he was the colonel. He made a speech to us. He told us we were fine men.
"You are a fine body of men," said he ... "but we are unorganized, and we have no non-commissioned officers."
I whispered to Bill, "What's a non-commissioned officer?"
Bill looked to see if I really meant it. "A sergeant, a corporal—anything but a private," he replied.
"Will all the men who have had former military experience fall out," commanded the colonel; "the rest of you go back to quarters."
"Have I had any former military experience, Bill?" I was eager for anything.
"Sure you have," said Bill. "We'll just stay here and maybe we'll be made sergeants."
About six hundred of us stayed! But, believe me, if they had all had as much military experience as I, we wouldn't have been soldiers yet. When the adjutant came around, he gave me a look as much as to say: "That kid certainly has got a lot of nerve." He offered to make Bill a corporal, but as that would have transferred him from D Company to F Company he declined rather than leave me.