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When I was assigned as a mechanic in the motor-pool
I came out of the mess hall one day the Executive Officer driver came up to me and says
"My Jeep aint running too good, you need to road test it"
I says "I can't road test it" I says "We don't have a road test . . .
it was against the ordinances of the motor-pool to road test a vehicle that doesn't have a
road test sign on it"
he says "Nobody will catch us" "No" I says "I can't do it" and so he says "Oh come on"
and so he talks me into it.
Over there in Japan there's a lot of cane about as big around as your little finger,
and it's just really thick. And so we started up this one road that was so steep,
the only way to go up it would be to put the Jeep in four wheel drive in low range.
And so we started out and got about half way up and this two and a half ton truck
stopped and started backing down the same road we were coming up.
I knew there was no way they could stop without running into us cuz it was so steep they would
just slide into us.
So I turned and we got on that cane and the Jeep started sliding sideways
and the back wheel on my side fell into a foxhole. And so the Jeep started to roll,
so I shut the Jeep off and shoved the driver out on the top side and I figured I could
run around the back side before it rolled over.
When I stepped out, I got on that cane and my feet slipped out from under me,
and the Jeep rolled over the top of me.
All I had was a lump on the back of my head where I hit the Jeep when my feet slipped
out from under me
and this kid grabbed me and shook me and he says "Are you alright?"
I says "I'm fine, leave me alone. Let's go check out the Jeep"
He says "You can't be fine" he says "That Jeep rolled over the top of you!"
I says "I'm fine, let go of me. Leave me alone!" (laughs)
We had the windshield folded down and uh it was all broken up and the seats were all broken
up.
The steering wheel was all broken up and the finder was all bent in around the tire.
They has a hydraulic jack and we jacked the corners of the finders out.
He stopped at the dispatch and we snuck past him and pulled it around and parked it in
the stall.
Our mess sergeant had a brother that run the salvage yard.
He says "Give me the money" he says "I'll go over and buy a fifth of whiskey,
and you take the fifth of whiskey down and give it to him and he'll give you all the
parts you need"
So we went down and got a new windshield off of the wrecked Jeep
got two new seats and a steering wheel, all the parts that we needed and
we went back and we got it all fixed back up
the next day the Mess Sergeant sent me over to the supply room for some steel wool
and I stepped outside the mess hall and the First Sergeant say
"Salter! Come here!"
I figured somebody had told him that I had wrecked the Jeep
(laughs)
but we had it all fixed up and painted by midnight that night, so, we got away with
it.