He was an unassuming man, overweight with wispy white hair, sharp and intelligent blue eyes and a constant smirk on his face that would say "I know something about you that you don't know". The first time I met him he was goofing off in our briefing room using Marx Brothers quotes to poke fun at the officers around him, the department and himself. It was simply impossible to dislike the guy, even with the overpowering scent of Brute aftershave. Eventually I became a Staff Sergeant and he was assigned to me as my corporal. During the long days and slow nights that we worked together over the years I came to begin to understand this man so much more.
He was a Vietnam veteran from the 1st Cavalry Division, Air Mobile and was a draftee. He arrived in Vietnam just after the massacre that took place at Landing Zone Albany and soon found himself surrounded by shell shocked and demoralized GIs. Shortly after they were loaded onto a helicopter and dropped into a hot landing zone, meaning people were shooting at them. The helicopters misjudged the depth of the grass below and once the men jumped out there was about a 9 foot drop to earth. Some were injured on the spot. My friend soon found himself to be the plaything of a sniper who took pot shots at him every time he moved in the 6 foot tall grass until he could take cover. He fired back emptying his entire magazine only to have his gun jam, he asked the kid next to him who happened to be wearing every piece of issued gear he had (common among the newbies) "hey I'm jammed have you got a cleaning rod?"
The kid thought about it for a moment scanning the catalogue in his head and said "yeah". He laid his pack out and removed the cleaning rod, carefully screwing each piece together under fire to the amazement and frustration of my friend. He un-jammed his weapon and handed the rod back to the kid who to his further amazement, just as carefully unscrewed each segment and put it back into it's pouch, again under fire.
Later his platoon sergeant walked up to him and said "You don't look like you could shoot $*&%!"
Of course my friend being the young, hot tempered lad that he was told the sergeant he could shoot anything he had. The sergeant pointed to a pile of weapons and asked him if he could hit a tree across the field with that grenade launcher on top of the pile (which had previously belonged to a now wounded or deceased soldier). My friend then walked over and picked up the launcher, loaded the breach and to his own surprise and that of his sergeant he nailed the tree with a direct hit. "We've got our new grenadier!" the sergeant bellowed and threw my friends newly issued M-16 on the pile. As my friend puts it, he then spent the rest of his time in the Vietnam War wearing high explosives all over his body while people shot at him.
This man was my corporal, my friend and a source of encouragement and inspiration in helping me believe that I could attain my goals, including my education. He and I shared many, many laughs, most of the time in poking fun at ourselves. He taught me that you can have more fun pointing out and making fun of your own flaws than those of other people. He is a veteran, he is a hero (whether he admits it or not) and he is one of the finest Americans I have ever met.
Today is William (Bill) Caughran's day and it is the day of people who are just like him. I haven't spoken to my friend in a while, I don't really know how to contact him now that he is long since retired but I will always remember him and I am glad that for the time we spent together.
Just to keep things on topic, Bill always had a wise crack, quote or joke handy when I was feeling the immense pressure of completing 6 undergrad credit hours per 6 weeks. He kept me smiling and kept telling me that I was smart enough do the work and I was stubborn enough to keep moving ahead. He wouldn't let me be discouraged for too long whenever I felt like complaining. So a quick tip, if you find someone like this in your life, keep them around and treat them well as they are more of an asset to you than you realize.