15-119 Garand Picture of the Day - Platoon 339

[Bob Seijas]

In the Army they were responsible for the purely local training like formations, drill and ceremonies, barracks, inspections, etc. They marched you to classes by specialists for other stuff.
I laugh every time I recall our Platoon Sergeant Stanfield teaching us to salute... the pinky finger on his right hand had been broken and was crooked down sharpy at the last joint. He demonstrated a good salute, then asked if anybody had questions. A dopey kid in the back said, "Sergeant, I can't bend my finger down lke that." Stanfield exploded... "THAT IS A DEFORMITY, YOU FOOL!"
After that, whenever we saw the kid we saluted with our pinkies crooked