He's the guy who road with Brian and me to Houston, TX, and went with me to the Astrodome. We must have used my Camaro for the trip. As soon as the game was over, we headed back to Brian's parents' home to pick him up and drive back to San Antonio. (An older woman saw us in the parking lot wearing our uniforms and said to a friend, loudly enough for us to hear, "There go a couple of 90-day wonders." True, but rude.) The night before the game, the three of us went to see PAPER MOON at a duplex theater outside of Houston. PAPER MOON had those segments filmed in White Cloud, Kansas, my mom's home town.
The OTSOM (Officer's Training School Open Mess) was remarkable. Marine OCS had nothing like this, only the Slopshoot burger place not far from our barracks. It was beautifully carpeted. The bar served half-priced drinks seemingly all the time. The restaurant served the best steaks and dinners, of which we availed ourselves most weekends.
When those in my flight found out that I did not drink, they were determined to figure out something I might like alcoholic. I tried a Tom Collins, Tequila Sunrise and Tequila Sunset. Finally, they suggested a Slo Gin Fizz. Loved it. Drank them every weekend. One time I did get a little happy, but never got actually drunk.
The most important aspect of the OTSOM was that it was only for cadets. Officers were not allowed except when invited for the Dining Out just before graduation when family and friends could also be there.
One flight used to call out when they marched, "Nuke 'em! Nuke 'em!" Our flight would mimic them by calling out, "OTSOM! OTSOM!" We were a more peaceful flight, pursuing more worldly pleasures.
Years later, in the 1990's, when I was visiting a guy I briefly dated who lived in Houston, though he worked in Denver, I road back to the airport and happened to look off and down from the elevated freeway. There I saw, clearly abandoned for several years, the duplex theater where we three had gone at least twenty years before.
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