Business cartoon of the week - 17558 - Roy Delgado

Talk about violence in the workplace . . .

Reminds me of an incident while stationed on Okinawa with the Third Marine Division in 1956 . . . I, PFC Roy Delgado was on Guard Duty in the guard shack.  I was relaxing on my bunk, it was about 2000 hours ( 8 PM ) . . . The Officer of the Day was a First Lieutenant Germany . . . there was only a blanket stretched across and hanging down from the open doorway.  It was easy to hear a conversation in the office since I had the first bunk next to the office . . . The Corporal of the Guard on duty that shift was a Corporal Silver, who was armed with a Colt .45 pistol, as was the Lieutenant.  The Lieutenant was sitting behind the desk as shown here from my vantage point, when Corporal of the guard Silver quiertly walked behind the Lieutenant , aimed his pistol, just about the way you see it in this drawing, and sternly said: " Sir, I wanna see a doctor. "

The lieutenant calmly said, may I use the phone ?  Corporal Silver said, " Yes Sir. "

The Lieutenant called the Sick Bay, identified himself and said, " I need a doctor down here at once, immediately. "   In what seemed like only about two minutes, a jeep pulled up to the guard shack office with a navy doctor and his driver. . . . the doctor entered the office and asked the lieutenant what's the problem. . .  at this time, Corporal Silver handed his pistol over to Lieutenant Germany.  The lieutenant placed handcuffs on him and then the doctor drove off with lieutenant, and the corporal .

I never saw Corporal Silver again.

The guy, Corporal Silver was a Native American and had for months and months kept asking to see a doctor because he wanted "out ". . . . A lot of people want " out " . . and they are usually ignored until an incident like this takes place . . . THEN, they know you're serious . . .   Apparently he " cracked " . . .or as they call  it in the military, he had an " anxiety reaction ".  I found out years later it was the most common ailment experienced by people who folded under the regimentation of the military experience . . . these people usually get out with what is called a "General Discharge. " Or as they used to refer to it during the second world war . . . a  " Section Eight ".  ( Probably referring to The Uniform Code of Military Justice )

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" The purpose of life is to matter - - - to count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we lived at all. "

LEO ROSTEN, b. 1908  Polish-born American Writer and Humorist