Rob Wilkinson - Styx Sgt - 1983-1984 - Monroeville, PA
Home Alumni Multimedia Guestbook Keesler AFB
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Unfortunately, I
was not much of a camera person,
which I regret now. I have no pictures
of the D&B corps,
just memories. And those memories seem to
be fading more and
more. Some of my memories include
marching in the Mardi Gras
parade, which seemed like 10 miles long, and
ending up in the
Superdome, which was 25 degrees
warmer inside than outside, and
seeing some in the drum section get
lightheaded because or the sudden
temperature change. Also, some people
trying to rush us from the
crowd to get parts of our uniforms, berets, or
instruments. It
was still great though because I remember
being "flashed" by a woman on
a balcony.
 A party at the Back Bay I also remember playing halftime at a USFL game in Alabama. >>EDITOR'S NOTE - The game was Birmingham Stallions at New Orleans Breakers on Memorial Day, 1984, in the Superdome<< I can't remember which, but on the return trip from one of those performances, all the buses pulled off to the side of the road for a MASS pee break, boys and girls included. I remember someone who remained in a bus took a picture of everyone lined up side by side facing into the woods relieving themselves. I laughed till I cried when I saw that photo. I remember going to the beach and swimming in the brown water. I remember the Tivoli Hotel and it's less than desirable reputation. Since I was at Keesler during the Christmas Holiday, I remember it snowing on Christmas Eve of 1983 and some of us drowning our sorrows because we couldn't be home with family. I remember a girl that drank so much that she got sick and passed out that night. I had to carry her into the women's dorm yelling "man in the barracks" so I wouldn't surprise anyone. Many, many fond memories and very few bad ones.
I actually don't
remember what
position I held on the Officer's
Council. I was a yellow
rope. And, of course, being there for 10
months, I eventually became
"Old
Man
of
the Corps", even though it was
only for a month. Ahh,
the power. I
remember people trying to steal my
cane all the time. There were 2 occasions
where I would
hastily slide my "Old Man" cane under the door of
my room so I wouldn't
have to carry it to some function (meal,
meeting) and my traitor
roommate would let someone in to steal the
cane. There were a few
of us that had motorcycles while at Keesler and I
remember on a few
occasions resting my bass drum on the seat of the
bike while we had a
practice. And
what
was
that silly tradition of rolling up the
metal bullet
tassels of the rope within the sleeves of your
shirt and someone
pounding on them? Ugh! My favorite
thing to do was of
course to play the "Blue Knight Boogie".
When we would stop
during a parade and play it, the crowd
always went wild. The
stick handling of the snares was a great show
and the rhythm had them
dancing.
I was pretty low-key while in the Corps. The only trouble I caused while there was an incident at a practice when someone was leaving and bowing out of the Corps. I think each person that was leaving would request a couple songs to be played. Afterwards, people would drop their instruments and rush them and ropes would be screaming "Move", then "Stop Move". I jumped on my motorcycle and drove toward that person skidding to a stop just a few feet from them. The Corps NCO went ballistic. Oh well... |
