A soldier has been quartered in my house for one month now. When the overturn of the Bill of Rights began I don't remember - perhaps I wish to forget. Things have been changing so rapidly lately they happen as if in a whirl, a blur, a nightmarish spinning vortex of terror.

My next-door neighbour, Jim Taylor, has had a soldier quartered in his house for two years now. Why he was chosen to have a soldier two years ago is a point of conjecture. But these days, no one asks questions, a soldier is merely assigned. I saw Jim one morning milling about in his front yard and asked him. "Best not to ask questions," he said. I could see by the bruises on his face he had perhaps been asking questions. So I decided from then on to say nothing.

Our soldier has no first name, at least none that he has given us. Surname rank and serial number is all we get. "Sgt. Mullins, serial number 935796," he tells us. He insists his meals be served at specific times, in specific places, using a specific menu. This we must adhere to. No choice in the matter. For his recreation, he is entitled - so he says - to female attention. My wife must make her services available to him as he commands. Last night she stayed with him in his pup tent pitched in the backyard.

As a result of the new litigation. we are subject to un-warranted search and seizure. Last week I was searched for arms; my wife was searched for under garments. No arms were found on me; my wife however was found in possession of under garments. Of these she has been relieved. "It is Martial Law," says the sergeant, serial No. 935796. "Uphold the law or be subjected to an unspeedy trial in a private court."

As in keeping with the recent rights repeals, Amendments I through VI have lost the battle. It is anybody's guess what will happen next. Because Amendment VI has now been repealed, my wife, although she was searched and found in possession of under garments once, is now subject to search from this point forward at any time. Sgt. Mullins says this means she can now for the same offence be put twice in jeopardy of life or limb, as well as she is compelled in a criminal case to be witness against herself, be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, and have her private property taken for public use without just compensation. All of these to be justly applied upholding the tenets of the new law. "If one cannot be just," says Sgt. Mullins, "one should be arbitrary.”

Where concerns my wife, being once convicted of contraband possession, Sgt. Mullins applies the law with a liberal and arbitrary hand. Where concerns me, I have thrice been denied rations, had free passage restricted, placed in solitary confinement, ordered to bunk in the basement, alone. As I am no longer burdened with hope, these deprivations mean little.

The sergeant's need for recreation happens more frequently lately. Evidently his work brings him a great amount of stress. I am thankful I have no daughters.

"It is all for the greater good," says Sgt. Mullins.

I remember the time I recovered my footlocker from my days in the service. At first I regarded it simply; it was a symbol of the five years I spent in the Army. That experience had taught me that in order to defend one's freedom, one's freedom must be given up for as long as was necessary while engaged in preserving that freedom. Being a civilian again was to have regained one's freedom. I was no longer under orders. I was no longer subject to The Articles Of War. I was free. It was 20 years before I again received a letter with a government logo in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope. Whenever I see a government logo or inscription in the upper left corner of an envelope I regard the missive with concern. It could be good news, but like an unexpected letter from one's bank, one should at least be prepared for the worst. This also illustrates the long arm of Uncle Sam, an effective tool of herding whether in times of war or peace. Still, I couldn't understand what Uncle Sam would want from me 20 years after my service. I opened the letter with trepidation. As I read the letter, each word, each sentence, clubbed me over the head, and left me bruised and numb. That numbness persists. It is, I have found, an effective tool for survival as I am again subject to The Articles Of War despite being in a time of peace.

It seems the Geneva Convention itself has been revoked in this time of unflinching peace. Being a patriotic citizen, I must believe that the presence of Sgt. Mullins is a good thing for my family, my country, and me. I have become too soft in my prolonged civilian life. The daily beauty of painful punishment I received while in the service no longer toughens me. I realize that all is not as bleak is I appear to think. There is a profound good imbedded in this perceived bad. Again, I must do my part for my country.

Today, Sgt. Mullins announced our new orders. I will remain in my current appointment. My wife, however, has been promoted to Chief Emissary. This means that she will mingle exclusively with the officers, leaving me out of anything and everything as confidential information may be exchanged at any moment In a manner of speaking, she will no longer be my wife, belonging instead to Sgt. Mullins. So be it. It is all for the greater good.

---

Return to CONTENTS