my Story 18.3

While driving the Ford F5 Army Truck I was involved in some minor fender benders. The ones that were my own fault do not need to be discussed here. But there was this time we were sent on an assignment, and trying to find the right route, we had to drive through a small town. The streets were narrow. A sign indicated we had to turn right into a one-way street that was even narrower. Shops lined both sides of the street and the pavement was uneven. A dip in the surface made my truck lean a bit to the right side, causing the top of the canvas, that covered my load space, to hit an awning.

We had been instructed never to say, or indicate in any way that the accident was our fault. There are highly specialized insurance experts who will judge the situation, and determine who is at fault. So, by the time I had stepped out of the truck the storekeeper emerged from the building, spilling his entire vocabulary of swearwords. The awning was toast, torn, broken and bent out of shape. I reported the accident to the proper military authorities. About three weeks later I was called into the office. "It was not your fault", was the verdict. The store owner never applied for a permit from the local authorities to install that awning. In addition , the awning stuck out eight inches farther then allowed in that street. Until today, I never discuss with the other party in an accident who is to blame . Even to say: "I did not see you", points the blame to yourself.

The Ford F5 had terrible brakes. With a full load you had to stomp on brake pedal with your full weight. One day we were on an assignment to haul cannons for the artillery branch. Our senior officer was a university graduate drafted after the completion of his courses. So he was a few years older. From day one they would rank above us with no more experience in military life then we had. But this guy was always friendly. I liked him. He ordered me to hook up a trailer that had no brakes itself. I said that this was not safe to hook it up to my truck, which already had weak brakes. "Never mind, --Hook it up!" Sure enough a couple of hours later when the truck in front of me made a sudden stop, I rear-ended him.

About half an hour later he called me over and said something like this: "I know what you said earlier, and that makes it my fault. I will probably lose my rank. Unless of course you do not mention that in your report. All you will get is two or three days light arrest (not able to leave the grounds) ". I agreed immediately to do that for him. That can only do me good, right? And I don't care about that light arrest, I stayed in most of the time anyway.