Entering the Army

Entering the Army

by Jay M Richardson

     Following my graduation from college, Uncle Sam (US Army) demanded that I spend two years in the army.  I rode a bus from my home to the Army Base in El Paso, Texas in the summer of 1956.  To my surprise as I was coming in to the sign-in, I ran into my best friend from college, who was also being drafted.  He had arrived there two days earlier, but for some reason they had not yet assigned him to report to the Army Base.  We therefore were able to report together and then spend eight weeks together during basic training at the Base.  

     What’s more, it happened that one of the chaplains was a Mormon and when he learned of me and my buddy, he received permission for us to ride with him from the Army Base to the middle of El Paso for church meetings for a couple of weeks, and the rest of the time to go to church on our own.  We were the only Mormons in our company and were the only ones of the company that got to leave the base. At the church we also found several relatives and friends. What a blessing!  I am sure Heavenly Father was looking out for us.