I completed my Advanced Individual Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. This training center sent more soldiers to Vietnam than any other American training base. It was considered one of the toughest infantry programs in the Army. Tiger Land was a special area set up to mimic conditions found in southeast Asia.

Our barracks were built as tempory structures in 1942. They had only recently been converted from coal furnaces to gas heat so we no longer had to have a nightly fire watch. There were hardly any other upgrades since WW II. We lovingly referred to the place as Fort Puke, Lousyiana - the arm pit of the Army. (The suave guy on the left is yours truly)