Lumpy

Nicknames were not uncommon in the Army and somehow I got one. I don't know who gave it to me but I know it was someone from another squad. I really hated it, at first. There was a bit of competition between the squads and I think this was an attempt to cause some disharmony. No matter what I did I just couldn't keep people from calling me 'Lumpy'. Well if you can't beat them then join then so I gave in and I took on the new nickname.

I was known throughout the rest of my Army career as Lumpy. I'm sure there were guys in Vietnam that didn't know my real first name. It was always just Lumpy. After the Army I worked a summer at a Boy Scout camp and I went by Lumpy during that summer.

In retrospect I'm glad that I got that nickname. It has special meaning to me now.