Uncommonly Hobert: “When Things Get Tough”.

Yesterday’s post has kept me thinking about my old pal, BOOTPRINTS author and 90th Infantry Division soldier,  Hobert Winebrenner.  Then I came across another of his quirky notes.  Ready for the latest installment of Uncommonly Hobert?

“When Things Get Tough

Hobert Winebrenner - 358th Infantry

“Dig a hole in your backyard while it is raining.  Sit in the hole while the water climbs up around your ankles.  Pour cold mud down your shirt collar.  Sit there for forty-eight hours … and so there is no danger of your dozing off, imagine that a guy is sneaking around waiting for a chance to club you on the head or set your house on fire.  Get out of the hole.  Fill a suitcase full of rocks.  Pick it up.  Put a shotgun in your other hand and walk on the muddiest road you can find.  Fall flat on your face every few minutes, as you imagine big meteors streaking down to sock you.  …Snoop around until you find a bull.  Try to figure out a way to sneak around him without letting him see you.  When he does see you, run like hell all the way back to your hole in the back yard, drop the suitcase and shotgun, and get in.  If you repeat this performance every three days for several months you may begin to understand why an infantryman gets out of breath.  But you still won’t understand how he feels ‘when things get tough.’”

4 Responses to “Uncommonly Hobert: “When Things Get Tough””

  1. Jane Stroup says:

    I love these segments of “Uncommonly Hobert”!!

  2. mikemccoy says:

    Thanks Jane,

    Hobert was truly one-of-a-kind. I still find myself thinking about him often.

  3. Kara Winebrenner Kehoe says:

    Thanks for writing about my grandpa! I haven’t seen your website before, but am so glad you are remembering him…

  4. mikemccoy says:

    Hi Kara,

    I will never forget your grandpa, Hobert. I still come across little reminders all the time. Take care.

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