OFF SCREEN: And was there a lot of military activity, like marching, and bugle call.?

BALLARD: No OFF SCREEN: Or was it very relaxed?

BALLARD: We got up every morning by the bugle. We did our calisthenics, just like we was in the service.

Then we broke and got our sticks and picked up cigarette butts all over the park. Then we ate breakfast.

Then went to work. That's the way it was. A man came around and checked you and made sure you were on the job. He had a pad and checked it.

I know one time I thought my dad wanted me for a weekend at home. I thought I'd go home and help him for a weekend.

I didn't have a vehicle up here, he had the vehicle down there. So all I did was hitchhike home.

Well, it's pretty rough to across the country this way. The highways run the other way.

But anyway, I went. Coming back, I didn't make it back in time. Couldn't get back, no way in the world. So I was AWOL for a day and a half.

Of course, the guy taking the enrollment, he marked me down on the job, but I wasn't here. I couldn't get here.