Master Sergeant Alfie
One day he assembled the training battalion and announced, "Private Monroe, take one step forward." Private Monroe took one step forward, and the sergeant bellowed, "Private Monroe. Report to the chaplain; your mother just died." Monroe just crumbled and fainted dead away from shock.
Later that day, the battalion commander chewed out the master sergeant: "You're going to have to learn something about TACT. You just can't yell at a man and tell him his mother just died. The next time you're called on for this duty, you'd better do it in a more compassionate way."
It just so happened that the very next day, another soldier's mother died, and the MSGT assembled the troops again. "All you whose mother is living" he shouted, "take one step forward. NOT SO FAST, TAYLOR!"
Originally published November 14, 2002.
