A Country Boy From Pitkin

As a Lieutenant Colonel, my first assignment to the Army staff in the Pentagon including arranging foreign military visits to Army installations in the U.S.  One of the more interesting tours I arranged was for two army officers from Cameroon.  I knew this tour would be different from the others because I had learned from our military attache in Cameroon that although the senior officer was a colonel and the other officer was a major, the major was a prince in the royal family.  Of course, that brought up a host of questions from my protocol officers at the installations.  The guidance I received was when the two officers were in military uniform, the colonel was in charge.  He should receive the honors from any honor guard and any gift offered by any of our commanders;  all deference would be paid to  him as long as the two officers were in military uniform.  However, when they changed into civilian clothes for any dinner, reception, etc. the prince would be the honoree.  My protocol officers were very nervous about the unusual circumstances of this visit, but our attache assured me the Cameroonian officers understood the delicacy of the situation, and said that we shouldn't worry.  All of their visits to our military installations went well.  When they got to Washington, D.C., the Cameroonian Ambasssador threw a gigantic, formal reception in one of the largest hotel ballrooms in the city.  My wife, Katherine, and I were invited to the event.  I did not own a complete civilian tuxedo at that time, but I had a "Fort Sill tuxedo" that consisted of tux pants, a formal, ruffled white shirt, a red bow tie and cummerbund and a fire engine Artillery red blazer.  Folks, that is as formal as you can get at the Artillery Center in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  Katherine and I went to the reception, and when we walked into the ballroom, with more that 1,000 guests in attendance, we immediately noticed that about 100 other men were dressed exactly like me--the hotel cocktail waiters!  Katherine was so embarrassed I thought she would faint.  She said, "We must turn around now and beat a hasty retreat and go home."  I said, "No, we got all dressed up for this gig, and we are going to stay and have a good time."  All evening, people kept coming up to me and ordering drinks.  I did make some serious tip money that evening.  (Just kidding).