John Walch is a hard guy to miss. He's big, burly, more than a little hairy and is about the most loyal member of the 973rd we have.
Nicknamed "Ox," he goes through life at full speed. I mean full speed. During an airsoft game a couple years ago, he charged across a bridge wearing camo pants, boots and eyepro. Yep, shirtless, he stormed headlong into multiple 400 FPS automatic weapons, emerging with so many BB strikes on his bare chest that he looked like the first known case of small pox since the 1960's.
Ox has one objective in life: join the National Guard and serve in the infantry. Problem: he can't pass the ASVAB. John's dyslexic, something that his school system apparently missed. Even though he knows more about basic soldiering than anyone other than the infantrmen who do it for a living, his dyslexia has kept him from scoring well enough to achieve his goal.
I think a lot of educators probably wrote Ox off as just not that bright. Not true. John's deceptively intelligent, and working with him in the field convinced me that he's frequently misread or misunderstood.
Enter two remarkable individuals: Bethany Jones and SSG Aaron Cochran. Aaron is one of the lynchpin NCO's in Alpha Company, 2-162, and he identified Ox's learning disability and offered to tutor him. Aaron lives in Springfield, Ox lives in Salem and doesn't have a driver's license yet, so Bethany Jones has been taken Ox down to the Alpha Co. armory twice a week for almost six months. Long into the evening, Aaron has been teaching Ox how to overcome his dyslexia and succeed at the ASVAB.
Last month, Ox retook the test and scored higher than he's ever scored before. He's not quite there, but I've got no doubt that he will continue to make progress and succeed. Every spare moment, I see him studying for the test. He takes a ratty book of sample questions and pages of dog-eared notes wherever he goes, so he can study every chance he gets.
If the Guard recruited for heart alone, Ox would be #1 on their list. This kid has the biggest heart I've ever seen.
In the field at Rilea this past week, Ox carried an M240 Bravo machine gun. He learned to load it, fire it, clear jams and break it down in a matter of a few brief minutes of instruction. During the missions he and I were together, I watched him calmly clear jams and get the 240 firing again in high pressure situations.
Now, truth be told, we're not entirely sure that Ox is a full-blooded human. Rumor has it that his materinal grandmother slept with a bigfoot, which would make him a quarter Sasquatch. This would explain his hairiness and the absolutely foul stenches that he emits after a day in the field. He has been known to demolish restrooms, and more than one has been declared a biohazard after his visits. It is also a very, very bad idea to let Ox eat peanut butter straight from the jar, as apparently that nourishes some sort of half-formed twin inisde him that his body has been partially digesting since birth. The resultant evacuations from his orifices send women and children fleeing in terror and force the rest of us to don level three containment suits.
But for those who know and love Ox, and I count myself among that group, his quarter Sasquatch is part of his charm. In the field, he's a rock. Give him an assignment, he'll drive through granite walls to get it done exactly as you've specified. When the 973rd returns to Rilea this month to support another round of field training exercises with the RTI, Ox will be one of our loyal stalwarts.
Someday, he'll put on the uniform he so badly wants to wear. And when that day comes, I know I'll be there, along with the rest of the 973rd. That'll be a moment I will never forget. Life is all about setting goals and achieving them. At 21, Ox is already halfway there.
Wow John I am so proud of you!! I will keep you in my prayers always. I know you can pass your ASVAB, I have always had faith you! Good Luck!!
Posted by: Heather Lor (Belshe) | May 06, 2009 at 12:26 AM