CityView Magazine

May/June 2012

CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC

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ing well past the normal period of drill time. "Thankfully, we were told that the regiment would only do one more pass and review, march in, and be released. Finally," Anthony said. But the company commander was not satisfied. He turned area tours. No disciplinary action. And no more over zealous company commander. Bill Freccia, a Fayetteville endodontist (and a member of around and told the company that they were going to prove that they were the best company in the regiment and would stay on the parade field and do one more pass and review all by ourselves. "I'd had it," Anthony said. "I was a front rank squad leader along with seven of my other cow classmates. I was the short- est and on the end. I remember looking down the line and saying, 'Fellas, I'm not doing this again. I'm going to jujistu practice. I'm not going to be part of this spotlighting.'" An- thony tried to convince the rest that if they all stuck together when they made that final turn toward the sallyports, they could march the entire company back to the company area "because the company is going to follow us, not the CO, Pla- toon Leaders, and guideon," Anthony recalled. One of Anthony's buddies agreed. "From there it was like dominoes," he said. As they made the final leſt turn march and headed toward the sallyports, they steadied themselves for their mutiny. The CO gave the "leſt turn, MARCH" com- mand for them to reform on the parade field. The CO turned, followed by the guideon and then the four platoon leaders, and they marched the entire company through the sallyports yelling, "I-BEAM, I-BEAM, I-BEAM!" "I remember looking back and seeing those six lonely ca- USMA class of 1967) wishes he had gotten in a little more trouble during his West Point years. "I wish that I had served 20 more hours 'walking the area' so that I could have become a lifetime member of the illustrious 'Century Club'", Freccia said. "The majority of my 80 hours of punishment tours came with a slug that I received the day before graduation for the Class of 1966. As a prank while marching in the graduation parade for that class, Freccia hid a very small transistor radio in his full dress coat then he turned the radio on and had rock and roll playing for his fellow cadets. "Of course, I turned the radio off during our Present Arms for the playing of 'The Star Spangled Banner'," he noted. Aſter the parade, a Firstie (a graduating senior) reported him, and Freccia received a "slug" consisting of 44 demerits, 66 punishment tours walk- ing the area, and three months confinement to be served in the fall of his Firstie year during football season. He was able to attend his Ring Hop, though, where Millie, his wife of 43 years, was his "drag" (date). As luck would have it, Freccia eventually had a chance to dets standing all alone on the parade field. Priceless," Antho- ny said. "We received a pretty harsh verbal reprimand from our company commander and then our CO TAC Officer pulled us into his office for the same thing. But then he fin- ished with, 'You guys know you are wrong, but that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life,'" Anthony recalled. And the punishment for the mutiny was ... nothing. No get even with the officer who issued the punishment. A few years ago he and Millie were at the Applebee's on Raeford Road one Sunday aſternoon and they met the Colonel who "slugged" him. That man had retired from the Army as a Lieutenant General and Chief of the Army Corps of Engi- neers. "He told Millie that he would never have slugged me and Millie replied 'Yes Sir, you sure did!'" Bill said. A week or two aſter that meeting, the general called their home and spoke to Millie. He said that it was pay back time for Bill be- cause he needed a root canal. But, showing the old General some mercy, Bill examined him and said he only needed a filling. "And that's the end of the story," Bill said, smiling. CV that nurtures the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of all those we serve. We are dedicated to providing compassionate care in a manner with a community focused approach. Spacious rehabilitation gym with Specializing in short term rehabilitation and recovery state of the art therapy equipment. 910.689.0150 www.haymountrehab.com 2346 Barrington Circle Fayetteville, NC 28303 Individual private suites that create a comfortable, home like environment. Discharge planning services that promote a safe transition back home. 523 Country Club Drive Fayetteville, NC 28301 910.488.0711 www.wpnursing.com CityViewNC.com | 41

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