Posted on 02/28/2015
Yokosuka, Japan, Naval Base, Day of Release, 1994
Four Marines rush into the room and I was sure I was about to go back to jail. The Commander waved them off and told them everything was okay. What a sigh of relief. "Lance Corporal Redditt, I can't begin to imagine what you went through and I know this is a lot being thrown at you right now, but this is the decision that was made." "Sir, I..." "Marine! Don't interrupt me. I'm not finished. I know you are upset now, but trust me, you will thank me later. If we discharge you now it would be a bad conduct discharge. And we don't have grounds for discharging you in that manner because you weren't convicted of a crime in America and the crimes in Japan were misdemeanors. So we have no grounds to discharge you, period." After about a hour I calmed down and I asked the Commander if I could at least go home on leave to see my son. "Lance Corporal Redditt, you and I both know if I allow you to go home on leave you won't come back. You would be AWOL and then you would get a dishonorable discharge. Lance Corporal, you have been through so much. And yes, this was a terrible experience, but why mess up the rest of your life by going AWOL? You may hate me now, but trust me, years down the line you will thank me." I didn't know it then, but those were some of the truest words ever spoken.
Palm Beach Gardens, FL, February 28, 2015
24 years later and some of the mental scars still remain. I still can't stand to hear people whistle. It actually drives me insane. It takes me back to every time Hitler, Stalin or Punk ass whistled. I heard a whistle and I knew an ass whooping was coming. Today, I have a lot of family members and friends that whistle. That leaves me with one mission, stop the whistling! I came up with a good method a few years ago on how to deal with it. Every time a person whistles, I engage them in conversation so that they would talk instead of whistle. It works 95 percent of the time. The other 5 percent? I find an excuse to leave! It's amazing that after so many years that still affects me. I still can't sleep in a room if the door isn't locked. I never sleep in a bedroom with the door being open. I still feel the need to be able to prepare myself if someone were to come in while I am sleeping. This used to drive my wife crazy. I have gotten better about letting people touch me. I am still an extreme germaphobe, but I am better about shaking hands and letting people touch me. My wife can even wake me up now by touching me, instead of calling my name repeatedly because I would freak out if she touched me to wake me. It is and has definitely been a process but the scars are healing.
Iwakuni & Yokosuka, Japan, 1994 & early 1995
I went back into the Marine Corps and I served my time in Iwakuni, Japan, doing the job that I was assigned to do. And I must say this, I did my job phenomenally well, perhaps better than anyone that had ever held that position before or after me. But I'll tell you what, it is unreal how God works. Three months after I was released from Prison, I stepped back inside the walls of the Yokosuka Prison to come face to face with Punk ass, Stalin and Hitler again. There is no other explanation other than, it had to be God....
To be continued in my book. Release date will be announced here first!
Copyright February 2015 by Sheldon Redditt
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