Batman and Robin
By
Berry Michel
After finishing basic training, I was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas as my first duty station. Fort Hood was one the nation’s largest military bases. Even back then in 1995, Fort Hood had a penchant for craziness. It was so crazy there, I felt like I was back home. I was immediately drawn to people that reminded me of my old crew. Most of these fellow soldiers were from the deep south and introduced this east coast Virginia boy to some new tricks. I had never had the southern classic of grits until I moved to Fort Hood. My new crew educated me on this salty buttery lovable dish amongst other things.
Fort Hood was a military machine. It was large being home to two Army divisions. My days were filled with soldiering. We spent a lot of time in the field training and preparing for the next war. Since we worked so hard, we played even harder as young testosterone filled men. Even though I was underage, I often found myself drunk and hungover the next day. We would drink our nights away and show up for physical training at 6:30 a.m. still wreaking of alcohol. We were young back then so we could easily manage.
One of the young men that I rolled with back in the Fort Hood days was Watermelon (not his real name). Watermelon was from Mississippi and his southern charm was often unnoticed because of his general disregard for following rules. Watermelon was tall and handsome, so he was popular with the ladies. Which also drew me to hanging out with him. I figured I might be able to catch some of his strap hangers.
Watermelon lived by his own rules, much like the people I was used to being around. Watermelon and I became fast friends and were inseparable. I refer to us as Batman and Robin as we both thought we were invincible back then. Watermelon was Batman and I was his faithful sidekick, Robin. As Batman and Robin, Watermelon and I ran the streets of central Texas from Killeen to Austin. We had many memorable nights on Sixth Street in Austin, and it was there that I realized Texas was the place for me. Things for me there were so different from Virginia. I felt popular and that I had a chance to recreate myself however I wanted to in the lone star state.
My early Texas days were fun, but I would soon realize that Watermelon was probably not the best influence for a young soldier just starting his career. Watermelon often managed to get himself in trouble with our superiors, and most of the time when he found himself in trouble I was usually somewhere nearby. Due to my close affiliation with Watermelon, I was labeled a troublemaker and I was on my superiors’ radar.
Because I was labeled, I was often targeted during surprise room inspections in the middle of the night and for random drug testing. I maybe crazy, but it appeared that the same group of soldiers were always at the random urinalysis, and it appeared that we all were mostly minorities and were viewed negatively by our leadership. Eventually, Watermelon was getting regularly punished with demotion in rank, forfeiture of pay, and extra duty.
However, none of that mattered to me. Watermelon was my friend, so I remained loyal to him even if it meant my own demise. Fortunately, it was not in the cards for me to remain at Fort Hood. During my time in basic, I had applied to attend the West Point Preparatory School. I would find out just a few months after arriving to Fort Hood that I would be leaving that summer to attend the Prep School. I would only serve six months on my initial Army tour in Texas.
I remember my unit first sergeant telling me before I left that I was lucky that Watermelon didn’t destroy my Army career before it got started. That first sergeant reminded me that people like Watermelon were corrosive and that it was best to avoid people like that in life. In retrospect, that first sergeant was right. Although I considered Watermelon my brother, he was just too untamed to ever acclimate to the Army’s system of discipline and standards. So much as I appreciated Watermelon’s friendship, I took that first sergeant’s advice and left behind the back home attitudes that both Watermelon and I displayed. I learned a valuable lesson from Batman. You are the company you keep and surrounding yourself with negative people only brings negativity into your life. I also learned to make my own decisions and not simply follow. In essence, I became my own Batman, and I decided I would positively interact with my new Army environment. It was hard to say goodbye to Watermelon, but I did what I had to do. I never interacted with anyone like Watermelon ever again in my Army career, but that is not to diminish what his friendship meant to me. Watermelon was a young African American man, just like me, who was having a hard time adjusting to the Army. The only difference between Watermelon and I was that I made a choice to be different. I lost touch with Watermelon after I left Fort Hood. I did know he was well on his way to getting kicked out of the Army when I left. Even though we have never spoken again, I sincerely hope that Watermelon eventually learned how to think and react differently to his environment. Regardless of the environment, we choose how we react in life and whether there are negative or positive consequences to our actions. I am not saying that environment is not a huge complicating factor. However, I deeply believe that you can transcend your environment based on how you perceive the world and the decisions you make. Choosing to have a positive impact is a personal choice that I have made ever since my infamous Batman and Robin days, and I am so glad I found my own inner superhero and stopped being a sidekick.
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