A Brief Retreat

In my previous stories about getting my Driver's License at 14, I failed to mention that it did not last uninterrupted until now.  

There was a small break in 1966.  My license expired while I was in basic training at Ft. Polk, and I sort of had other things on my mind at the time.

Once I arrived at my permanent duty station at Ft. Hood, and was assigned my own jeep like the one above, I was able to remedy that situation.  I learned that a representative of the Texas DPS came to Ft. Hood one day a week and gave driver's exams on base.  I got permission from my commanding officer, took the afternoon off, and drove my US Army jeep to take the test.

The exam almost went without a hitch, but it was late in the day when we got started, and I had to stop mid-exam, get out of the jeep and stand at attention for Retreat.

I later learned that, because of the circumstances, I really hadn't been required to take the driver's test again.  All I really needed to do was pay the fee and my license would have been reinstated.