Sergeant Major O'Malley

Sergeant Major O'Malley, Seventh Cavalry, had served nigh on three decades. He rose through the ranks havin' served in squads, companies and brigades. Second lieutenants were nuisances and he treated them as if they didn't exist! He took recalcitrant lads behind the barracks to administer discipline with his fist! You'd better have your horse and tack lookin' keen for Saturday mornin' parades, Or Sergeant Major O'Malley would sear the ozone with his thunderin' tirades! He'd escort you to the stables to shovel manure if you ever mistreated a horse! Sergeant Major O'Malley's colorful lingo left one with a feelin' of remorse! He had absolutely no patience with the foibles of raw and bumblin' recruits. Lord have mercy on the hapless lad who failed to shine his saber and his boots! Should a trooper snooze in the saddle when escortin' the colonel's stage, Sergeant Major O'Malley would stomp and rave unleashin' a towerin' rage! At the break of dawn when reveille sounded, he'd burst through the barracks door, Yellin' "Up and at 'em me lads! Outta them bunks! What am I a-payin' ye for! Ye sorry excuses fer sojers! Hie to the stables! Them hosses needs oats and hay! And when that's done, git back here to eat yer grub and scrub this filthy bay!" Things were different when he dismounted his horse and entered his house! The one who gave orders and 'wore the stripes' at home was his formidable spouse! He meekly responded to her constant commands with a resigned, "Yes, my dear." "Taps" was a welcome sound at close of day in Sergeant Major O'Malley's ear! Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired © All Rights Reserved