F Troop and Other Citadel Stories

A Mutual Friend

136 A Mutual Friend Patti Lazicki was a heartbreaker. A real heartbreaker. Even as a child. As she grew up, she became a Greek goddess. She and Sammy Graham knew each other as children. They were playmates and classmates in school.Patti’s family lived on Sumter Street on the Charleston peninsula in a large, white, two story, frame house, with wide piazzas. Sammy’s family lived around the corner on South Tracy Street in a much smaller Charleston single house. Patti and Sammy were the same age and they were in the same grade at Mitchell Elementary School. From first grade on, with other neighborhood kids, they walked to school together in the mornings and back home together in the afternoons. With other kids, they played together in the neighborhood and on the Mitchell playground. Patti’s family was Greek. After regular school ended, along with other Greek kids, Patti was required to attend Greek school at the Greek Orthodox Church, a few blocks away on Race Street, several afternoons a week. The Greek school kids were allowed a recess period and sometimes Sammy and other non-Greek kids from the neighborhood would play with them during their recess. As Patti grew older, the prettier and prettier she became. She didn’t notice, but Sammy was rather taken with her. By the time she reached high school she was a real beauty. Tall, slim, and curvaceous. Long, raven black hair. Dark, creamy skin. Big brown eyes. A lovely face. Lovelier ways. Sammy, a bit of a nerd, worshiped her from afar. Sammy never told Patti and if Patti ever noticed, she never said anything to Sammy. Patti was very popular, but she always found time for Sammy. They remained the best of friends. Following their freshman year in high 137 A Mutual Friend school, Sammy’s family moved from the city of Charleston to the suburbs of West Ashley, and Patti and Sammy lost touch. Sammy began his knob year at the Citadel in the fall of 1964. Unknown to Sammy, Patti enrolled at the College of Charleston that same fall. Knob year Sammy’s squad leader was cadet sergeant Elliott Johnson, a junior, and the assistant squad leader was cadet corporal Dana Weller, a sophomore . Weller happened to be the roommate of F Company guidon corporal John Osterhout. The squad leader and assistant squad leader were the two upperclassmen most directly involved in administering the plebe system to the knobs. Some upperclassmen were downright mean and went way overboard, inflicting serious physical abuse to the knobs. Neither Johnson nor Weller misused their authority. They were both hardnosed and tough, but fair. As hard as the system was, Sammy felt fortunate to be in their squad. That fall, shortly after Thanksgiving and several weeks before the Christmas break as Sammy stood bracing at his assigned place in the squad during a Sunday evening formation, he was approached by Weller. There was nothing unusual in this.Weller inspected the knobs in the squad at almost every formation. Weller had just finished looking at Sammy’s brass, turning his brass belt buckle over to look at the back as well as the front, when he stepped back, smiled broadly, and said, “Mr. Graham, I’ve just met a most interesting young lady. We spent an enjoyable time together this weekend. Old friend of yours, I believe. She asked me to ask you if you remembered her. Do you remember Patti Lazicki?” A name Sammy had not spoken nor heard spoken in quite a while. There could not be more than one Patti Lazicki. It had to be her. Sammy was pleased Patti remembered him. He couldn’t think of any possible reason for his being a topic of conversation between Patti Lazicki and Dana Weller. He couldn’t help smiling. “I take it you remember her,”Weller said. “Yes, sir,” said Sammy, still smiling. “Wipe that smile off your face, mister,”Weller said.“She’s Miss Lazicki to you now, knoblet. Suppose you drop down and do fifteen pushups in 138 F Troop and Other Citadel Stories honor of Miss Lazicki.”Sammy hit the quad for fifteen.When he was done he popped back up and resumed bracing. “At ease, Graham. So, anything you can tell me about Miss Lazicki? Anything I should know? Anything you can tell me that might be of benefit in my courtship of Miss...