"Lawn Darts"
Appeared in: The Southern Review, Louisianna State University
Humorous piece of creative nonfiction that mixes historical vignettes with Stephen Graf’s real-life experience at the United States Army Airborne (Paratrooper) school.
"So it was that on that first day, while the numbers were being assigned, I had my first piece of luck. An Airborne class usually consists of a couple of hundred candidates. Everyone is given a three-digit number, which is affixed to the front of the Kevlar helmet, and that is the only thing he or she will be called for the next three weeks. The numbering system is arbitrary; no one gets to select his own number."