The Streit Gunners' drill training had become a local attraction in Rosenheim.
The crowds had thinned compared to the early days, but plenty of people still gathered in small groups, despite the cold, to watch the gunners drilling hard with their brilliant red coats flapping.
And the recruits, perhaps wanting to look impressive for the onlookers, kept their shouts booming and their faces stern, moving with knife-edge precision to the calls of training instructor Erich and the veterans.
Was this perhaps the first time these troublemakers, once written off as family screwups or unwanted burdens, had ever gotten this much attention? From the moment they joined the gunners, they'd transformed into splendid soldiers.
Taking pride in the organization you belong to is a good thing.
"What do you make of the Streit Gunners?"
Today, I'd brought someone along.
