Commandant
M. McDermott was given a hair rising experience...
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Camp Clark
There is no limit
to Irish creativity when it comes to charity. Just ask Commandant
M. McDermott. He lost his head to colleagues who paid 2500 DM
in order to shave off his hair and mustache.
When the 2 Irish
Transport Coy clubbed together for their charity bazaar the tufts
of hair swirled around the pub floor. Irishmen offered their crops
of hair and mustaches in a charity auction for a local mental
institution. For five-DM they wrote their name on a note and placed
all the notes in a hat. Then they drew lots, and those who were
picked out could choose the next person to get his or her head
shaven.
The plot
One of the guests,
Else Millier from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, asked how much
it would cost to shave the Commandant's head.
"I told her I
would do it for 2500 DM, only to find out that the whole thing
was orchestrated. They had already collected the money in advance"
said McDermott.
Thus the Commandant
was pulled aside and given a hair rising experience, the soldiers
queued up to have a go at their commanding officer. But McDermott
stood by his word as an officer and a gentleman, and the mental
hospital got 6000-DM altogether from the Irish fund raising.
Not all beer
and skittles
There was also
a serious aspect of the charity fund. The mental institution is
multicultural, looking after Serbs, Romas, and Albanians. McDermott
points out that a lesson can be learned from the charity auction:
"In Ireland there
has been conflict between Protestants and Catholics throughout
the centuries, in a way quite similar to Kosovo. But our peace
process has changed this step by step, and now Protestants and
Catholics can work in cooperation. Like Else Millier and me for
example, 25 Years ago it wouldn't have been possible because she
is protestant and I'm catholic but now we get along fine. Remember
that it was Else who took my hair," said a smiling Commander McDermott.
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