Page 25 - A Soldiers Exposition

The calendar read 1962-1963:

I was a freshman in high school
The Cuban Missile Crises
The Vietnam Conflict (NOT WAR)
And, the anti-war protestors were the dominant news items.

High school was not easy. Life, in general, was not easy.

I was not a happy fifteen-year-old boy. Too many serious things that I could not comprehend were
happening so fast that it confused the crap out of me every day.

We continued to be poor, and my school’s extra-curricular activities, aka sports, cost money we did not
have.

I was a poor skinny kid with marginal grades but somehow managed to be chosen to play junior varsity
sports. Baseball was the one sport for me, and it only cost the price of a glove, which I already had.

They say we all have a “significant” day that we will never forget.

I have several of those days and will share a few as we progress.

November 22, 1963:

I am in my algebra class wishing I was anywhere other than in algebra class.

The principal’s voice screeched from the speaker:

“May I have your attention, please?”

The President of The United States of America has been shot and killed.

All students are to be released early.

Pray for our fallen President and for our country.”

We were young.
But we knew our world was about to change.

From 1963 to August 1967 I struggled to find my way. We continued to be poor and I knew there had to
be a better way. August 1967 - Uncle Sam called my name and…