Page 28 - A Soldiers Exposition

UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU!

August 4, 1967:

Another one of those “significant” days of my life; I dropped a Political Science class. Seven days after
dropping one too many classes, I was “summoned” by the government to report to the Armed Forces
Recruiting Station in Fresno, California, for my induction exams and physical.

11 August 1967: (Note the military format for writing the date)

Another one of those “significant” days of my life (I was too young to have so many of these days…).
Smart old me: I thought that if I just randomly marked any letter on the mark-sense forms, I would miss
most of the questions and be rejected for service. Little did I know that what it really did was label me as
“untrainable” except for service as an Infantryman. [Note: I capitalize Infantryman because I hold the
Infantry soldier in high honor.]

Before I could say yes sir, I was a proud member of the United States Army.

And, I was officially a high school dropout because of that one extra physical education class. Oh, the
choices we make.

I was on a bus headed to the airport for a short, but a very long flight to Seattle, Washington, and a long
but short bus ride to Fort Lewis, Washington, to start Basic Combat Training (BCT). The wooden
barracks were vintage WWII: Cold, wet, and complete with natural air conditioning – holes in the walls
large enough to put our hands through.

Give Me A Ticket for An Aero Plane by Jefferson Airplane was playing on the radio in the mess hall and
Ode to Billy Jo by Bobbie Gentry followed.

All sorts of thoughts went through my mind as life as I had known it was changing at breakneck speed. I
was instantly certain that I was screwed!

I was in the Army and no high school diploma equaled a fast track to the Infantry.

The Infantry equaled… well, it was 1967, and The Vietnam War was a reality.

Oh, those choices… mine caught up with me in a big way.

It did not take long for me to wise up and realize that I needed to do something, anything, to change my
course and NOT be an Infantry soldier. I was too skinny, too young, and too scared to be an Infantry
soldier.

Thankfully, we were re-tested during basic training, and suddenly, I was a lot smarter. I took my time,
scored well, and set the table for my career in the Army.

Basic training was just that: Basic. We marched, did physical training (PT), marched a little more, ate
really great food; no kidding, “Three hots and a cot.” felt pretty good. Because I was so skinny, I was
allowed, ok; ordered to eat an extra meal and a snack every day. This poor boy had struck gold.