Page 80 - Firehouse Pond

THE DRAFT LOOMED AS A DARK CLOUD

August 1967

I am:

One-month shy of my nineteenth birthday.
Pearl-diving (dishwashing) in a restaurant.

Pumping gas - we really did provide full service.
Helping pay the rent.
Making car payments.

Putting food on the table.
Trying to survive life day-to-day, and
Married.

I have no idea why I ever thought marriage was the answer. It was not, and
life went from bad to worse in a flash.

Perhaps I was mistakenly thinking I could avoid the draft? I was no more
ready for college, marriage, car payments, rent, and all the rest than I was an
astronaut. But there I was, right in the thick of things.

I was a soon to be 19-year-old teen, married, poor, and not seeing a bright
future. I was unable to juggle school, marriage, bills, and two jobs.

Remember, I was also trying to take classes at the local junior college.
Against the advice of my counselor, I started dropping classes, including a
critical Political Science class.

Seven days after obtaining my “Drop Slip” I was summoned by the
government to report to the Armed Forces Recruiting Station for my

induction exams and physical. I complied, but with an attitude and an idea.

I thought if I just randomly marked any letter on the mark-sense forms, I

would miss most of the questions and be rejected for service.