You're in the army now!!

Ah yes, Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Basic training, 8 weeks of hell!! Those two years of ROTC at Cornell counted for nothing, I'm a private E-1, probably heading for Vietnam infantry duty. Screw that, I'll sign up for another year, become a Preventive Medicine technician, and get out alive. That was pretty much my thought process; I'll sacrifice another year of my life to hopefully save my life. Sure I can shoot a rifle real well, but killing a deer or woodchuck is a lot different than killing another human being! In fact I even tried to claim that I was a conscientious objector not really knowing what a conscientious objector was. That got a lot brass's attention and when they explained it to me I just said "no, I guess I'm not a C.O. then."



It was hot and dusty at Ft. Jax but I was still in pretty good physical shape and I tried real hard to do my best. I won an inspection contest and got an afternoon off from training. While I was sitting on my bed, my platoon sergeant, a 19 year old kid, came in and ordered me to come with him. I refused and promptly found myself on K.P. in the N.C.O. mess hall for the remaining 5 weeks of training. That was O.K. because I got to watch the 1968 world series on TV in the mess hall. God works in mysterious ways! After eight weeks I was sent to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Tx. for my medical training. It was like heaven! We had eight hours of classes from Monday through Friday, very little duty, an off- post pass and weekends free! I did take advantage of this in many ways, which I don't feel like discussing here! I was at last regaining my self esteem. I felt like I was doing something important, and while I still used alcohol, I was having fun at the same time; a different scenario for me. The schooling ended in late January, 1969, and of course I got my orders for Vietnam; but first, a 30 day leave back in Walton! During the leave I got to see a lot of old friends, officially say good by to my estranged wife, and have a legendary blowout send-off party! I flew from JFK to San Francisco, spent a few days sightseeing and shipped out on March 1, 1969, for the greatest adventure of my life.