An Anniversary of Sorts.
Sometime around noon today, it occurred to me that I was drafted into the Army forty years ago today. That, in turn, reminded me of my pre-induction physical and the guy who showed up in the dress.
It sure doesn’t seem like forty years ago that I arrived on a cold night at Fort Dix with a busload of guys, mostly shit scared, who were about to have their worlds turned upside down.
Those of you who may be relatively new around the House by the Parkway, might be interested in a series of posts I did describing my adventures in Basic Training at Fort Dix, where I did everything possible to figure out a way to serve my country as a Remington Raider. The links to the posts are here. I reread them from time to time, and I think they’re pretty funny, but maybe you had to be there.
Parkway, your basic training and MSgt Steele stories are some of your best work. Whenever I need a laugh I re-read them.
Comment by Bill — December 12, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
Jimbo:
Thanks for fighting for my freedom in this great nation. God bless you and keep you. You’re a true patriot and your posts keep me laughing.
Comment by Lee — December 13, 2008 @ 2:52 am
For me it was September 8, 1967. Took the physical only two months earlier and a few weeks later, received my draft notice. Still have it, actually. A scary time to be drafted, for sure. Reported to the Perth Amboy draft board at 0600 hours and was on the bus to Newark for another physical by 0830. The sight of my parents and my girlfriend through the rear window of the bus as we slowly pulled away is etched forever in my memory. Basic training was at Fort Dix with many other guys who, sadly, never made it back from Viet Nam. I was fortunate in that the Army awarded me my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) after basic and I was shipped to Fort Gordon, Ga where I would serve the remainder of my term of service. I received orders for Viet Nam once, only to have them rescinded a week later. Indeed, a very interesting time of my life, to say the least. Two years of my life, filled with so many stories. Stories that would be met with nodding approval by anyone who ever served. 😉
Comment by Jerry — December 13, 2008 @ 9:16 am
This time forty years ago I was preparing to come back to the land of the big PX from Turkey where I had been for 3 1/2 years.
I got my notice from ‘Uncle’ in October of 1960 and went into the Air Force instead of the Army..I liked the idea of a military that sent the commissioned officers out to get shot at while the enlisted swine stayed back at the base.
One of the three wise decisions I made in my life..the other two was chase sweetthing until she caught me and retiring when I did.
Comment by GUYK — December 13, 2008 @ 10:43 am
Crazy, I have no idea what forty years even feels like. I can remember stuff that happened 25, even 29-30 years ago, back when I was being potty trained, and naturally it feels like a lifetime ago, but forty? Wow, you were a young’un once (hard to believe)…I demand to see buzzcut pix!
Congrats on your anniversary (of sorts), Hairboy, and thanks for defending my right to spew bullshit in your comments to you all the time. America is great because of peeps like you.
Comment by Erica — December 13, 2008 @ 10:54 am
Wow. And thank you for your service, Sir. I am proud to have made your acquaintance… 🙂
Comment by Richmond — December 13, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
Oh does that bring back memories. I kind of had worse, I had picked a specialty (Military Police) that had One Station Unit Training (OSUT) which combined Basic and Advanced training together, so it was 17 weeks of training with the same drill sgts in Ft. Mcclellan, AL. I went down there in Jan 03 which was a bad winter on the East Coast. One night we got about 3 feet of snow in Al and they had no freaking clue what to do with that much snow. Some of the boys from down South had never seen snow for themselves. The entire base shut down, it was the best 3 days of Basic. We did nothing but try and stay warm and write letters. Because I was a college graduate when I joined, I went in as a Specialist (E-4) and my National Guard unit had given me all of the crap that you put on a uniform before I left. So my class A’s had my rank, my unit patches, my Fruit Loop ribbon (for graduating Basic) and my qualification badges, which were all expert (Rifle, Pistol, Grenade). The active duty people only had their rank (if they had any) and qaulification badges and the Fruit Loop. It was funny how the National Guard and Reserve people had more stuff on our uniforms. I was one of the very few who had expert in both rifle and pistol and the southern boys seemed a bit put out that a Yankee from CT outshot all of them.
I was kind of smart ass and the day we went home (or for the active duty people, to their future duty station) I was wearing jeans, cowboy boots that I had bought down there, a white baseball cap with Military Police on it and a t-shirt I had made at the PX. The t-shirt had an air-brushed image of a drill sergeant’s hat with the red circle around the hat with a red line through it, like the no smoking signs. I don’t think the drill sgt’s appreciated the humor.
Comment by Michael in CT — December 13, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
These are among my favorites in your library! Veteran’s Day wishes did not get sent, and this is a second chance. Thank you for your service, sir!
Comment by jck — December 13, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
Jimbo…..
My Experiences were! …..
1. Preinduction physical & intelligence testing was at Buffalo NY. Many of those 2nd Louies who were in uniform there were people I knew from an ROTC Unit at a college in Erie Pa who I carded for being of age to drink at a bar I worked part time at.
2. The intelligence test was something to behold, all multiple choice or simple association . I really think the intelligence test was whether you were smart enough to put your shoes back on before you went into the toilet`s to pee in the bottle.It sure was not the IQ test they administered.
3. Anyway I & just about everyone were told we were 1A & to expect Induction notices very soon.It was hard to believe , several did flunk though.
4.Now at the time I was married with a wife & one child with another on the way, 26 years old & working at GE who insisted I was needed to support operations,they requested a deferment.
5. I did recieve an induction notice but was placed in a pending file because first I was married with children & was not supposed to be eligible for the draft plus GE had requested a deferment.
6. To be on the safe side,I went to the Air Force recruiting office for potential enlistment & was scheduled for the AQE exam to determine which of four categories would be most suitable after basic training if I chose to enlist.I figured 4 years in the Air Force was better then Nam.
7. I took the exam along with 20 other `s & finished well ahead of the alloted time frame. The testers were perplexed at this & sure I had somehow missed something in the instruction s.
8. Long story short ….I scored 90% + percentile in all four area`s which exasperated the recruiters to no end but allowed me to take another exam to determine foreign language comprehension & aptitude. Somehow I was judged to be of potential for assignment to Air Force Intelligence as an interpreter/translator for Russian if I enlisted,completed Basic at Lackland AFB & then survived an extensive training program in Russian language skills.
9. I was a bit worried as like most I really did not want to go to Nam but would do my duty, but I also did not have a clue as to how I ever qualified for Russian comprehension & aptitude. I was told if I completed the training successfully my duty assignment would be in Europe & that the only reason I could achieve that posting in my first enlistment was the fact I was 26 years old & judged to be more mature then typical 18 or 19 year old recruits……Little did they know.
10. Anyway while pondering this decision , my Draft Board reclassified me due to my Marital status with children & cancelled my induction. They also denied the GE request for a deferment, So much for their influence.
11. The Air Force recruiters tried for quite some time to get me to enlist, even offered continuing education & finally an E-5 rating after completion of all training prior to posting in Europe. I to this day wonder if I should have accepted but My family came first. Were I single at the time it would have been “Off we go into the wild Blue Yonder”
Comment by dudley1 — December 14, 2008 @ 6:58 pm