We talk about a military draft lets go to 1968

[blues90]

You were required to register by your 18th birthday , there was much chatter about the results of not doing so . I knew what the situation was in vienam , you did keep informed without fail .

It was not long before you recieved in the mail offers to join the air force the navy , and so on . Each made the other look like a bad choice and offered vaious reasons why they made these claims .

I must add each letter that had anything to do with military on the envelope did send a bit of fear down your spine , you never knew what and when , I did know I was not into killing . One day it was the induction center envelope which contained instructions and a train ticket and a date , this was for your physical exam .

driving to the station in Palatine Illinois you imagine all the worst , it is serious now , you park and find close to 100 others waiting for this train and soon fine each and everyone there was born of the same day of the month and the same year as you , it appeared birthdays were used to mark the day for each of us . The train pulls in and of the two passenger cars step off ten army outfitted men , each now in full control , no talking no eating and show respect . We reached the train depot in chicago and were marched military style to the induction center perhaps ten blocks away . You are taken in groups to do a written test and then you are told to loose all clothing other than your underwear and shoes and file in one long line from one testing room to the next for the next 10 hours . I must say the blod test was my favorite , you are in a row of lines by now drenched in sweat for the heat there is a row of white curtains as you step up you cannot see , you are told to reach in your arm and are pulled into a chair with a sweat soaked set and stabbed with a needle . One fellow peeked which was not allowed and passed out , we were told to walk around him .

While you were there rumours of going off to training camp direct from there spread , you wondered if you would be one , there was no doubt this were true , fear had you . Once it was finally over and you once again had your clothes back on they offered you a real army meal if you desired , I passed and headed for the steel stairwell with a bee line to the station . I heard clammor , it was the fellows on the train who sat next to me and all around wondering if they could really leave .

There were the offers of the buddy system and no one I knew ever saw a buddy , many i knew never came back and some i knew were never the same again .

The worst part of all was to finally find out they all died or were damaged for nothing , for nothing and not one of these 18 year old young men I came across in the entire induction center had the desire or the look or the manner to desire to kill .

[Lars39]

1. k&r Good post.

Glad you're here;we need your voice. :hug:

[AndyTiedye]

2. As If That Were Not Enough, The Baleful Effects of The Draft On Kids…

…began far before many of them were more than dimly aware of the war.

Bullying was tolerated (and even encouraged) in school. The view
was that the weaker kids needed to be "toughened up" to survive the
military. It didn't work, of course. What it really did was
destroy whatever confidence we might have had.

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