Subject: Re: humping the boonies at 42?

Assuming you survive the current regime's use of you as cannon fodder.

Every guy in my generation needed to think about how to deal with the issue. The smart ones enlisted in the Navy or Air Force, before they were drafted into humping the boonies in 'Nam. Every guy my age remembers his draft number, because that random number had the power to change your life, or end it. One guy I chatted with a few years ago, had an insane number, around 15-16. He ran to the Navy recruiter the day after the numbers were published in the newspaper, and enlisted. He had not been in Great Lakes two weeks, when his mom received his induction notice in the mail. She took the letter down to the Navy recruiter. The Chief messed with her a bit, said something like "well, if he would really rather be in the Army, we can release him so he can be drafted". Then he said "We have him. The Army can't have him. I'll take care of it". His mom never heard from the draft board again.

It was only the guys who failed to plan, who ended up humping the boonies, watching their friends get picked off by booby-traps and snipers.

Steve