Yes, at the time the 5th ranked college in the country. But I graduated in 1970, and after SDS shut down the University in 1968 and 1970, I was and remain very, very angry. I was in the NROTC unit that was kicked off campus in 1969.
Did you go into the Navy? My dad served in the Army in the Korean War, and in the Air Force in VietnamтАФaround 1967. I joined the Army at age 17 in 1976. Grateful that I served during peace time, though I was willing to deploy. It would have affected me negatively to see my friends hurt or killed.
I love America, and hope we will never return to the Marxist/Leftist ideologies that permeated our nation in the last four years, but IтАЩm afraid the reprieve we are experiencing might be short lived, unless there is a drastic change in the hearts of Americans.
I was Marine Option, so I went to Quantico in the Summer of 1969. Day 1, got my head shaved, Day 2 flunked the physical for bad knees and a heart murmur. That Fall the Navy decided they didn't want me either, so I got three years of college, books and fees paid for but no service required. Also weird, as I had to pass a physical to get into the NROTC program, and a physical each year while in the program. In 1969, the Navy apparently had a surplus of young officers, so even some of my cohorts who completed the program were out in ~9 months.
Then the Army tried to draft me; I think I pissed off the draft board by telling them I wouldn't swear at the hearing because I was an atheist. Finally classified 4F when I sent copies of my knee X-rays and two orthopedists' reports to the Surgeon General. I have a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease, which means in practice that I can't crawl w/o becoming disabled with water on the knees. So I don't crawl or kneel.
Interesting story. If you did not have knee problems, the Army would have given you those problems, as we ran everyday in combat boots. Because of the injuries of the lower extremities, the military across the board stopped running in combat boots for Physical Training in 1982тАУtoo late for me. My knees were damaged because of it.
I will say that being in the Army was a highlight of my life, as it helped to develop the innate discipline and character I had. I loved wearing the uniform, and what it represented to meтАФfreedom and the Spirit of тАШ76.
At the age of 17, I did not understand the difference between Republican and Democrat, until I served under Jimmy CarterтАФhe cut the military budget so much, I was asked to clean my M-16 with bore patches, by cutting up my t-shirtтАФtrue storyтАФso I handed the Armorer my M-16, and said, тАЬI will give my life for my nation but not my t-shirtтАЭ and walked away. Got out of the Army in тАШ79 and voted for Reagan as President, and could never be a DemocratтАФthanks to Jimmy Carter.
No, different problem. At Corpus Christi for flight training the year before, I ran a 4 minute, 25 second mile in combat boots, 2nd fastest in the midshipman company. I just canтАЩt kneel unless itтАЩs on a really thick gel pad. And before Corpus Christi, I survived amphibious training at Little Creek, VA by scooting under the barbed wire on the obstacle course w/o touching down on my knees. We also did three-mile runs in combat boots, and all I needed was salt tablets, provided by the Marine Colonel in charge.
The doctors at Quantico said that going through the training would cripple me, but I didnтАЩt agree, citing my experience at Little Creek (not that my opinion counted). I was sent home at the end of the week. Then my heart murmur was evaluated at St. Albans Naval Hospital by the Chief of Cardiology to be the result of a very athletic life (football, ice hockey, lacrosse, & track), and enlarged ventricles moving more blood than the valves could handle, not valve damage. Still, the Navy didnтАЩt want me back in the program as a Naval officer because of the remote possibility IтАЩd have to be medically discharged. The Draft Board was suffering from the delusion that there were different physical standards for the Army and Navy; they were wrong, as the Surgeon General eventually told them.
I still feel guilty, not because I didnтАЩt serve, but because IтАЩm sure there were many draftees in worse physical condition than I who got shipped out to Vietnam because they didnтАЩt have my resources: money for orthopedic exams and books on the Draft Laws. The clownish attorney who was supposed to advise draftees around Columbia, including a good portion of Harlem, knew nothing; I was advising him.
David went to Columbia. That explains him more than he can admit.
Yes, at the time the 5th ranked college in the country. But I graduated in 1970, and after SDS shut down the University in 1968 and 1970, I was and remain very, very angry. I was in the NROTC unit that was kicked off campus in 1969.
I was in Vietnam in 1969.
Did you go into the Navy? My dad served in the Army in the Korean War, and in the Air Force in VietnamтАФaround 1967. I joined the Army at age 17 in 1976. Grateful that I served during peace time, though I was willing to deploy. It would have affected me negatively to see my friends hurt or killed.
I love America, and hope we will never return to the Marxist/Leftist ideologies that permeated our nation in the last four years, but IтАЩm afraid the reprieve we are experiencing might be short lived, unless there is a drastic change in the hearts of Americans.
I was Marine Option, so I went to Quantico in the Summer of 1969. Day 1, got my head shaved, Day 2 flunked the physical for bad knees and a heart murmur. That Fall the Navy decided they didn't want me either, so I got three years of college, books and fees paid for but no service required. Also weird, as I had to pass a physical to get into the NROTC program, and a physical each year while in the program. In 1969, the Navy apparently had a surplus of young officers, so even some of my cohorts who completed the program were out in ~9 months.
Then the Army tried to draft me; I think I pissed off the draft board by telling them I wouldn't swear at the hearing because I was an atheist. Finally classified 4F when I sent copies of my knee X-rays and two orthopedists' reports to the Surgeon General. I have a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease, which means in practice that I can't crawl w/o becoming disabled with water on the knees. So I don't crawl or kneel.
Interesting story. If you did not have knee problems, the Army would have given you those problems, as we ran everyday in combat boots. Because of the injuries of the lower extremities, the military across the board stopped running in combat boots for Physical Training in 1982тАУtoo late for me. My knees were damaged because of it.
I will say that being in the Army was a highlight of my life, as it helped to develop the innate discipline and character I had. I loved wearing the uniform, and what it represented to meтАФfreedom and the Spirit of тАШ76.
At the age of 17, I did not understand the difference between Republican and Democrat, until I served under Jimmy CarterтАФhe cut the military budget so much, I was asked to clean my M-16 with bore patches, by cutting up my t-shirtтАФtrue storyтАФso I handed the Armorer my M-16, and said, тАЬI will give my life for my nation but not my t-shirtтАЭ and walked away. Got out of the Army in тАШ79 and voted for Reagan as President, and could never be a DemocratтАФthanks to Jimmy Carter.
Have a great day and thank you for your story.
No, different problem. At Corpus Christi for flight training the year before, I ran a 4 minute, 25 second mile in combat boots, 2nd fastest in the midshipman company. I just canтАЩt kneel unless itтАЩs on a really thick gel pad. And before Corpus Christi, I survived amphibious training at Little Creek, VA by scooting under the barbed wire on the obstacle course w/o touching down on my knees. We also did three-mile runs in combat boots, and all I needed was salt tablets, provided by the Marine Colonel in charge.
The doctors at Quantico said that going through the training would cripple me, but I didnтАЩt agree, citing my experience at Little Creek (not that my opinion counted). I was sent home at the end of the week. Then my heart murmur was evaluated at St. Albans Naval Hospital by the Chief of Cardiology to be the result of a very athletic life (football, ice hockey, lacrosse, & track), and enlarged ventricles moving more blood than the valves could handle, not valve damage. Still, the Navy didnтАЩt want me back in the program as a Naval officer because of the remote possibility IтАЩd have to be medically discharged. The Draft Board was suffering from the delusion that there were different physical standards for the Army and Navy; they were wrong, as the Surgeon General eventually told them.
I still feel guilty, not because I didnтАЩt serve, but because IтАЩm sure there were many draftees in worse physical condition than I who got shipped out to Vietnam because they didnтАЩt have my resources: money for orthopedic exams and books on the Draft Laws. The clownish attorney who was supposed to advise draftees around Columbia, including a good portion of Harlem, knew nothing; I was advising him.