all i could do to keep from choking him.

[Lloyd Smale]

was at the doctor waiting while my wife was in for an appointment. is marquette mi the biggest town un the up and a college town and the only blue county in the up. a guy was there that just had a knee replacement and felt it necessary to tell me. he said hes had 6 operations and nobody he knows has had more. told him try 19 cause you just met that guy. he asked how i was hurt and i told him in the service. he asked how and i said thats personal. then the chatterbox asked me if it was in nam and i told him no. than he blew away. said he had a high draft number and was in college at the time so he avoided the draft, then looking right at a vet said him and his buddy decided no way theyd go and had arrangements made to go to canada if he got drafted. he said it like he was proud. my wife was proud of me. i just shook my head walked out and went a waited in the truck.if i knew i could have got away with it he would have been back in surgery tomorrow!! what a flipping coward. while he was partying at college men his age were actually being men!!

[Land_Owner]

...and for that very important (to me) reason (not the chatterbox part), I have kept my US Coast Guard enlistment close to my vest.  I don't mind talking with other Vets and friends, but I consider it "stolen valor" to make more of my service, half way around the world out of combat harm's way in a fast growing to adulthood environment while safely expanding my World View.

Ain't no way to spin my service experience as 'equal' to those who fought in Vietnam, just because I served the same dates and times that they served. Combat Vets have a special place in my head and heart. You can't see it to tell us apart, but I KNOW, and that is what makes it important.

Thank you for your service lloyd.  I did get the late '70's blowback from the General Public through high dollar neighborhood signs in yards, "Sailors and Dogs Keep Off of the Grass" which said nothing about not pissing in their unlighted, no closed circut or recorded TV, and unlocked vehicle gas tanks.

Their engines probably ran better through the octane I added those wobbly nights returning from some bar. Portsmouth, VA, where the Madrona berthed, was for ever over shadowed by the US Navy's Norfolk (no ****), VA, Naval Station a few miles up the road. Talk about devoid of women...for the first time ever, the CG recruited, trained, and filled its on base field positions with women, simultaneously throughout my dates of enlistment. Girls I had seen in Basic Training in New Jersey were PCS to Base Guard Duty positions in Portsmouth (and throughout the Nation). They had a lot of nice girls (ref. To ZZ Top).

[Lloyd Smale]

were you there when they built the cg base in portsmouth. i was there for 6months on the taney when they first opened it. the enlisted club was 2 12 wide tralers they tor one wall off of and grafted them together. when it rained they had at least a half dozen buckets where it leaked. wasnt crap for girls there other than a civy barmaid and the line was long of guys hitting on her. off base the girls in the bars hated anyone with short hair so it was a 6 month drought for me and a 2 year sentence for the permanent billets and the guys on the 2 327s docked there. its the main reason i signed up to get the hell out of there. but then if i would have stayed i wouldnt be the bionic man with enough metal in me to build a harley

...and for that very important (to me) reason (not the chatterbox part), I have kept my US Coast Guard enlistment close to my vest.  I don't mind talking with other Vets and friends, but I consider it "stolen valor" to make more of my service, half way around the world out of combat harm's way in a fast growing to adulthood environment while safely expanding my World View.

Ain't no way to spin my service experience as 'equal' to those who fought in Vietnam, just because I served the same dates and times that they served. Combat Vets have a special place in my head and heart. You can't see it to tell us apart, but I KNOW, and that is what makes it important.

Thank you for your service lloyd.  I did get the late '70's blowback from the General Public through high dollar neighborhood signs in yards, "Sailors and Dogs Keep Off of the Grass" which said nothing about not pissing in their unlighted, no closed circut or recorded TV, and unlocked vehicle gas tanks.

Their engines probably ran better through the octane I added those wobbly nights returning from some bar. Portsmouth, VA, where the Madrona berthed, was for ever over shadowed by the US Navy's Norfolk (no ****), VA, Naval Station a few miles up the road. Talk about devoid of women...for the first time ever, the CG recruited, trained, and filled its on base field positions with women, simultaneously throughout my dates of enlistment. Girls I had seen in Basic Training in New Jersey were PCS to Base Guard Duty positions in Portsmouth (and throughout the Nation). They had a lot of nice girls (ref. To ZZ Top).

[ironglow]

Know just what you mean, Lloyd !  For many years I never wore any garment that divulged my service, but in recent years, I do have some "Vet" hats and a jacket my son bought and presented to me.

  Our village has the "Hometown Heroes" banners on display for the summer/fall season. I didn't bother with that for years either, but this year I ordered one for my grandson and myself..and it will be installed on the electric pole on our home corner.

    I often wear the light hoodie when I go on a photo shoot with my son..since the eagle logo compliments his studio name.  The hoodie is much like but not exactly like the one in the below link .

  https://in.pinterest.com/pin/1045679607235361776/

[Lloyd Smale]

absolutely nothing wrong with being proud you served your country!! only people who think your being arrogant and should shut up about it are people who didnt serve. i got myself a life time of pain and more surgery than anyone ive ever met from my service and think i earned the right to wear a hat!!

[Land_Owner]

were you there when they built the cg base in portsmouth. i was there for 6months on the taney when they first opened it. the enlisted club was 2 12 wide tralers they tor one wall off of and grafted them together. when it rained they had at least a half dozen buckets where it leaked. wasnt crap for girls there other than a civy barmaid and the line was long of guys hitting on her. off base the girls in the bars hated anyone with short hair so it was a 6 month drought for me and a 2 year sentence for the permanent billets and the guys on the 2 327s docked there. its the main reason i signed up to get the hell out of there. but then if i would have stayed i wouldnt be the bionic man with enough metal in me to build a harley.

No. I was there before a CG Base was built, Feb. 1974 through Jan. 1975. I often went to VA Beach. Near the beach they had an ice rink. I enjoyed busting my butt from time to time skating on the ice. Plus, I was in instant 'love' with the red haired girl selling tickets there from her booth.

[Lloyd Smale]

they must have been building it then. i think i was there in fall of 75 and many of the new buildings and the air station were already their. i went from little creek to Portsmouth than back to little creek for training for the new job.

were you there when they built the cg base in portsmouth. i was there for 6months on the taney when they first opened it. the enlisted club was 2 12 wide trailers they tor one wall off of and grafted them together. when it rained they had at least a half dozen buckets where it leaked. wasnt crap for girls there other than a civy barmaid and the line was long of guys hitting on her. off base the girls in the bars hated anyone with short hair so it was a 6 month drought for me and a 2 year sentence for the permanent billets and the guys on the 2 327s docked there. its the main reason i signed up to get the hell out of there. but then if i would have stayed i wouldnt be the bionic man with enough metal in me to build a harley.

No. I was there before a CG Base was built, Feb. 1974 through Jan. 1975. I often went to VA Beach. Near the beach they had an ice rink. I enjoyed busting my butt from time to time skating on the ice. Plus, I was in instant 'love' with the red haired girl selling tickets there from her booth.

[ironglow]

  Land_Owner...  Have you seen this website?   https://www.facebook.com/groups/76983074224/

  Perhaps you can connect with some old buds..

[ironglow]

  Itv seems like after the Vietnam conflict... the rioters who were afraid to serve, and the Canada runners..being a vet wasn't "cool"..

  A shameful time, when the heroes of Vietnam were treated crappy by folks who had no call to do so.

  I think it was the runners gaining influence, and using that influence to shift attention an ddisgust from them, to those who served.

[Land_Owner]

I was 19-years old, green as a pussy-willow tree, and sat down on the lawn at a Central Florida College protest rally in 1972 just to see what was going on. A "journalist" literally ran up to me, stuck a protest sign in my right hand (which I did not first get the chance to read), and took my unsolicited picture.  The next morning that picture was in the newspaper and story lined as if I was in sync with the protest against the war, which I was not.  I have never felt so "used as a dupe" before or after with no recourse.  It is a low point in my life and forever a stain on my soul that will live in flaming purgatory in my psyche.

[Lloyd Smale]

your forgiven. wasnt your fault

I was 19-years old, green as a pussy-willow tree, and sat down on the lawn at a Central Florida College protest rally in 1972 just to see what was going on. A "journalist" literally ran up to me, stuck a protest sign in my right hand (which I did not first get the chance to read), and took my unsolicited picture.  The next morning that picture was in the newspaper and story lined as if I was in sync with the protest against the war, which I was not.  I have never felt so "used as a dupe" before or after with no recourse.  It is a low point in my life and forever a stain on my soul that will live in flaming purgatory in my psyche.

[Land_Owner]

So many things change at 18. as the 1970's rock changing song '18' by Alice Cooper expresses. What do young adults really know about life at 18? What is a kid's World View at 18? 

Four years of college cements State School Team Spirit for Life.  The same four years in the Service cements a grown up and Life altering World View.  EVERYONE should get two years in the Service from 18 to 20, then college or trade school.

[Lloyd Smale]

4 years in the service is a trade school if your smart about it. my schooling in the military is what got me hired at the power compant even though i did little of what i learned in that school in my years in the service. the military has some of the best and most advanced equiptment made that you are taught to operate and maintain. even as an infantry soldier your time in service will likely give you a heads up in the job market because they know your probably a person that has leadership skills and are typically going to follow their instructions and rules much more than some high school grad or someone that couldnt even cut college. id bet 90 percent of the people our company hired were x military. only exception was lineman. lineman (not back when i was hired) had to pass a one year trade school lineman course that was no joke. they weeded out the dumb, reckless and lazy. 

So many things change at 18. as the 1970's rock changing song '18' by Alice Cooper expresses. What do young adults really know about life at 18? What is a kid's World View at 18? 

Four years of college cements State School Team Spirit for Life.  The same four years in the Service cements a grown up and Life altering World View.  EVERYONE should get two years in the Service from 18 to 20, then college or trade school.

[AtlLaw]

EVERYONE should get two years in the Service from 18 to 20, then college or trade school.

Sounds like a good idea to me!

[Land_Owner]

...[previous commentary redacted] ...the military has some of the best and most advanced equiptment made that you are taught to operate and maintain. even as an infantry soldier your time in service will likely give you a heads up in the job market because they know your probably a person that has leadership skills and are typically going to follow their instructions and rules much more than some high school grad or someone that couldnt even cut college. [/quote]

Military Basic Training is, by design, used to break down an individual's resistance to their non-civilian environment. Basic Training is supposed to subplant poor civilian habits with a set of baseline military habits. After all, military service today (not in the mid-'70's), is VOLUNTEER and should be palatable by everyone who enlists.

When you survive the Basic Training initiation, you are assigned a job and taught those job functions they choose for you. There are many avenues from which to choose a future training path in the service so don't sweat the small stuff. 

No military job is cemented for you into antiquity. Pounding a round peg into a square hole is neither good for you nor the military.  If that glove doesn’t fit you, the military will, in all likelihood,p retool the system without you, meaning reassign you.

You could be rolling the dice too and find yourself looking at a worse job with no exit or relief back to the former training position (i.e. better the devil you know rather than one you know nothing about). Everything is a negotiation. Be in the moment, but think ahead.