May 1968 Boston newspaper Viet Nam headline

[bergy]

I was drafted in 1969. I think that it was the year of the first draft lottery (which I "won" with my birthdate picked 3rd). I took basic at Fort Lewis Washington, and medic training at Fort Sam Houston Texas. Unlike many of my high school buddies, I never had to go to SE Asia. Most of my buddies who did go were never the same when they came back. The last survivor from our group who returned (SFC Ron L) finally killed himself about 10 years ago (45 years after he returned). Ron was actually a superintendent of production at The Chevrolet Tonawanda forge & later a VP at Carborundum Corp. The demons of what he experienced never left him though.

The contemporary song "Fortunate Son" says it all. We were just a bunch of poor kids.