Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Military Vietnam ? No, Vietnam Era....."Oh"

I understand that feeling, Jim Knight.

I graduated high school in May 1973, and to be perfectly honest I don't recall just exactly what was going on at that time...it does seem that the writing was on the wall, though. I never gave it much thought over the next couple of years. I had no earthly idea what I wanted to do and no ambition left (my parents did all they could to dissuade me from getting involved in the only real passion I had ever harbored, which was automotive racing).

I did enlist in the Navy in late '75 on a delayed enlistment program, and left for boot camp the following April.

Since my Navy days, I have always felt guilty and pretty much second class in the company of those who actually went to Vietnam. Such men are deserving of all respect that can be rendered. On the other hand, I did play a crucial role in the Cold War, but that was more or less just a protracted political situation in my mind.

I guess guys like us were really just caught up in circumstances just like everyone else. We did sign on the dotted line and we knew the risks and what the potential price was, though. All things considered, I'm proud that I served and you should be too (and I sense that you are).