O'Reilly was a draft dodging coward, no better than Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, or any of the other chicken hawks who hid behind a 2-S college student deferment while the real men got sent to the southeast Asia meat grinder. Couldn't pay me enough money to read any of his trash books!
I was 2 S, which ended in July 1972.... there was only one more draft call after that... 200 guys... I was one of those folks...
I was the only one at the testing station at Chelsea Naval Station in Boston that didn't go out and get on the buses, that had us all bound for Ft Dix NJ.
One of the doctors told me that we could qualify for delayed enlistment... as long as I kept myself full time in college and maintained a 2.0 average.
I took it.... When I graduated college in 75, I went into the service...that got delayed several times.. and finally left for basic in Jan 77. Served 2.5 yrs active and 4 years Reserve....
My dad was a career office... he spent 49 months straight in SE Asia, flying CIA missions with "Black Birds" in unmarked C 130s...
He advised me on what to do... he didn't want to see me over there as he thought it was a real cluster F*$K.... besides his 49 months over there... he also fought in Korea, with the first Marines sent over from Japan, until the end... no break in combat for 2.5 years... the Korean War ended on his 21st birthday. He served in the Marine Long Range Recon unit. He arrived there from Japan in 1950, weighing in at 160 lbs of muscle as an 18 yr old gung ho kid, wanting to serve as his older brothers did in WW2...3 came home, 2 didn't. When the Korean War ended on July 27, 1953, he weighed 95 pounds.. He told me not to be a draft dodger, but don't volunteer to go over there...he didn't like the way it was ran from Washington... he retired as a Colonel, with 26 years of service...I had plans to go into the service after college anyway, as I was from a long line of people who served our country.
So it didn't change much any way...Just decided to not make a career of it...
I came out with MOSs of 91 Bravo, 91 Charlie, 91 Sierra, 300 F1 Medical Course, and 54 Echo ( NBC officer).
Lincoln, thank you for your service...
cheers,
seafire
