Funny, how we are so full of confidence at a young age
It was the year 1966 and America was embroiled
in a war in a place called Vietnam and either the world was beginning to act
crazy or, as young boys trying to find our places in the world, it just seemed crazy to us. The Vietnam War was on the daily news, race
riots were also taking place in various areas of America and the National Guard
units were being called out, often, to help keep the peace in many of the
Southern states. We just knew the world
was changing, rapidly and we wanted to be able to find our places in it all.
Music was changing too and much of it was
starting to reflect the opinions many young people were having toward the draft
and the Vietnam War in the form of protest songs. The Beatles, a band from
England, were popular. We grew up
watching TV with its daily news about American unrest, flights into space and
of course, the Communist were coming, or so the news led us to believe. The
draft was also in full bloom and young men were nervous at the prospect of
being forced to fight a war they knew nothing about. I know history calls it a conflict, but so
many people were killed in Vietnam that it should be placed in the war
category, not a conflict class. I guess
it can be summed up as an era of raging against the machine by the younger
society.
So young, so proud of serving
My best friend and I had had a lot in common,
both of us had shared a feeling of growing tired of Indiana and we both thought
our lives were pretty boring here. I
guess the move to Michigan was his way of getting away from the boredom. I still couldn’t believe he was dead. When some kids at school told me he had been
killed, it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying
desperately to catch my breath. I even thought I'd misheard them at first. I tried to glean more information from those
guys but no one had any details other than he had been killed.
Most of us kids didn't
know a lot about death, certainly not the death of anyone so close to us. We talked after school and made plans to go
to Michigan to attend his funeral. I
think the trip was as much out of curiosity concerning death, as it was about
paying our last respects.
My story
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