It was the winter of 1965. I was working 54 hours per week in a Texaco station on the Texas - New Mexico state line. It was, for a teenager, the best job in town at $1.25 per hour. I worked from 6:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I attended college classes at Texas Western University, now the University of Texas at El Paso, during the week. I wasn't failing, but I was doing little better than average. I was wondering how the hell I could get out of town.
In the end, there were only a few options and they all had to do with the military. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force. My dad had been in the Army for 4 years during World War II. I chose the Army.
It was April by the time I visited with the Army recruiter. He was all smiles, upbeat, encouraging, and gentlemanly, right up until the time I took the oath. At that point he became a monster.
Three weeks into basic training the President announced that 350,000 more men would be sent to Vietnam. I had never heard of Vietnam. I had no idea where it was. I had no idea why any American troops were being sent to Vietnam.
It was December when I arrived in country. I served from December of 1965 until December of 1966, and again from March of 1970 until March of 1971. I really never did know exactly what it was all about. I left the Army in 1973 after some 8 years of service, got a goverment job under the provisions of the "Vietnam Veteran's Re-adjustment Act, and went back to college.
I'm still not certain why we were in Vietnam. I do know that so many of the Vietnamese people counted on us, and the counted on us keeping our promise. Whatever it was about, it should not have included broken promises. I keep thinking about that. I keep thinking about an old man, an old man that worked in our compound in Vietnam, and old man that had believed the promises made by the French before us. I remember the look in his eyes when he said "G.I. all go home soon.
I knew that he was correct. It was 1971, but our committment was all but over. I know that nothing good happened to him.
I keep thinking about Iraq and the promises we made to the Iraqi people.
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