An unforgettable day; everyone talking loud, near hysterically, berating "those Goddamn Japs", all fearfull of what may be coming: An invasion of our west coast? (we lived only about a day's drive east of the coast) In just days or weeks we could be in the middle of a lot of Japanese troops, etc. etc.
Of course,the physical war itself never closely approached but was always in our news (including the movie newsreels). What was called "World War Two" had raged in Europe since about the time of my birth, but suddenly it then seemed closer and more threatening; We had heard, many times before the attack at Pearl, stories of the fighting on the radio and moving pictures of the carnage and suffering via the movie newsreels. And endless movies of soldiers
slogging or crawling thru the mud or snow, amidst the bombs, mortars, bullets and what-not. For some reason the pictures of the soldiers walking, crawling or lying dead in the mud deeply moved me. l felt so sorry for those young men (and full-grown boys) but l became determined to learn how one might avoid
participation in war. WarS, actually. l was just seven when WWII ended and for a short time l was relieved. l was still eleven years short of draft age, and who knows, the next war could be thirty years away! Right. By the time that
the Korean "Police Action" ended l was only three years short of draft age; it was time for the chicken-hearted, combat-avoiding, war is not for me guy to take steps to insure against finding himself slogging or crawling or dying in some foreign country's mud.
So, during that last summer (54) working for the game refuge a lot of thought was given to looking for a way to avoid the military entirely. One day, while working with the survey crew one of my co-workers said something about my search for a way to dodge the obligation males in the U.S. then faced by law.
We were working that day with the chief surveyor , a great old guy who revealed himself as one who also thought that we should, if possible avoid
involvement in war, and he had some valuable information.
He said that, to him the National Guard seemed a good bet. The Guard, he said is there to be used in times of local disasters and other emergencies, both in peacetime and war. Some times as in lraq,for instance, soldiers in the Guard are sent to combat zones to replace the regulars when losses are high. Not having a draft (again like during the Iraq war) can also force the use of the Guard. But back in the mid-fifties the guard was a good way out of active duty.
After work, that day the chief and l talked more about avoiding combat. One thing he said right away was "lf enough young men could be persuaded to refuse to serve, war could be stopped altogether." The first workday after my last day at the game refuge, l presented myself at the National Guard offices
offering myself as a member. A Master Sargent there took me through the information about how it works (One evening meeting every two weeks, One two-week deployment each summer) One is paid for each appearance year-round. When l told him that l planned to attend University of Nevada,Reno and asked if l could attend the bi-weekly meetings at a Reno or Sparks NG center
he said at UNR l could enroll in the Reserve Officer's Training Course and the classes there would count as NG meetings for which l would be paid. Upon graduating the four year course l'd become a Second Lieutenant as well as a college graduate.'
It sounded pretty good to me so l said "sign me up". Then he asked my age.
Since l was still six months short of being seventeen years old he asked me to return after my 17th birthday with parent(s) (To signify approval). l said l would.
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