I graduated from high school in 1969 and then went to college at Eastern Washington State. I didn't think that there was anything that would keep me out of military service, so I joined the Army ROTC unit at Eastern, thinking it would be better to be an officer than a grunt. I liked ROTC pretty well and learned a bunch of things in those classes that I probably would never have been exposed to without them. At the end of my Sophomore year, they had us take a pretty comprehensive physical and I passed. So I had to decide if I was going to sign up for the "advanced" program and essentially enlist in the Army. If I remember correctly the enlistment would have been for 4 years after college graduation, however I also would have started getting paid for going to school.
But about that time the Draft Lottery occurred. I got a high enough number that I thought I might not ever get drafted. Tired of going to school, I didn't go back to college for Fall quarter of 1971 and was reclassified 1-A. I worked through that school year, partied with my friends and managed to save quite a bit of money. At the end of my year of eligibility for the draft, they had come within 10 of my number, but I was never called.
I went back to college the next Fall and school went a lot better for me. I had needed a break, and after I had one, I was much more serious as a student. I trained to be a teacher, but that was not to be.
During my Senior year, I got hired as a Deputy Sheriff, and that ended up being my career.
I kept getting letters from the ROTC department at Eastern, asking if I would come back and finish the program. During my early years as a Deputy, many of the new people that were hired after my group were RIF'ed Army Officers, who had been let go with the much smaller force they thought would be needed after Vietnam was over. I finally contacted the ROTC department and explained that I would not be interested in going on in ROTC, especially since most of the guys who were RIF'ed were very squared away and had not wanted to leave the service. If the Army needed officers, it would make more sense to allow the already trained officers to return rather than starting with new guys from ROTC. I never heard back from the ROTC department.
Most of the guys I worked with had been in the military, and some of them had interesting stories to tell from their service days. Some also had skills learned in the military that they were able to use as law enforcement officers.
I always have wondered about what I missed by not being in military service--I am sure some of it would have been really good and valuable, but I know that some of my friends went through some really bad, scary times. Who knows what might have happened for me?
So that's my story. Thank you, to all the people who ended up serving in the military. We owe you!
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Today's Featured Article - Timing Your Magneto Ignition Tractor - by Chris Pratt. If you have done major engine work or restored your tractor, chances are you removed the magneto and spark plug wires and eventually reached the point where you had to put it all back together and make it run. On our first cosmetic restoration, not having a manual, we carefully marked the wires, taped the magneto in the position it came off, and were careful not to turn the engine over while we had these components off. We thought we could get by with this since the engine ran perfectly and would not need any internal work. After the cleanup and painting was done, we began reassembly and finally came to t
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