It's Memorial Day and the US armed forces are in the spotlight. I never served in the armed forces although I thought I might. When I was in about the 7th grade, my mother had me take exams for a military school. I don't know if that would have led to serving in the military but I didn't score high enough for a scholarship and we couldn't afford my attendance without one. At the same time, my sister did score a scholarship for entry into a girls' school. After a year or so there, she grew unhappy. She was determined to escape and climbed out an upper story window on a "rope" of knotted bedsheets. The knots came undone and she fell several stories into a bush. She emerged unhurt but she had convinced my mother to bring her home.
I went to a large all-male public high school. Near final graduation, we were asked our plans after high school. The Vietnamese war was on and some classmates planned to enter office training at college. I didn't want to be in combat so I wrote that I planned to join the navy. I didn't think I could afford college but my guidance counselor and my homeroom teacher told me unequivocally to go to college. My mother suggested I check out the teachers' college nearby. I found that teachers colleges got state support and had very low student charges. In my college junior year, I met the woman I have been married to for 64 years. As a married teacher in preparation, I got student and married and fatherhood deferments.
Of course, I salute the achievements, sacrifices and difficulties US armed forces have experienced.
