Looking back a few years

...it seems to me the war was still going on and this was before the lottery, so what was the story of his enlistment?

Early in '68, once I decided I wouldn't return for my senior year I knew I had to make some plans.  A lot of chatter in the dorms about the draft but nobody seemed stressed out.  Guys that were graduating that spring were either enlisting in one of the military branches or were waiting for the draft; no nonsense about moving to Canada.  I wasn't sure if I was a C.O. or not and spent a lot of time researching it and meeting with the campus chaplain and decided that although I opposed the war in 'Nam I wasn't a C.O.  What to do?  No government is going to tell me what to do, that's for sure.  The best option, I thought at the time and still do, was to enlist; at least enlistment gave me choices as to what kind of training I'd get.  The recruiter I met with was aces, absolutely no bullshit or empty promises.  After the physical and written tests were completed, he told me I qualified for just about any specialty I wanted, except for the Infantry; a problem with my eyesight and attitude.  Tough break!  I chose Process Photography; sounded interesting to me and I was guaranteed a slot in one of the classes.  The recruiter told me I was the first guy in six years to get any kind of photography class, which I took as a good omen.  And he made it very clear that although I was guaranteed the training there was no assurance that I would be assigned that job.  The Army puts you where it thinks it needs you but it worked out fine.  I learned a decent trade and the good times far outnumbered the bad, which weren't that bad, really.  I could have done without the low crawl pit, though.

After reading The Draft, it seems to me that Uncle Ken didn't think it through very well, as if he was facing a very fearful threat.  Okay, there was a threat but also a lot of opportunities.  Uncle Ken could have gone to Ft. Benjamin Harrison and learned to be a radio disk jockey for Armed Forces Radio, and later, TV.  I bet he would have liked that; beats mopping floors in a hospital, I think.