November - 1970 - Ft. Gordon GA Thanksgiving

Well, here I am at Fort Gordon, GA. I finished my advanced training "Communication Center Specialist" and finally received my orders after weeks of detail including KP (Kitchen Police), etc. How did I get Vietnam when most my fellow GI's received orders for Belgium, Germany and Italy.

I knew it when I was growing up, even when I was young, that I would to go war. My mom always said not to worry, that I wouldn't. Here is how it came to be I think. I actually advanced in typing as I knew how to type. But later in the training I blew a very very basic test. They were shocked. They were shocked, I can't describe that somehow it just didn't connect. So I backed up a few days in the training. Did that cause the delay in orders and my assignment? I'll never know. I always thought it did but then didn't I always know I'd go to war?

So here I am trying to out process so I can go on my leave and we just celebrated Thanksgiving. During out-processing they inform me that I can't leave as I didn't pass the vision test. Ya think? I flunked it during my physical for the draft. They sent me go Greenburg Optical around the corner from the Fadley Building. It happened to by our family eye doctor. He told me that I had low vision in my right eye that was not correctable for the service. I took that note back and they said, "Don't worry, we will get you glasses".

I now have to go to an eye doctor on base who states I need to get glasses before I can deploy overseas or go on leave. I pretty much tell him the story and to sign my papers which he does. I now have a very long walk back to the out-processing center. Now that I think about it why didn't I take base transportation both ways instead of walking that long distance?

My plane didn't leave until the next day so I decided to say in the barracks. Since everything was turned in, I slept on my slipcover over the mattress. In the middle of the night I was woken up by the officer on duty and told I wasn't authorized to be in the barracks but stayed the night anyway. I was sick from all the shots I received. I finally fell into a deep and troubled sleep.

I woke up in the early hours of the morning and realized that the folks on duty didn't' wake me up to catch my flight, which I missed. When I did get to the airport, Delta went and gave me a first class seat to fly from Augusta to Atlanta. When I got to Chicago, I met up with a fellow GI I knew from basic. He name was Albert Wall and he was from Greenwood Nebraska. While waiting for my connecting flight on United, I got a call at the desk at the gate. A small bag I checked in opened up and baggage claim was trying to find me. Luckily I had information in the bag. Unfortunately I also had dirty underwear as I took a shower before I left the base. Funny about the things you worry about. Not where I was going but that I had dirty underwear. (In a later post I'll let you in on how I avoided that problem going on R&R.) When I got to Omaha I said my goodbyes to Al and took off for my leave. When I opened up my bag the man who took care of it for Delta put his name card in the bag along with baggage tag's. I was honestly touched by his kindness.

It's kind of odd that here I am going on leave before leaving for Nam right after Thanksgiving and that would also the the same scenario a year from now. The difference is that my innocence would be lost and I would be forever changed.