I was living in Annapolis, Md. In October 1969 I turned 19. In November 1969 I took and passed my pre-induction physical in Baltimore. In December 1969 my birthday got No. 087 in the lottery. Then I heard nothing more for all of 1970.
My family moved to South Carolina. I finally got my letter from Nixon and was drafted April 1, 1971. My drill Sergeant in Basic at Fort Jackson would tell me everyday that I was going to be one of the first to die when I got to Viet Nam. The Army hated draftees and kept us in the dark. On my platoon’s last day we met in a parking lot and that’s when we were told our MOS. I got Military Police.
I was trained at Fort Gordon, Georgia. After week one, 500 MPs that graduated that week went to Viet Nam. The the classes from weeks two and three also went to VN. The fourth week’s class went to Korea. Then weeks 5, 6 and 7 went to Viet Nam. Then my class graduated, and we got the Deluxe Germany Tour. I served as a Tower Rat at Fischbach, smoking camel shit daily.