Coast Guard

I almost joined the Coast Guard once. I was in my Freshman year at college and was making poor grades when I began to think of alternatives to getting a job. the VietNam thing was still being decided so I reasoned that Coast Guard would be the only safe bet. The recruiter assured me that the only CG ships in Viet Nam were coastal patrols. I found out later that the "coast" went all the way up both sides of the MeKong river. When I went to take my physical the sergeant came into the room and invited us to follow him. On the other side of the room were the draftees as was made apparent when the sergeant began to scream at them and browbeat them. The thought ran through my head that once I signed the papers there would be no difference between them and me. I told the recruiter that I wanted to think it over, it took me all of 15 seconds. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like had I signed those papers.
Two of my freinds had #1 draft numbers. One kept up his grades in college and the other joined the Navy and went to Nuke school. I remember staying up and watching the Draft Lottery on TV. The phone started ringing as soon as numbers began to be called. All my freinds were calling to compare their numbers. I was one of the lucky ones with a high draft number. This meant that I could literally thumb my nose at the draft. There would have to be a full fledged war before they would ever call me. I could continue being a hippie and keep my long hair. Our all volunteer armed forces are better by far than the way it was then. When someone joins now it's because they want to serve not because someone is holding a gun to their heads. I hope it can continue this way.
I passed this old junk store yesterday. I'll have to stop and look around sometime.