Re: I didn't know Doug King was cruising the Bahamas

On Wed, 14 May 2008 01:29:11 +0000, Larry <noone@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>Vic Smith <thismailautodeleted@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
>news:6dhj249m4mr1epo6v1ujhbvl1ip6o5hrpu@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> AFAIK it's a better Navy today.  Smarter.  
>
>We were just prisoners....volunteer prisoners avoiding the Vietnam Army 
>draft.

I enlisted in the Navy when I was 16, about a month before JFK was
shot.  Everything was done but the oath taking.  
Took the oath and was in boot camp all in one day a couple months
later, the day after my 17th birthday.
My ma wouldn't let me go on my birthday.
Viet Nam and the draft had nothing to do with it.
I never had a draft card.
If Viet Nam had been hot when I turned 17 I probably would have joined
the Marines to fight commies. 
A couple years into my Navy time there was a call for Swift boat crew
for Viet Nam and I volunteered. 
They didn't want boilermen on Swift boats, so I never scored that
hazardous duty pay. 
Like I said, smarter Navy today.  Mostly due to better education,
better training, and fewer 17 year-olds.
And not a one of them is dodging the draft.

--Vic