EDITED
Chapter One - Drafted
In September of 1968 I received a letter from my local Draft Board inviting me to come down to the Induction Center for processing and "possible" induction into one of the branches of the United States Armed Services. I had been DRAFTED.
My Draft Board had also included fare for the El so I could get to the Induction Center. I was to report on September 17
th
. My mother and sister were really upset. They didn't want me to go, what with the war going on in South East Asia. But, as strange as it may seem, for some reason, I wasn't too upset about it.
It wasn't that I wanted to get away from home. My life wasn't bad; in fact it was pretty good.
I should explain, at the time I lived with my Mother, Sarah and older Sister, Rachel, just outside Chicago, IL. My father had passed on about four years before and at that time I had become the "man of the house" at the ripe old age of 14. What that meant was far beyond me. Mom was a chef in one of the more up-scale restaurants in the city. She made a very good salary and neither my sister nor I wanted for anything. So being the "man of the house" simply meant that I felt responsible for anything that went wrong. But, nothing ever really went wrong, so I just did what a normal 14 year old did; went to school, hung out with my friends and fought with my sister.
In High School, I participated in sports, track; swimming and intramural basketball. I was never a star but I was the captain of my intramural basketball team; and we actually had a winning record once or twice over the four years. At 5'11" I was the tallest on the team.
I dated some in High School but never with the same girl for more than a month or so. My friends told me my standards were too high, as I would always find a reason to break up after a couple of dates.
There is a person I should mention "Uncle" Freddy. Uncle Freddy was not a blood relative. He and my father had grown up together. They were drafted, served in the Army and went to Korea together. They were closer than brothers. When Uncle Freddy's parents died, we were the only family Uncle Freddy had. Thus, when Dad died, Uncle Freddy was always there. He spent all the holidays at our home. He had played Santa Clause, even the Easter Bunny. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us.
He was a plumber by profession, but he was one of those people who could fix anything and could build anything, from model boats that could sail, to remote control airplanes. He taught me so much. I was a good student and was eager to learn from him. However, this would never be a case of the student surpassing the teacher. I would never be as adept as he was.
After graduation I got a job in a grocery store stocking shelves. I had given college some thought, but didn't think the time was right, even though I was prime draft bait. After about a month, Uncle Freddy had me put an application into the Plumbers Local so I could get a plumbing apprenticeship. He had told me that I would be hearing about my acceptance into the program in about three weeks. But another uncle of mine had other plans for me and two weeks later I received the letter from my Uncle Sam. Maybe I wanted to do something different…Dummy.
Chapter two - Ft Jackson
After my induction in Chicago, I wound up in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It was a really lovely place, deep in the Heart of Dixie. Right out side of the State Capitol of Columbia. Boot camp was not exactly to my liking. Although I was in pretty good shape, Basic Training was a real workout. We trained 7 days a week. The only break came on Sunday morning when you could go to religious service; believe me EVERYONE went. But, in the end I was looking rather hard. The Army made me really fit.
After eight weeks of Basic Training, in about mid-November, we graduated on a Friday morning. The graduation consisted of marching up and down the Camp Parade Ground in front of the General, a bunch of other officers and some families who probably lived nearby. The General gave a speech telling us to be good little soldiers, to serve our country well and listen to the officers etc. etc. etc. I couldn't wait for it to end. It was cold and even with the overcoats we had on the cold was seeping into our bones. Finally, the general shut up and we were dismissed.
We had been given three-day passes, this was the first time we could leave the Fort since we arrived in Ft. Jackson about 8 ½ weeks ago and were to report back to the barracks by 2400 hours (midnight) Sunday so they could take us to the Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) Company by 0600 hours (6:00 AM) on Monday. Like most of the other guys in my Company, I was going into the Infantry. Yea, I was going to be a ground pounder, a grunt, in other words…cannon fodder.
After the graduation ceremony, I was planning on going into Columbia with a couple of buddies. Getting and staying drunk until we returned Sunday night to the barracks.
"Hey, Terry," one of my buddies called, "Lets get goin, we don't want to miss the bus."
I picked up my "AWOL" bag from the side of the parade grounds and started to run after the other guys. The bag had a couple changes of underwear and socks for the weekend. As I ran I heard a familiar voice calling, "Terry…Terry…over here."
I thought I was hearing things. I thought, it can't be…but when I turned around…sure enough there was my mother running toward me waving her arms, calling me.
I couldn't believe it. My mother looked… she was beautiful. Why had I never noticed it before? It wasn't because she was wearing anything sexy or even suggestive. She was in a wool coat that came to her mid-thigh and her skirt came to just below her knees. But, she was beautiful. She looked so much younger that her 37 years. Her hair was longer than she usually wore it and she had just a hint of makeup, which she didn't really need. Had the eight-week separation changed her so much? Whatever it was I was in shock.
Mom, was only 37 years old. She had my sister, Rachel when she was 16 and I was born when she was 18 years old. Mom and Dad were married after Rachel was born so on her birth certificate, Rachel has Mom's maiden name, Burton. They never got around to changing it after Mom and Dad got married. Mom also used her maiden name at work.
Mom was about 5'7", slender but not skinny, her breasts were not really big. They were perfectly proportioned for her body and she had a pair of knockout legs. In my eyes she was the perfect woman.
I stammered, "Mom??? What…when did…"
As she ran to me laughing, I threw my arms around her and spun her around.
"Terry…Terry, I had to be here and see my son, the soldier, graduate," Mom said panting from the run.
"TERRY, the bus is coming; hurry up," my buddy called.
I turned and shouted, "Go on without me, I'm not goin."
My buddy shrugged and ran for the bus.
"I hope that I didn't mess up your plans with your buddies," my mom asked with a worried look on her face.
"No way, Mom, Lord knows, I would rather be with you more than anyone else," I told her as I hugged her even tighter.
Mom's beautiful face beamed with happiness as we walked off the parade ground arm in arm. As we walked I saw my Drill Sergeant. He spotted me and mom and he yelled, "Hey Matson, didn't know your girl friend was coming."
Mom smiled and said, "I wanted to surprise him."
My sergeant laughed, "Boy I wish I had a surprise like that."
Mom just giggled as we walked away.
I said, "Mom, he thinks that you are my girl friend and that we are going to spend the weekend together."
Mom said, "Let him think what he wants. Anyway, we are going to spend the weekend together."