40 Years Ago On This Date A Kid From Jersey Joined The Air Force

January 29, 1971 was a cold day in New Jersey, around 18 degrees in the morning. I packed light for my trip to Texas. I was beginning a new job; in a few hours I would be a federal employee, performing a similar job my father once had, and his father before him. I would be flying, but I had no need for a ticket; the taxpayers of the United States were picking up the tab. But first I had to get to the Federal Building in Newark. That's where I was to sworn in; in a few short hours life as I knew it would be gone forever, as would the adolescence I managed to hang onto as even after I had turned 20.

Because shortly after lunchtime I would cease to be Joe Civilian and would be known from that point, and for several years until I gained the rank of sergeant, as Airman. I was to take the oath and sworn in as a member of the United States Air Force, and before the day was out I would be in my new home, a barracks somewhere at Lackland Air Force Base, just outside of San Antonio, Texas.

I was too young and too foolish to be scared- I only felt a sense of relief that at long last all of the questions about would I or would I not be drafted would be over . No, I was not drafted.....but the specter of the draft made me choose the Air Force. I was joining by choice, but with more than a little nudging. My draft lottery number was 40, which meant I would probably receive a draft notice within the next two months. I had taken a pre-induction physical by orders of Selective Service two weeks before. Even though I was, and still am, incredibly nearsighted I could tell by watching what was happening around me of what was to come- I would be classified "1A", meaning I was able to serve.

It would just be a matter of time before I received a letter that said GREETINGS!

The problem was I really didn't want to go in the Army. There was this conflict you might have heard of in Vietnam, still raging in 1971 with no real end in sight. Truth be told, I was one of those long haired hippie types who knew what kind of guitars Neil Young and Stephen Stills played, but couldn't tell an M-16 from an MG. And besides, I had some authority issues as well- I flunked out of one college (maybe I should have gone to class), and dropped out of another.

So....I was draft bait. Uncle Sam wanted me....and to be honest, I was going reluctantly. And I'll bottomline this as best I can without getting into all of the late Sixties rhetoric. I hated the war in Vietnam; I bought the whole song and dance about saving Vietnam from Communism while I was in high school.....but in April of my senior year Martin Luther King was murdered. And in June, Robert F. Kennedy's life ended from Sirhan Sirhan's bullets. And my illusions of the life in America began to change in that turbulent year of 1968. I loved my country, then and now. But the land that I saw as a child as perfect had- in my eyes- some very serious flaws.

My mantra became "Save Vietnam, so they can be like us? And have leaders murdered almost routinely?". It was a time of civil unrest, well documented. Nineteen sixty-eight was a heck of year to be sent off into adulthood.

Anyway, while at my pre-induction physical, and knowing I was mere weeks away from being drafted, our whole group of "pre-inductees" were in a holding area where we saw new recruits being processed into the US military. We watched a group of guys coming in thinking they were being drafted into the Army; they were told to count off in three's. When they were done, the Army sergeant processing them told all of the three's to step forward and move across the room. After they followed his order the sergeant told them, "Congratulations....all of you men are going to be Marines".

We watched this cautionary tale before our eyes, and some of us looked at the far end of holding area; there were recruiters for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force in little cubicles. We were still in our underwear, holding the final paperwork from our pre-induction physicals. One guy sitting next me said, "That's it, I'm seeing if I can get in the Navy". I thought he made a good choice. And with little hesitation I took a walk to the Air Force recruiter and asked him if they were still taking volunteers. My entire thought process of thinking about joining the Air Force and actually doing it was about 30 seconds. I don't think I've ever made a life changing decision so split second before or since.

After I turned my medical papers over to the sergeant at the desk, he asked, "Do you want to go next week?"

"Ahhh.....how about in two weeks?", I countered.

"Sure....we need you to fill out some more paperwork". And I obliged.

And.....that was that. I had to come back the following Saturday and take some aptitude tests, but that was it. I was going into the Air Force.

Now....some may ask, if I hated the war so much why didn't I resist the draft or go to Canada?

Very simply.....I hated the war. I didn't hate my country. My country frustrated me, sometimes it made me angry....but people and things we love usually have a way of doing that. Going to jail to make a point may be the right thing for some people, but it was not my way. and as for going to Canada to avoid the draft....I never considered it. If I had gone into a self imposed Canadian exile in my own heart and soul I would have forfeited my voice forever; in good conscience, I could not do it. Go ahead and serve, just like Dad and Grandpa did during the World Wars, and I would have paid my dues. I had a right to be heard. I am an American, and in the future no one could silence me if I didn't wish to be silenced.

And so two weeks later, Mom and Dad tearfully drove me to Newark, where I said my goodbyes as stiff-lippedly as I could- I hated to watch my Mom cry. And after lunch at the Federal Building we freshly minted US airmen got on a bus to Newark Airport, where we got on an old Braniff Airlines 727- each one was painted a different color; no wonder they went broke. During the flight to San Antonio we hit an airpocket; the beautiful blond flight attendant fell into my lap momentarily. She apologized, and I smiled but couldn't think of a clever thing to say. Little did I know she would be the last woman I would come in contact with that closely for many a month.

At San Antonio it was close to 70 degrees in the evening...remember, this was January. We bussed from the airport to Lackland AFB under the direction of Sgt. Sawed Off, a little guy with glasses and a squeaky voice. There was about a dozen of us from New Jersey; soon we were joined by about twenty guys from Brooklyn, and some from Ohio, and to keep it interesting, about ten more from Mississippi. These were the 50 men I would be with during basic training....we stood on a drill pad where we met our "TI's" (Training Instructors)....let's call them Tech Sgt Face Like Clenched Fist and Staff Sgt Gold Tooth. Gold Tooth did all the talking. After introducing themselves Gold Tooth gave us our first order.

"From now on the first and last words out of your mouth when addressing me or any Training Instructor will be 'Sir!' Now, you hogs have ten minutes to get get all beards, moustaches and sideburns shaved off.....now, get your filthy asses in that dorm....RIGHT NOW!"

Now....there were 50 of us in the latrine scrambling for space to shave in the five sinks. One guy, Bill from Brooklyn, shaved so fast and sloppily that he had what looked like a Hitler moustache over his lip, but it was really a scab. It was a Friday night and we wouldn't officially begin training until Monday. We'd spend one last weekend in our civvies, sleeping in an open bay barracks. Gold Tooth got us out of bed at 5:00 AM the next day; first the light went on, and if you didn't move Gold Tooth flipped the bed over with you in it.

He only had to do it once; there were no repeat offenders.

Monday we got our heads shaved and were issued uniforms, and training began. I can remember some details of those days like it happened last week, and I can recall the smells, and tastes, and emotions, and even how the weather was for duration- it was Texas in the winter, temperatures ranged from highs in the 70's to near freezing.

I remember how the chow hall smelled outside on those chilly mornings; you could smell the bacon and hotcakes from 100 yards away.

And on the Monday we got our heads shaved we left the barbershop and were to march over to the uniform distribution center. We were supposed to get in the same formation behind the same guy we marched in with. The problem is, everybody looked different without any hair. The only way I found the guy who I was supposed to behind in formation was to look for the strange red birthmark he had on the back of his neck. I found him, but it took awhile.

I remember a kid from New York named Leroy who was dry shaved by Gold Tooth because he had too much stubble.

And there was mail call....and those letters from home that always made your day.

There was the first base liberty we had after two weeks of training- we were given $30 and freedom to go around the base (with certain limits) for a Saturday. I remember going to a hamburger stand, and ordering a chocolate shake after two weeks of nothing but Air Force chow and only Air Force chow....I never missed something so much in my life as I did those chocolate shakes. My God it tasted good. It was perfect.

There was Sgt Screech, who subbed for Gold Tooth one day, and got into my face, informing me that I marched like I have a corn cob shoved up my ass.

One cold morning that winter Tech Sgt. Face Like A Clenched Fist told us that Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali the previous night in Madison Square Garden. The whole world was watching that fight....everybody except basic trainees that is.

Then... I got the flu, and was laid up for 48 hours. I ended up missing M-16 training, which I had to make up before leaving Lackland. I had to spend an extra week there to make up "wet fire" on the range. And surprise...I qualified as a marksman.

I started going to chapel on Sundays because there were WAF's there. I had to reassure myself that women were still part of the human race; those six other days I hadn't seen a woman, and of course we had no TV or radio.

In March we were allowed to go into San Antonio on a 12 hour pass. It was St. Patrick's Day, and the river was dyed green...but were expressly forbidden from even thinking about buying a drink. It was our final week of training, and there were military police all over town watching and waiting for recruits to step out of line.

While in San Antonio on the Riverwalk, I saw an Army Sergeant a few yards away. He had a lot of fruit salad on his uniform, and appeared to be a combat vet. He turned and looked in my direction.....half his face had been melted away by napalm. That horribly scarred face has been locked in my memory banks all of these forty years. I wonder what ever became of the guy.

Lackland was the beginning of my military adventure. I never was sent to Vietnam. After Lackland I was stationed at Sheppard AFB near Wichita Falls, TX for a few months, then it was on to Hill AFB near Ogden, UT (onetime home of Donnie and Marie) for two years and then RAF Lakenheath, a British base in East Anglia leased by the US Air Force.....I was there for my final two years.

I saw a lot of the United States, and the world. And like most aspects of life there was good and bad, but for the most part there was more good than bad. But what I remember most of those days were the people, the guys who I befriended, some of whom exposed me to books and ideas I was previously unaware of, and of their own uniqueness. There were some great people, incredible parties, and a live for today attitude.....the phone could ring, and we could be told at any moment to get ready, we're being reassigned to Southeast Asia.

There are stories of those days...so many.

But that mind have to wait for another cold snow day when I feel like sharing some "war stories"....well, sort of.

MADMEN, Season 4- 1964 And The REAL Beginning of "The Sixties"

In the final episode of Season Three of MADMEN, Roger Sterling, Peggy Olson, and Joan Harris are sitting at a table, checking out accounts and organizing the new Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce ad agency. It is around Christmastime, 1963, a little less than a month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Roger said to Peggy, " Could you get a cup of coffee for me, Peggy?" Peggy didn't even look up.....and she responded to the senior partner, "No.".........The times. we see are, a changin'.





The best show on television, Madmen, returns on Sunday July 25, 10 PM EDT on AMC with the former partners and some staff formerly at Sterling Cooper now getting the the new Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency off the ground. Don Draper and wife Betty have split, Joan's doctor husband has joined the army, and Don and Lane Pryce have their names on the door of the new agency. Season Three ended in December, 1963; JFK was dead, and the nation was in shock and in a state of mourning. But it was all going to change very quickly; one era was over, and another was about to begin. Forget what the calendar said; the 1950's lasted until December 1963 and died with John F. Kennedy, as did the innocence of a nation. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (henceforth to be referred to as SCDP) was an entity born at the very same time of the greatest pop cultural shift since motion pictures began to talk.

I'm going to tell personal reflections of 1964 (yes, I'm old enough to remember and to have experienced it), with some the aid of some "notes". It was a time like no other in my life....but first, let's return to December, 1963.

We had watched a beloved president murdered on a Friday afternoon, and then saw the accused assassin murdered two days later on Sunday on national TV. Think about it; 20 million people were eyewitness to murder....and technology made it possible. By 1963 TELSTAR, the first communications satellite, was operational. For the first time in history we could watch an event LIVE from Europe, or Africa, or the Far East. The wonder of this communications advance brought an uninvited consequence; and we saw it when Jack Ruby cut down Lee Harvey Oswald while America watched and ate its Sunday brunch.

Ir was in the period of time after Christmas, 1963 and before New Year's that I was sitting around, listening to the radio. WMCA, now a Christian radio station in New York, was at that time a solid #2 in the rock and roll radio market- it was AM, of course; FM radio was for symphony music....it was a toy that no one knew what to do with. The jock on WMCA was talking about this musical group that was taking Great Britain in a way that no one did since Elvis in 1956. British rock and roll acts didn't fair well in the United States to that point; Cliff Richard, "The British Elvis", was on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW a year or two before- I remembered seeing him and thinking the guy was an Elvis "wannabe" before anybody knew what a 'wannabe" was.

Anyway, the jock talked up this group.....and he played their new record. It was I Want To Hold Your Hand by this group from Liverpool called The Beetles....sorry, that was spelled wrong. BEATLES....kind of a homage to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. I thought they were good, and had tight harmonies similar to the Everly Brothers. But that "jingle-jangle" sound....were those guitars? I had never heard of a twelve string Rickenbacker before.

Yes, a different, unique, and a fresh sound, I thought ....and so did a lot of other people. So much so that Capitol Records rushed an LP, MEET THE BEATLES, into print around two weeks later. A competing release of different material, INTRODUCING THE BEATLES (with a weird cover that showed John, George, Paul, and Ringo all with technicolor red hair) was released by the smaller VeeJay Records. And Swan Records rushed out an early hit single, SHE LOVES YOU, around the same time.

BEATLEMANIA, and the British Invasion, took place without benefit of the 24/7 news cycle, or TWITTER, or any of the hand held devices that give us instant news and media. It was remarkable how quickly it all happened, in a matter of weeks. On Christmas Day, 1963 most Americans had never heard of The Beatles. By January 10 they were all over the radio dial and the first clips from British TV had been shown in the United States. By February 1, 1964 the Beatles had the #1 single in America. On February 9 The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show; 73 million Americans watched their debut on American TV.

In mid December America was in a depressed funk; a month later four Brits with funny haircuts got us going again. And American pop culture would never quite be the same.

Overnight all things British were good; Carnaby Street, Mary Quant, miniskirts, and guys with long hair. And American music was turned upside down. The "DooWop " groups, the Teen Queens, the dance craze of the week, the pseudo Elvises, the pretty boy idols pre-1964 were out. Only MOTOWN, The Beach Boys, and Roy Orbison seemed to weather the purge. American pop music went through an upheaval not seen in entertainment since talking pictures killed the careers of silent movie stars in the early 1930's.

The Beatles were followed by The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Hollies, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, the Animals, and a scruffy lot from London who called themselves The Rolling Stones. Also, there was a hit record in 1964 from a British group with a name straight from the Deep South, The Nashville Teens. The song was Tobacco Road; and this is the also the title of Madmen's Season Four opener. As noted in the previous link, David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun reminds us that the song's lyrics mirror the childhood of Don Draper, born Dick Whitman. Draper, now divorced, is living alone and is a weekend dad to his two children.

Nineteen sixty-four was the beginning of America's infatuation with "the Youth Culture". MADMEN and the new SCDP agency will be there at the beginning of this shift, which would only intensify as we progressed through the decade. In the final episode of Season Three, Shut The Door, Have A Seat Roger and Don seemed insistent on having Pete Campbell join the new firm. Pete, though a whiny little snake, had good instincts as to what appeals to American youth.  Pete Campbell, tolerated by all and despised by most, could find himself in a position of power and influence in the new firm.

In that same episode we saw Joan's husband join the Army. In November of 1963 the Diem regime  was overthrown in Vietnam, and that regime was toppled by a counter coup in January, 1964. That coup would be overthrown by another counter coup in August, just weeks after the "incident" in the Gulf of Tonkin began the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam, a war that was intended to save that country from "global Communism", but only succeeded in tearing America apart and helping to create political divisions that can be felt into the 21st century.

In July, 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, outlawing unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in public schools and in the workplace, and in public accommodations. It was a bill championed by President Lyndon Johnson, a white Southerner, and passed with the help of progressive Democrats and overwhelmingly by moderate Republicans. Southern Democrats balked at their support of the bill; Johnson knew that the passage would probably cause damage to the Democratic Party in the South for generations to come. He was right; the "Solid South" went from being solidly Democrat to solidly Republican....conservative style.

On the same day of the Gulf of Tonkin incident (August 4th), the bodies of civil rights workers James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were found in rural Mississippi. The three were involved in a voter registration drive in the South's most segregated state. They were arrested and later released to members of the Ku Klux Klan who subsequently murdered them. Justice was delayed for decades for the murders. The image at the right appeared in Life magazine. It shows Neshoba County Sheriff Lawrence Rainey and Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price at their arraignment, both were Klan members. Rainey was acquitted, Price served four years of a six year sentence. Details of the crime, the arrests, trials, and updates can be found here.

Also in the month of August, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, the Vice Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party addressed the credentials committee to challenge the all white Mississippi delegation. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded John F. Kennedy after JFK's assassination, became the party's nominee for the presidency in the convention that was held in Atlantic City. Johnson would beat Republican Barry Goldwater in a landslide. But the image that sticks with me the most about that convention was Robert Kennedy ascending the podium, and the ovation he received.... it lasted 22 minutes until RFK began his speech. Robert Kennedy and President Johnson despised each other, but RFK served as Johnson's attorney general until September, 1964. He resigned from the cabinet, and began his successful run as senator from New York.

And during 1964 Richard Burton married Elizabeth Taylor (for the first time), the New York World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadow Park, the New York Mets opened they're new home at Shea Stadium, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in the World Series; the Yankee Dynasty was over, and the National League, which integrated more thoroughly than the American League with black and Latin players, became most dominant in Major League Baseball.

Martin Luther King would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Pete Townshend of The Who would smash his guitar on stage for the first time. Bob Dylan hooked up with the Beatles; Dylan allegedly turned them on to marijuana....both The Beatles and Dylan would go on evolve as artists and influence generations of musicians. On ABC TV a show dedicated to the new music of The Sixties, Shindig, made it's debut on September 16; the next day Elizabeth Montgomery became a TV star with the debut of Bewitched....both shows were on ABC, then the perennial last place network of the "Big Three".

In October Nikita Khrushchev, who once threatened to "bury" the United States, was out as the leader of the Soviet Union. The next month the Verrazano Narrows Bridge would open, connecting Staten Island with Brooklyn. Vatican II opened in Rome the same month. In December the Free Speech movement began at the University of California at Berkeley; Lenny Bruce would be sentenced to four months in prison for obscenity; Goldfinger would open, with Sean Connery as "Bond...James Bond".

And on December 27, 1964 the Cleveland Browns would beat the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game. This would be the last world championship that a sports team from Cleveland would win; the championship drought has now reached 46 years.

Where the characters of Madmen will go this season remains to be seen. The firm of SCDP enters a world much different than the one we last saw them in during the first three seasons. Politically and culturally, America entered an era that could be called the best and worst of times. Many people born after 1970 look at the Sixties as a time of creativity and fun; there was plenty of that, to be sure. But it was also a time of fear and violence, where leaders were gunned down, inner cities erupted after years of frustration, college campuses were hotbeds of protest and sometime confrontation, and death became a fixture on the evening news via the images from Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War affected all; everyone either served or had a family member or friend who served. Many knew someone who died in combat.

Hopefully this exercise in recall and rediscovery will help those who want to know what the times were like....indeed, 1964 might have been the most transformative year of the last half of the 20th Century.

Martin Luther King Jr; His Legacy and His Work Goes On

There is irony abound in this Martin Luther King Day. One year ago Dr. King's birthday was a celebration, with this nation about to inaugurate its first African American president. We gave ourselves a collective pat on the back; we felt that we may have at last gotten to "The Promised Land" that Dr. King talked about the night before he was assassinated. We thought that, indeed, we have were really there- that the content of ones's character should be all that matters.

But we're not quite there yet, as the events of the past year have told us. We have a president how has been attacked by some on the lunatic fringe as being racist, or a man who was not even legally the president because (they claim) he was foreign born. There have been some, even in the hall's of Congress, who have treated this President with disrespect....Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina even called President Obama a liar on the House floor.

We are closer to the goal of Dr. King's dream, but aren't quite there yet.

And this past week Haiti, a nation of descendants of former slaves and the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake. The de facto head of the conservative movement in the United States told his radio listeners not to help the hundreds of thousands of those affected. And the nations most popular tele-evangelist had his viewers believing the Haitian people got what they deserved because 200 years ago Haiti's leaders made a pact with the devil.

Racism is dying in America....but it ain't dead yet. Americans of all backgrounds have given from their hearts during this crisis, even while we are recovering from the worst economic downturn since the 1930's. As I've said before, the United States is a good, benevolent.....but very human and flawed....giant.

This morning I watched the two hour documentary King on The History Channel. It was hosted by Tom Brokaw, and covered the life and career of Dr. King, and was a warts and all portrait. Something that has been forgotten with the passage of time (and this film was a reminder) were the problems endured by King in his last years. Yes, King leadership helped bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act. But when Dr. King brought his movement north to Chicago and the the inner cities north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and started to focus on the poverty of America's underclass, he met resistance from America's white middle class, and even from some former liberal allies. Dr. King's opposition to the Vietnam War alienated him from his ally President Lyndon Johnson, as well as from white Middle America. J. Edgar Hoover led the charge to label King as a communist, and many in the United States started to believe this smear. Some younger African Americans felt King's non violent approach was too soft; some started following more miltant leaders in black American like Stokley Carmichael.

But Dr. King stood by his principles, and never abandoned his tactic of non violent confrontation. His way was that of Mahatma Gandhi.

And it was like Gandhi, that he died- a nonviolent man cut down by a gunshot.

The best, the brightest, and the greatest. What is it in our nature that leads us to try to extinguish our own guiding lights?

"The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month"

It was 11:00am on November 11,1918 that what was once known as "The Great War" or "The War To End All Wars", or even just "The World War" came to end end with an armistice put into effect by the warring powers. Though it was a ceasefire, it was in effect a surrender by the German Empire and their Austrian and Turkish allies. This war to end all wars, as we all know, was not to be; there was much worse to come in 1939, plus dozens of other conflicts worldwide in the years post 1945.

November 11th was at first celebrated as Armistice Day but has since become designated as Veteran's Day, to honor all who have served in America's armed forces. I'm an Air Force veteran; my first two years were spent during the last two years of America's direct involvement in combat operations in Vietnam. My Dad served in the Pacific at the end of World War II and was part of the occupation force of Japan. His brothers served during the Korean War. Members of our extended family were in the military during peacetime, and during the first Gulf War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Last November my Dad and I obtained some family pictures from my cousin. Among them were a few my grandfather, Tony, and my Uncle Joe in uniform in the months just after the First World War had ended.

The first picture (from a post card) shows a group including my grandfather in Paris in March, 1919. I'm pretty sure he is the guy standing in the back, second from the left, next to the soldier with the dress uniform cap.

This is the text of the postcard Tony sent to my great-grandmother back in New Jersey.

Dear Mother- This is a bunch of the boys sight seeing in Paris. This YMCA furnished the trip, which was fine. Tony

Grandpa Tony died when I was a little kid and I don't have that many memories about him....except that he was a man of few words- obviously.

And this is Tony with his future brother in law, my Great Uncle Joe. Joe also died when I was really young. I didn't realize he was so short- note that he is standing on a step, and is still a full head shorter than Tony.

Veteran's Day really hit home yesterday and seems especially poignant this year afer the horrible events at Fort Hood. I lived on Air Force bases in Utah, in the United Kingdom, and two in Texas. You feel safe and secure in these communities within communities. Obviously on military installations there is less crime then "outside"- most of the bad stuff that goes on are misdemeanors that are dealt with with by Article 15 punishment (or Captain's Mast in the Navy), and then there is the occasional court martial. Despite what you may see on JAG or NCIS, the rate of violent crime on military installations is relatively low.

No one expects a major to walk into a room and to start shooting anyone wearing a uniform. I'm still shocked and horrified by the thought of went on.

If you're reading this, take a moment to thank a vet or an active duty service man or woman. Its not about politics or support for or against government policy. Its about honoring those who have given of themselves in our defense.