How can one not get re-energized with just this opening?
YouTube Fugue.
There was an 18-month-period, from late 1968 through mid-1970 that clearly had some of the best music ever. This was the year of Woodstock. The Beatles were still going strong, but touring less, and would soon stop completely. Led Zeppelin's first two albums, Zeppelin I and Zeppelin II, were released in 1969. The era of "free love" and the uncertainties of the Vietnam War probably contributed to some of this really incredible music.
Speaking of the Vietnam war, I turned 18 in 1969. My lottery draft was July 1, 1970; my lottery number was 103. The highest lottery number called for this group was 125; all men assigned that lottery number or any lower number, and who were classified as available for military service, were called to report for possible induction. I would have been deferred by virtue of being enrolled in college. I was worried that I would be called up before I graduated from college. I was convinced, but wrong, that the war would still be going on when I graduated from college.Some irony, that after all was said and one, a 30-year career in the USAF.
My draft number out of McKenzie County was 17. The day I graduated from college, I got my notice. Enlisted in the Navy the same day. Don't regret it one bit.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you would say that. Had the same thing happened to me, my life would have been a whole lot different, but my hunch is I would have loved every minute. Some of us are just made for the military. LOL.
DeleteMy dad enlisted in the US Coast Guard when he got his draft notice during WWII. Before opening the letter, he rushed down to the US Coast Guard recruiter; thought that would be safest option. During war, US Coast Guard becomes "part" of the US Navy. He had scores of trips across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Even though he was in the US Navy for less than three years, that was the part of his life he most talked about. He, too, had a very, very good experience.