The Army

I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1958, immediately after graduating from college, because I knew I was about to be drafted. I enlisted with the proviso that I would attend the Army Language School, now known as the Defense Language Institute, in Monterey, California. I wanted to study Chinese, a language that had always fascinated me, but once I arrived at the school, the army told me I was to study Vietnamese, a language I had never heard of—back then we called that part of the world French Indochina. That by-chance assignment was one of the two factors that allowed the army to totally change my life. The other was basic training.

My memory is that basic training lasted about ten weeks. It was the most rigorous training I ever experienced. Because of the endless physical exercise, my body was transformed from that of a boy into that of a man. I learned self-control and physical achievement far beyond anything I thought I was capable of. I learned that I had depths of courage and endurance that had never before been called to the surface. Through the endless humiliation inflicted on me and the other trainees by the drill sergeants, I learned a self-respect I had never known before. I learned teamwork, an invaluable lesson.

I have written here several times that I continue to believe that we should restore the draft. I never would have enlisted had it not existed. The army taught me the courage and self-reliance that allowed me to excel during my many years in Vietnam as a civilian operative. And it changed me into the man I am today, a man I am proud to be.

Let’s restore the selective service so that other young men can benefit as I did.