It was so many years ago now, that the “60s seem to be worlds away from today. Having been a teen-ager during those years, for a long time now, I’ve experienced a desire to share my insights about that volatile time in history. It was a time of upheaval, of previously unimagined paths forged . . . some that would benefit mankind, others that would take a heavy, heavy toll. All in all, it seemed an exciting time in history to have been “coming into my young adulthood.”

Many of my best friends back from 1961 through 1966 were guys. I’d always found guys easier to trust than most women and far less competitive. I’ve never forgotten the day that Jim, Dave and Don told me they’d just enlisted in the Armed Forces. Yes, I was happy and excited for them, but I was also scared for them. What if there were to be a war? Would they survive? What if they didn’t survive and I lost two of my dearest friends? We wrote letters while they were away and thankfully, yes, they did all return unharmed. But! This was just before the Viet Nam war began. How well I recall listening to and identifying with Barry McGuire’s song, “Eve of Destruction.” This song told the story so eloquently of the beginning of the end of so many young people’s lives. Little did I know, we truly were living the eve of destruction.

Suddenly, there was this unfamiliar and monstrous thing called, “The draft lottery.” Kids I’d just graduated with from high school were being drafted one right after another. (The story of the upheaval that all young people experienced is told so well in Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times, They Are a Chang’in.”)

My brother came to me one day and in a panic-stricken voice stated, “Jeanie, I’ve just gotten my draft papers and I’m 4th on the lottery list! What am I going to do?” My immediate response was, “Jeff, you’ve got to enlist right away – BEFORE they can draft you!!” (After all, the guys I’d known who’d enlisted had fared quite well in the service all in all. I’d just learned that the French had fought Viet Nam for eighty years and finally gave up and pulled-out of that godforsaken place that I’d never heard of before.) Jeff went down that same day and enlisted in the Navy. I’m so grateful to this day that he did so. He spent his four year naval career in Texas working on jet aircraft engines! (Thank you, God!)