I remember that as a child any adult could correct my ill-mannered behavior and any adult would help me if I was in a jam

I remember that getting a lick in school was far better than taking a note home to my Mom who would then give it to my Dad.

I remember playing recess football and deer and dog and getting scrapes and scratches and every kid I knew had a band aid on sometime during the week.

I remember summer vacation-time leaving home in the morning and being told to not get into trouble and to be back for dinner, just like every other kid I knew.

I remember sitting in friend’s living rooms looking at the Civil War memorabilia of their great-grandfathers: Rebel battle-flags, bayonets, minie balls and all manner of what-not.

I remember hunkering under a student desk in Air-Raid drills and the uneasy feeling of fear it instilled. When I told my Dad about it he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to worry because nothing would happen but if it did it would be over in a second and it wouldn’t hurt; and that was a great relief.

I remember when the Klan firebombed our church (Catholic) in the middle of the night.

I remember being told by our high school football coach that on away games he expected us to act like ‘civilized’ folks, and he meant it.

I remember living in Jacksonville N.C and watching the approaching Russian ships with their Atom bombs on TV.

I remember being home from college after my 1st year of NROTC and watching the reporting of the Gulf of Tonkin incident and realizing that things just changed

I remember coming home from Viet Nam and being met by hostile hippies in the San Francisco airport.

I remember taking a company of Marines to Washington D.C. in 1971 because Abbie Hoffman and 500,000 of his closest peace-loving friends were going to levitate the Pentagon. And I remember the socks filled with sand and thumb-tacks and the Frisbees with the razor blades poking out the side.

I remember family and friends and shipmates and colleagues and the blessed life I’m living.

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, and thank you for your service

We remember a lot of the same things.

Happy Birthday!

I remember a lot of those items, wish I had a time machine to take us back to those conditions, as I think we were all better off.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday.
Makes me remember things very similar.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
... wish I had a time machine to take us back to those conditions, as I think we were all better off.

Yes! Minus the hippies.

Happy Birthday wishful thinker and I also thank you for your service!

Wait what’s deer and dog?

quote:

I remember that getting a lick in school was far better than taking a note home to my Mom who would then give it to my Dad.

^^^ Boy, Howdy!

Sounds like you and I are about the same age.

Happy Birthday!

quote:

Originally posted by wishfull thinker:
I remember taking a company of Marines to Washington D.C. in 1971 because Abbie Hoffman and 500,000 of his closest peace-loving friends were going to levitate the Pentagon. And I remember the socks filled with sand and thumb-tacks and the Frisbees with the razor blades poking out the side.

So which group had the toys?

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
So which group had the toys?

The peace-loving hippie assholes, that's who.

Happy birthday my friend...and many more

Happy birthday, and thank you for sharing your stories. I enjoyed reading this.

Happy birthday sir. Thanks for your service!

Happy Birthday! I suspect I may be slightly older than you, but I have some of the same memories. (I was USAF 1960-1980.) However, I was never in VN so didn't have to experience the trauma of returning from there.

Thank you for your service.

flashguy

irreverent asked: Wait what’s deer and dog?

It's really pretty sophisticated and hard to learn. Mrs. Humphrey would always tell us to come back on the bell and if she said 'No Deer and Dog' that told us for some reason that we had a long recess. So then we would argue down the hallway about who were deer and who were dogs, it was North Carolina in the 50s and that was how deer were hunted then, I don't know anymore. Anyway by the time we got to the door we had it sorted out and then the deer would run like hell to the cane field on the other side of the trees from the playground and about ten seconds later the dogs would come after the deer. If the dogs caught a deer they'd grab him and roll him in the dirt and then he'd be a dog and help chase the deer. Well, maybe it's not really that complicated. Maybe sweaty is a better description.



PHPaul said: Sounds like you and I are about the same age.

Close, I think I'm older what with being more mature and stuff. 73 but I prefer to think of it as 26,663 days because that seems longer and I have an excuse for being such a wreck.


Fenris asked: So which group had the toys?
New to SIG said: The peace-loving hippie assholes, that's who.

Nailed It.


Thanks for the kind thoughts guys. It's been a pretty great day.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
However, I was never in VN so didn't have to experience the trauma of returning from there.

Thank you for your service.

flashguy

Thanks, proud to do it. The peaceful demonstrators weren't so much traumatizing as confusing. Pencil neck geeks for the most part. The real fun was at my next duty station, AFEES (Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station) Portland, OR. Induction was on Wednesdays and every week for the year that I was there, that would be 1969 into 1970, the peaceful demonstrators would show up with bags of dog-crap, paint or just a simple brick and redecorate the joint. a couple of times through really bad luck they caught a clerk who was late and she would get roughed up some. We are talking here about women in their 50s walking to a civil service job. I fucking hate peaceful demonstrators. But I'm over it now, seriously...really, I never give it a thought anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by wishfull thinker:
irreverent asked: Wait what’s deer and dog?

It's really pretty sophisticated and hard to learn. Mrs. Humphrey would always tell us to come back on the bell and if she said 'No Deer and Dog' that told us for some reason that we had a long recess. So then we would argue down the hallway about who were deer and who were dogs, it was North Carolina in the 50s and that was how deer were hunted then, I don't know anymore. Anyway by the time we got to the door we had it sorted out and then the deer would run like hell to the cane field on the other side of the trees from the playground and about ten seconds later the dogs would come after the deer. If the dogs caught a deer they'd grab him and roll him in the dirt and then he'd be a dog and help chase the deer. Well, maybe it's not really that complicated. Maybe sweaty is a better description.


Thanks for the kind thoughts guys. It's been a pretty great day.

Thanks for the explanation! Very obvious, I spose, I just never heard it called that! Sounds like the sharks and minnows I watched my son play during hockey practice. I’m glad your birthday was great!