Saturday, April 30, 2005

war story

 

Tom & I sat out on the porch with a bottle of wine last night & told old stories. In the tradition of porch stories, a good one gets better the more it's told.

So here we go...

the year is 1970.

The powers that be are sending young men to fight an old mens' war, At this time ,it was in Viet Nam. things haven't changed too much since then.

My future husband is 18.

He is sitting with his mom, watching the draft lottery on tv & wondering if his entire future will be changed at that moment. (for those of you who aren't familiar, at that time there was a lottery to pick those who would be drafted into the military. They drew the birthdates of all 18 yr old men on live tv and  your number depended on when & if you would get a notice in the mail from Uncle Sam that began chillingly with "Greetings...")

Tom's mom was incensed. "well,it doesnt' matter what your number is,"she sputtered. "I've done my part! They sent one of my sons over there and shot him! He still wakes up screaming! You are just not going! I'll write you a note!"

Well, Tom still says he won the lottery

. He got a high number, but I treasure the thought of him showing up at the local draft board with a note reading"please excuse my son from this war..."

 

It is a stormy day & I love it. If it's pretty, I feel like I must be out & about,but Caitlin & Tom are napping & Mariah is gone for the weekind....

I'm guilt-free.

I have a note?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny!   a definite treasure   now if we could only excuse anyone from war.   once i obtain my bachelor's degree, i want to go back into history and discover the vietnam era    i'm a veteran, but was about 5 i think when that war started   i want to know the politics behind it, not that iraq's war politics be much different?   thanks for sharing~kbear

Anonymous said...

Mom was gonna write a note!
LOL
i like that :)

Anonymous said...

 ROTFL!!!  OH that story is priceless...
         When mac went into the Air Force( he enlisted instead of being drafted) he found that the Basic training TI's   (training instructors...this spawn of the devil was given the job of seeing how much torment and misery they could inflict on you in 6 weeks!!!)  
    were NOT like Mommy....he was very unhappy and whined about it to his mom.  He is an only child...born to a 40 year old mother.
     She called his commander and told him to please tell those men to be nice to Sonny(thats what she called him)cause he wasn't used to all this!! LOL
    The wise commander did not pass on this message to the TI's (Mac would have been a dead man!!! LOL)      But he did call him in and tell HIM!!  SO he should call his mother back and tell her they were treating him nice!
    Hope all goes well for you Tue.  I'll say a prayer for you!!
       I hate dentists.....I'd rather be rolled naked through broken glass than have to get in that chair and have Dr. DRILL turned loose on me!  
   MArie in TN

Anonymous said...

    I can see your mother-in-law in my mind's eye. What a wonderful story!
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/JMoranCoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

When my Father was fist stationed over seas in England he was an SOB to my mother while there, who was raising 3 small children off the military base, he often would not come home for days, she went to his Commander and requested to go back to the States because my Father was absolutely no help to her there. You better believe that Commander ripped him a new butthole. Told him your first responsibility is to your country, then your family and if there is anything left over then you can have it for yourself, now be the Airman your supposed to be, the Husband your supposed to be and the Father your supposed to be! Just my addition to your soldier story! Enjoy your day! Kimberleigh