DH had the day off yesterday so when he finished his self appointed chores, I asked him where he would like to have lunch - Brick 29 was his choice.
Don't even remember how we got on the subject but he started telling me about joining the Idaho National Guard in April of his senior year. 1966. I always thought he joined the NG because of his dad's love for the military, turns out, not really, he went from the Marines to the National Guard and knew the score for his only son. His dad told him, Look, you don't want to be drafted. The National Guard will be the last to go to Vietnam. So 3 months before his 18th birthday, he joined the National Guard, along side his father.
Turned out his dad was right even though later, the elder would want to go to Vietnam so he could draw a higher pension. They were on Priority 1 for over a year which meant they would be given 2 weeks to get their personal affairs in order before being deployed. I felt like a reporter trying to get all the information that I could. It was a nice, deep discussion - unlike the shallow ones we had been having about buying a motorcycle.
The one Story that really caught my attention was the Officer Story. They called in a few of the men in DH's unit and had them take a test, unknown in nature. Later they would be called in and told it was to see if they were officer material. DH was, he passed with above average results. They wanted him to accept and head to Officer School. He declined. Not only no but hell no. He had a year of military service left to go and then, he was out of there. He did not share his father's love of all things, camouflage. His father retired from the Guard and DH went back to his real life and both were happy with their choices. DH maintained yesterday, given a choice - he would do it the same way all over again.
The way we make choices will be studied by those way smarter than me, forever but if you are able to see a Story and follow its history - you can learn enough to get by. I am so happy we got to have this talk and it gave me another piece of DH's puzzle and when it comes to men, we women need all the help we can get. Amen...
