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AllaN01Bear

(27,996 posts) Thu Nov 6, 2025, 05:01 PM Thursday

howdi. this is a true story about me.

location: marine induction station . date 0915/1976. event. on my 18th birtdhday i went to said marine inductoon station in azusa ca. i was one of the last lottery draft numbers before the military switched over 2 the all volunteer service. luck had it that the station was closed that day and switching over. came back the next day. promptlyu 4fed due to a spinal fusion and other issues. i tried. at least i didnt run off to paris for 7 years to play tennis, as i mentioned to someone i know . he said or goto canada ore have my dad bribe a dr to say i had bone spures. i am proud i did show up and do my duty.

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howdi. this is a true story about me. (Original Post) AllaN01Bear Thursday OP

Well, you made me look. usonian Thursday #1

I was inducted into the U.S. Navy on Sept. 1, 1976 in Galveston. These are a few of my true stories. pecosbob Thursday #2

thanks for your service. AllaN01Bear Thursday #4

The draft ended H2O Man Thursday #3

u r correct. thanks . AllaN01Bear Thursday #5

usonian

(22,371 posts)

1. Well, you made me look.

Reply to AllaN01Bear (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 06:15 PM

Thursday

I got a similar invite from Uncle. But I was too damn healthy.

Preferring choice to chance, I visited the Coast Guard recruiter.
Asked when I would ship out to beautiful downtown Cape May, New Jersey, he said "THIS AFTERNOON".

Well, wasn't that precious?

Checking dates, that was Nov 11, 1971, finishing my enlistment on 11/11/1975, and I''ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of that next week, hopefully with a free meal on Veteran's day. I seriously had no idea all this time that I went in and out on Veteran's Day.

I'll post the annual list of freebies next in the Veteran's forum.
The V.A. usually sends a list or links to one in the email at the last minute.

pecosbob

(8,233 posts)

2. I was inducted into the U.S. Navy on Sept. 1, 1976 in Galveston. These are a few of my true stories.

Reply to AllaN01Bear (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 07:31 PM

Thursday

Travelled to forty-two different countries. Sailed around the world...twice. Met Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Saw the Shogun's Palace and the war memorial at Nagasaki. Dove on the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and shared an apartment with five guys on the north shore of Oahu. Got a tattoo from Doc Webb in San Diego. Watched steam rise from Mauna Kea and from Aetna and from Vesuvius. Bought tailor-made crackerjacks in Hong Kong and was detained by British CID. Passed on a chance to go AWOL and sail the world on a tall ship with a bunch of Danish university students...something I still regret. Pinged the heck out of a lot of whales as we chased Soviet submarines all over the Pacific Ocean...another regret. Absolutely did not sell some really good Hawaiian pot to those USAID spooks on Guadalcanal.

Went to school for a few years under the old G.I. Bill. Got old...

That's what Bonespurs missed out on...