American History & Politics During My Lifetime
THE
VIETNAM WAR
Wars seem to
define generations and nations. The prolonged Vietnam War and America’s
involvement dragged on forever, lasting about 20 years. In the 50s, America
sent advisors, but during the 60s, Kennedy sent troops to aid South Vietnam. It
was the first time that warfare was played out daily on the nightly news. I
grew weary of seeing this every night. It was brutal. By the mid-1960s, there were
anti-war protests, and it only escalated with the implementation of the Draft
on Dec. 1, 1969. The Selective Service drew numbers much like our current
lottery system. The lower the number, the higher the chances of being
immediately deployed. It was a very dark day in our home, as Bryan’s birthday
drew a very low number. Daddy used his ties to get
Bryan into the National Guard and Bryan avoided being shipped to Vietnam. Bill
Ford, Paula’s fiancé, was a Baylor graduate freshly enrolled in Law School. He
enlisted in order to go to officer training in the Air Force, starting as a Second
Lieutenant and pilot of the B-52. As a young bride, Paula followed him to
Georgia, California, Michigan and Guam as he received his wings. This changed
the lives of my brother and my sister forever, and the Vietnam War defined our
generation. Bryan began training in the
National Guard and was committed for years of monthly stints. Bill became a
career Air Force officer, flying missions over Vietnam in the last days of the
war. When the war was over, Bill was stationed at Dyess AFB in Abilene, and we
were blessed to have them back in Texas. He retired many years later as a Major and then used his experience to fly the Airbus for UPS, an aircraft
comparable to the B-52.
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