Happy VD to all of you other losers and suckers!

[Chainfire]

7. It was Admiral duress!

I was a squid. a salt, a sea-dog, a swabbie. Mostly a swabbie. I lived the life of a troglodyte, in the steamy, noisy, cave that was the engine room of a ship. I was Shanghaied from a hippie life of pot, booze and girls, sent off, against my will. I was a "volunteer" for the Navy after Uncle Sam sent me a notification that I had won a lottery to join the Army. That is where the duress came in. (I come from a long line of cowards, and neither Viet Nam, nor jail appealed to me) I will tell you, that even though they shaved my head and put me in funny clothes, tried to beat the words, "floors, ceilings and walls. right and left" out of my vocabulary, to their dismay, they weren't able to beat the hippie out of me and I only did one gig with them.

I can't say that it was a totally negative experience. I learned how to get along with a lot of people who were different from me. I enjoyed the alcohol fueled comradery of a good EM club or local bar. I had my first drunken fist fight (which I lost badly) I made "life long" friends that I haven't seen or talked to since I was discharged. The post service benefits helped making a start in my post-service life; I took advantage of a paid apprenticeship program and the VA helped me buy my first house.