"I just didn't want to wind up in the infantry. I would go to war on an air-conditioned ship, with three square feeds a day, a shower every morning, and a nice warm fartsack to crawl into at night. And if there was any shooting, the Captain had as good a chance of getting wasted as I did.

"Still those were not my major priorities, if I had been given a choice between two years in the Marines and four in some other, safer, more comfortable, service, I would have gone with the Jarheads, even with its risk of winding up as a combat infantryman. My major priority was to get out of my military commitment as soon as legally possible, and the Naval Reserve gave me that opportunity. I don't really remember what my draft lottery number was.

"Refusing military service on conscientious objector grounds would have been dishonest, I wasn't one, although I have always respected those who were willing to jeopardize their futures and careers because of a sincere pacifism. The kids who went to Canada were heroes if they did so out of a genuine moral opposition to the war, not just to get out of fighting. I had severe reservations about the draft, but felt those who opposed it could do so honorably in jail, but my commitment wasn't that strong. But I had no sympathy whatsoever for deserters. Once you accept the Legion's salt, you have accepted the Legion's fight.

"The only other alternatives for me were to either stay in school (not an option) or get married and get pregnant. Politically, my views about the war were relatively neutral. I didn't think we had any right to be interfering in another country's civil war, particularly when the side we supported was just as bloodthirsty and vicious as the Communists and corrupt to boot. On the other hand, back then I actually believed in the Domino Theory, I was convinced that if we didn't win the war it was inevitable that the Commies would take over all of Asia. It is obvious now that we were all mistaken about that. We lost, but only the countries we invaded went Red.

"The one thing I wasn't mistaken about was all that John Wayne crap about us fighting for freedom and righteousness. It was just that, crap. I was in the USNR just a few weeks when I heard that the Reserves had met all their recruitment quotas and were not accepting any more volunteers. I can't help it if I'm lucky."