When I was in high school back in 1974, I had a draft card, soon as I turned 18. It was a normal thing, it was the law, and every male my age had one.
I wasn't one of the draft card burners. Most of the guys my age kept ours, and would have served if called. Fortunately for me, the Vietnam War ended at that time, and I didn't have to go. My friend Dave joined the Army in 1975 for Ranger training. He said, if he was going to fight in war, he wanted to be able to survive. He volunteered to carry a rock 24 hours a day for six weeks. He carried that rock everywhere he went...in the shower, to bed, to chow, in his Alice gear on hikes. It weighed 20 pounds.
When he became a Ranger, he graduated second in a class of about 300.
We have drank whisky and beer together many times. Dave is one of my best friends...since 1983. He used to tell me about his Ranger training, he specialized in maps. Hunting in the woods with Dave, you wouldn't have to worry about getting lost, even going to the stand in the dark.
Dave trained in Panama and told me about an 18' Bushmaster snake that he walked under...it was directly in the path at night, hanging over a branch, and hissing loudly. He broke the rules and shined a flashlight at it and saw it. Six feet up, six feet over, and six feet down. He didn't see the head, but he figured it would be about the size of a small dog's head. I think that almost freaked him out. He also said he thought he heard a panther walking through the woods directly toward where he was on lookout. He said only two things in the woods sound like a man walking (besides a man)...one of them is a panther. Can't remember what the other one is (armadillo?).
Dave made over 80 parachute jumps, about 40 of them at night. He broke his back one time when his chute didn't open properly, and got tangled up in another man's chute.
He went on training missions in Alaska, wearing white camo and dropped off by helicopter.
He was in a foxhole on a training exercise, with a Vulcan cannon mounted on a truck about 20 feet away...he says he has trouble even today with his hearing. He said that was the absolute worst pain he ever experienced, as it went on for a very long time, and there was no way to get away from it.
One day his commanding officer said he had to let him go. He was too badly injured to carry on, due to the broken back and broken legs from other jumps.
Salute to Dave and all who serve our country!
Les
