[js1138]

When you join the military, you roll the dice. What you end up doing, whether you end up in danger, whether you end up in discomfort, or whether you end up in some paradise is largely a matter of luck. Of course, during the Vietnam years, the odds were decent that you would end up over there.

Yes it is a roll of the dice, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers like myself wound up "over there" but never saw combat.

[archy]

Yes it is a roll of the dice, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers like myself wound up "over there" but never saw combat.

And plenty of others who thought they had a good deal going, then events came along that proved otherwise. The occupation-duty troops in Japan used to form Task Force Smith in the early days of the Korean War come to mind.

I never asked to go most of the places I was sent to, I just went and did my job as best I could. I've got no problem with others who did the same, whether hard times in combat came their way or not. Maybe if I hung around those such more, their good luck would rub off on me....

-archy-/-