Thursday 27 June 2019

Paul Hardcastle - 19

That year 'Jewlie' Burchill declared this track to be "the first war crime committed by a pop artist" and I was serving (but not at 19!) in a NATO military (6A Soest artillery battalion), not far from the Iron Curtain.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for your service!

    I missed Vietnam and the draft by a few years, turning 18 in 1975 (the year the War ended). Conscription accounts for the '19 number. That and the fact that anyone with any military seniority went elsewhere... like my Dad for posting in Venezuela.

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    1. Excuses, excuses, eh! ;-)

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    2. I spent 1975 - 1985 in the US Naval Reserve as an 1105 Unrestricted Line Officer. But America no longer stationed her carriers on Gonzo Station.

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    3. erratum - Yankee vice Gonzo. There were plenty of carriers on Gonzo Station during the Tanker War.

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    4. Most of my older cousins were drafted. My older brother used to shuttle cargo between San Francisco and Saigon in the merchant marine.

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  2. My current best friend was USAF stationed in Thailand doing SigInt. He's on full disability now for Agent Orange exposure and PTSD.

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  3. Ah yes, the 'MonSatan' Agent Orange Dreadful stuff...

    Wish all the best, please.

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    1. Will do. Than ks.

      Evidently DARPA did most of their early testing in Thailand. My friend's damage was mostly neurological, involuntary muscle spasms and the like. He stays medicated... but since the opiod scare, he no longer gets the more effective opiate based drugs. He does have his medical marijuana card now though... ;)

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