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KOOL AID KID
FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA
It is September 1967. I’m 19. I’ve finished school and have a decent job.
“Fighting soldiers from the sky”
But have no car, again. I’m 1A in the draft and had my summer
“Fearless men who jump and die”
Need to depend upon Larry L to take me to work and bring me home.
“Men who mean just what they say”
Eddie S stops over. He “Whatcha doing?” Me “I don’t know, what u doing?”
“The brave men of the Green Beret”
“Supposed to start my junior year at Temple,” Eddie says, “But don’t know what to major in?” “Well I just wanted to get through the summer without being drafted” I replied. (As U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam increased, young men were drafted for service there and from a pool of approximately 27 million, the draft raised 2,215,000 men for military service in the United States, South Vietnam and elsewhere during the Vietnam War era).
“Do you want to join the Army on the buddy system?” Eddie asks me.
“And do what? Was my reply. “Go airborne” Eddie said.
“The Ballad of the Green Berets” was a number one hit for five weeks in 1966 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in fact was named Billboard’s #1 single for the year in 1966!
The U.S. Army parachute team known internationally as Golden Knights.
So we told our parents what we wanted to do and went to a recruiting office and signed the enlistment papers and were told to report on October2, 1967.
Eddie and I went back to my room at my parents and put on the turntable –
“Fighting soldiers from the sky”
“Fearless men who jump and die”
“Wait! What did he say?” I asked –“Fearless men who jump and die?” “Nah” Eddie said - “He said Fearless men who jump and TRY!” “I don’t think so” I said.
“Maybe it was Fearless men who jump for PIE?” Eddie said. It didn’t matter of course. We already enlisted and had a report date.
We reported on October 2 and took our oath to protect the United States and got on a train. We stopped in Baltimore and picked up more ‘cruits either draftees or enlisted guys. Then we made another stop in Washington, D.C. for another load of recruits before we arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
We were bused from the train station to Fort Bragg which is the largest military installation in the world with more than 50,000 active duty personnel.
As we stepped off the bus the Drill Instructors started yelling at us “You’re a bug!” “Lie on your back and put your feet and arms up in the air!” “Now rollover and give me ten!” “Ten pushups!” “Now!”
I learned how to peel potatoes “The Army Way” when I had KP (Kitchen Patrol)
After learning you do what the Drill Instructors tell you to do our first stop was the Reception Station for in-processing, physical examinations and receiving our army clothes and, oh yeah, getting a buzz cut hair cut.
Our eight week of Basic Combat Training consisted of receiving instructions, practice of those instructions, exercise and testing in twenty-nine subjects.
Me wearing my dog tags in the barracks. (Photo by Eddie S)
We were “Buck Privates” with the lowest rank in the military with a military enlisted pay grade of E1 making about $99.00 a month.
Are we having fun yet? Mom would mail me packages that had Kool Aid in them as well as other goodies about once every two weeks. I would mix the Kool Aid with the water in my canteen. Thus I became known as the “Kool Aid Kid.
I’m in top and bottom left side photos and all on the right side while Eddie is in both of the second row photos as well as the left side of the third row.
Boot camp consisted of getting up at 4 am and going on long runs before breakfast. To enter the Mess Hall we had to swing ourselves on horizontal bars.
Since I was overweight I was not permitted to eat any potatoes or dessert and had to give them to those who had to gain weight.
Our training consisted of Character Guidance, First Aid, Guard Duty, weapon cleaning, and individual weapons qualification, inspections, individual tactical training, close combat training, CBN (Chemical, Biological and Nuclear), hand grenade throwing, bayonet drills, hand to hand combat and weapon qualification on the firing range.
We went on plenty of marches and our physical training included the forty yard low crawl, a run/dodge/jump course, climbing a horizontal ladder and a mile run all of which was part of our Physical Combat Proficiency Test.
The military did ask me if I wanted to go to Warrant Officer’s School because I had 20/20 vision in one eye and 20/15 vision in the other eye.
“And do what?” was my reply. “Learn to fly helicopters” they said. Since the Viet Cong were shooting them down as if it was an arcade game I said “No”.
Playing Army as a kid was fun. Being in the Army was not. When I was going through the 100 yard infiltration course I thought “What am I doing here?” My first time away from home I decided then and there I wasn’t going to jump out of any airplane. No way.
Thanksgiving meant just a few more weeks and basic would be over
I’m sixth from left top row and Eddie is fifth from right first row.
More than 200,000 young men underwent basic combat training at Fort Bragg during the period 1966 to 1970 and at the peak of the Vietnam War in 1968 Fort Bragg’s military population rose to 57,840.
Who knew North Carolina could get so cold but I’ve never been as cold as I was those two and a half days of bivouac in December 1967.
Then it was over. Carrying those sand bags I lost fifty pounds and went from 240 to 190 and a 42 inch waist to a 36 inch waist.
Now it was time for graduation. A parade, rest and relaxation before getting ready to ship out.
Eddie would be assigned to Fort Banning where he would learn to jump out of planes and I was assigned to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where I would receive AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to become a medic.
Derny "Draft" race at the 5th international track cycling day in the Büttgen Velodrome. The Derny would continually get faster and the last one who could hold it's wheel was the winner.
Derny-Ausscheidungs-Rennen beim 5. Internationalen Bahntag im Sportforum Büttgen. Das Derny wurde kontinuierlich schneller und der Letzte, der noch drangeblieben ist, war der Gewinner dieses Rennens.
Ended up with 3 picks out of 45 total in a 15 set draft of 41075, and I was pretty happy snagging so many leaves and so much dark red in general. Can already see some of this being used for SHIPTember.....
Drafts - From Rubens to Khnopff.
Exposition at Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKB, Brussels, Belgium).
Work of François Bossuet.
Clock Cigar Store, Mackay, Idaho. The old Clock Cigar Store on the east side of of Mackay's Main Street is one of Mackay's oldest landmarks. The building was built in 1901 and first housed the Mackay Miner Telegraph newspaper until 1905, and then the Mackay Miner newspaper until 1917. After the Mackay Miner newspaper moved to their second location across Main Street and one block up toward the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line Railroad station, the original building was used by a jewelry store owner, Mr. Emanuel Frank who installed the large clock outside the building to bring attention to his business and provide the city with a timepiece. This was at a time when not everyone owned a pocket or wrist watch and the large clock outside the building helped the Mackay citizens track time. Mr. Frank was pretty sure it was the only clock like it in the state of Idaho and was similar to a clock located on Broadway in New York City. The clock was 14 feet tall, the lighted dial measured 30 inches in diameter and was adorned with 3 street lamp-type lights. Due to the lighting, the clock was quite eye-catching at night. The Mackay Light and Power Company supplied power for the clock and its lights. The clock was unique in that it had no clocking workings inside the lighted dial. The hands were driven and controlled via wires from a master clock works inside the store.
Mr. Emanuel Frank passed away suddenly in September 1920, soon after revealing plans to remodel and expand the building. Ownership of the building and the clock throughout the next years is sketchy. The city of Idaho Falls attempted to buy the clock from the Frank Estate, but bowing to local public pressure, the Mackay city fathers interceded, purchased the timepiece, and vowed to keep it a part of Mackay's Main Street decor. The former jewelry store was converted to a cigar shop and the signage added by Charles and Hattie Donnelly. With prohibition in place, the shop sported pool and billiard tables along with a good game of poker. With the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the Clock Cigar Shop was one of the first Mackay establishments to offer draft and bottled beer along with a few slot machines.
Charles Donnelly's died suddenly at the age of 51 on July 10, 1940. The Clock Cigar Store became the property of Scott Vaught who brought in Elmer Peterson to manage the business. Scott Vaught's sister, Marie Vaught Peterson was married to Elmer Peterson. The shop continued to have card playing and drinks, along with an outlet for fishing tackle which included hand-made fishing flies by Elmer Peterson. Elmer Peterson died in 1972.
The clock outside remained a fixture on Mackay's Main Street through the early 1940's and was gone by 1951. However, the exact date of the removal of the clock is unknown. In the minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Mackay for September 1, 1942, Mrs. Ralph Larter appeared before the Board and brought up the matter of the Village Board paying for the repair of her car which was damaged by the clock in the front of the Clock Cigar Store when it fell over on her car, causing $18.75 in damages. The location of the clock after its removal from Mackay Main Street is unknown.
A later owner of the building was Bart Kent. In the 1980's Rex Lundberg and Rowsel Ellis rented the space for a carpentry shop. The building is currently owned by a man from Las Vegas, Nevada (2013).
Bain News Service,, publisher.
Drafted men
[between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Notes:
Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Format: Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.25257
Call Number: LC-B2- 4328-9
May 5th, 1944,
The day my life changed. I turned 19 the day before, so I was very surprised I wasn't drafted the year before, I thought maybe by the grace of God I wouldn't get called up. My older brother died in the battle of Guadalcanal the year before, so my parents didn't want to lose me as well, since my younger brothers weren't old enough to work the farm. Later that day, I went to get the mail, and I was horrified to see: "United States army" on the front. I knew I had been drafted. I showed it to my parents, and my mother began to cry. I'll have to go to the recruitment center tomorrow.
-Jonathan A. Porter
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Draft 20 oz Imperial Pint
Tap & Barrel Olympic Village
6% abv
Went down very nicely with a mushroom pizza
Another draft, this time based on RWBY. Please, check it out, leave a like, a comment, and subscribe!