We chatted a little bit longer, I don’t
remember much about it though. Then he shook my hand, wished me luck, and
continued on his way uptown. I saw him disappear into the crowd, then I turned around, and kept walking down town.
At 42nd street, I saw the
recruiting station. It’s still there, on that same spot, with all four branches. I crossed the street, and as I got close to it, through the glass doors I could
see a bunch of guys, sitting around smoking, and waiting to enlist.
“What the hell!” methought.
Maybe Tito’s words, I don’t know, but in I went. The irony, though, is that the first guy who talks to me is Air Force. That’s why I went into the air force. Life is funny, I went to Haaren to study aviation, and afterwards I never saw another air plane engine again.
After enlisting, we were sent to Whitehall, down on Broadway for a medical exam. Recruits went through a physical to see if they qualified; to make sure they weren’t gay; and that they were physically fit for service. Everybody went down to Whitehall, all the services had their guys down there, going through the same line getting checked out. As I went through it, we smoked, no one said you couldn’t. It’s amazing as I think about it, a medical facility, and we were all smoking, doctors, everybody. That’s not happening today, but that was the way it was, that was the atmosphere back then.
We were given plane tickets, and the other
dudes got bus tickets to Ft. Dix, and other local military bases. Airmen went to Lakeland AB, in San Antonio Texas for boot camp. We got in trouble for laughing
at them, because we were going to fly, and they were going to ride in an old bus.
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