Answered Prayer
War can push us closer to God13 total reviews
Comment from Susan Newell
Your story brought back so many memories for me. You are so right about the war being brought into our living rooms. I had friends that were drafted and warranted a kiss good-bye, always with the thought that we might never see each other again. I don't think those who weren't young during those years can understand the emotional toll taken on a whole generation. It still haunts us.
Tiny proofing thing: my new drivers license ==> driver's
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Your story brought back so many memories for me. You are so right about the war being brought into our living rooms. I had friends that were drafted and warranted a kiss good-bye, always with the thought that we might never see each other again. I don't think those who weren't young during those years can understand the emotional toll taken on a whole generation. It still haunts us.
Tiny proofing thing: my new drivers license ==> driver's
Comment Written 11-Oct-2021
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Hello Susan, thanks so much for the generous review and for pointing out my mistake. I'll try to correct that. I wish I had thought to check and see if Walter Cronkite was still a news broadcaster then. When he spoke, you felt like you were getting the truth. I didn't really give the war too much thought until after I turned eighteen. I'm sorry to say that prior to then I was incredibly shallow. The draft was still in effect and I ended up drawing number 52, so I figured I was on my way to the war. As it was, I joined the navy in 1972 and several weeks into my time at boot camp President Nixon stopped the draft. Go figure.
Have a blessed evening.
Tom
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You are most welcome.
Comment from damommy
This really hit home. I lost several relatives and friends to that war. I'll never forget when the soldiers came off the planes coming home, how the people spit on them. Unforgivable! This is an excellent story for the contest. Good luck.
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reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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This really hit home. I lost several relatives and friends to that war. I'll never forget when the soldiers came off the planes coming home, how the people spit on them. Unforgivable! This is an excellent story for the contest. Good luck.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 11-Oct-2021
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Thanks so much for the kind review Yvonne. I remember watching the news and seeing the young men being treated like criminals. No one stopped to think that those men didn't ask to be sent off to war. Instead of dodging the draft and running to Canada, they put their lives on the line for an unpopular war. I'm sorry for your loss. Our freedoms have been bought with the blood of the brave, and how precious that blood is.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
Comment from Mrs. KT
Hello Tom,
Well-written account of how the Vietnam War affected those of us who grew up in its shadow. I was 15 years old in 1968, and one of my cousins was deployed to Vietnam. He made it home ... alive. But how I remember it all: the fear, the protest marches, the confusion, and did I mention, fear?
So many of my male classmates were worried that they would be drafted, and some of them were. All but one returned home alive...
Funny thing about prayer: so many only do so when they've exhausted all options. Your "there are no atheists in a foxhole" resonates deeply with me...
Thank you for sharing!
Best Wishes!
diane
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Hello Tom,
Well-written account of how the Vietnam War affected those of us who grew up in its shadow. I was 15 years old in 1968, and one of my cousins was deployed to Vietnam. He made it home ... alive. But how I remember it all: the fear, the protest marches, the confusion, and did I mention, fear?
So many of my male classmates were worried that they would be drafted, and some of them were. All but one returned home alive...
Funny thing about prayer: so many only do so when they've exhausted all options. Your "there are no atheists in a foxhole" resonates deeply with me...
Thank you for sharing!
Best Wishes!
diane
Comment Written 11-Oct-2021
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Hello Diane,
Thanks for the exceptional review. It was a troubling time. For the most part people were patriotic and it caught a lot of us off guard to see the demonstrations. I was afraid that my older brother would get drafted, but he got an exemption, although I don't recall why. The draft was still going on when I turned eighteen, and a year later I drew number 52 in the draft lottery. There was no reason to believe I would receive an exemption, so I ended up joining the navy. I wanted to be somewhere that I could always be around water so I could fish.
Blessings to you my friend.
Tom
