as agile for n z i was in the u s army reserves for six years i enlisted it was during the vietnam war and people were being drafted but i chose to go into the army reserves why did i choose to want to go to vietnam it was it was an interesting it adaptation i had just got my associates degree at two years where they had just graduated from from wentworth and i had a deferment while i was at wentworth which meant i could be drafted and so i had to do something and so why i joined the army reserves with a very close friend of mine actually both of us went in together and we we  went july nd of sixty four we went to fort dix and for basic training in the st two or three days we were there we didn't do anything because it was a holiday weekend and we just sort of hung around it was it was interesting but then on july th all help broke loose it was very very difficult because we were in basic training and they were very tough on us i had a girlfriend who is now my wife and i was very very sad upset about having to leave her behind i was going away for six months which was the active duty training portion of my body my service and so i was i was i was very sad actually and i knew i had to do what it was responsibility everyone had back then you know you had a military service that you had to fill and so i was prepared to do that but i wanted to make it as easy and myself as i could and was was able to to to to do that by staying alert saying paying attention to what was going on around you and so forth so it was  it was interesting it was kind of an interesting story while i was during that couple of days that well we were waiting i had met somebody that had just been through basic training and he was just getting ready to leave and i bought him a beer and i said tell me what should i look out for what do i have to be careful for old white have to watch and so we chatted he told me he said he said during the nd week of going to look for volunteers run the five miles ok i went out the truck so i saw that guys get that i was right and then when we got downloading all the ammunition at the end of the at the end of the the exercise we had to we had to shoot so well everybody we're back ok we were there shooting and then at the end we got the truck and we drove back and because i had volunteered i got to do that for the entire weekend or ten days of training so every day i would ride out and they would run out and i would ride back and they would run back so you know sometimes you know you've got to you've got to listen in try and figure out what and one of the other things he told me is one of the things you absolutely do not want to do is to get a driver's license so when they look for volunteers for a driver license you make sure you do not volunteer so i said ok so because tell you what driver and he used to drive the jeep and in the truck but what happened is we both fired expert ok with the with the rifles and as a result of trying export we got a three day leave to come back home which was great except when he got the three day leave he had to drive guard duty so he couldn't leave so that's you know sometimes when you've got too many skills  it could work against you but anyway we got through basic it was a it was a very interesting very interesting experience and it was in the best shape of my life even though i didn't have to run five years i want somebody that's going to be here for that period of time and so you're going to be in my supply side at least as a private st class is don't worry about it he said and as a result of that i get promoted up to staff sergeant very very quickly and so i was a supply sider in for the six years i was in the reserves learned a lot of very good negotiating skills that you know in the reserves back in the reserves were called up we only think we have to get called up for was to much in parades so it was it was a it was pretty easy duty compared to the people that were going to vietnam getting shot at and so forth i was prepared to do that if i had to but fortunately i didn't i didn't have to do that a lot a lot of writing a lot of phone calls both to my folks and to my and to my girlfriend and they would write to me and that was a big you know mail call when the when when he used to call everybody a formation and go through the mail call your name your office or help you get a letter i hope i get a letter was important to stay in touch my military experience for me was was very important as i mentioned i learned as supply sider and i learned a lot of negotiating skills you were responsible for all of the equipment in the unit ok and you would give it out to people and they would sign for it and so forth but you would always end up being short of something you know one time for example we couldn't find a truck could find it couldn't find anywhere so we went down and we stole a truck from one of the other units we changed all the numbers on it we put our unit for the inspection and then you know they came in they stole it back i mean but it was it was like it was it was a lot of  bags but so you were short on blankets ok and you're supposed to have two hundred and eighty blankets you only had to listen to seventy so you'd be going around saying hey look i got ten sleeping bags i big blankets i need blankets and so you'll be trading back and forth on your ex's excesses shortages so it was it was it was and you always had to be on your toes a lot of the do that was it was interesting it was fun when i got out of the active duty i had had an associate's degree and i needed to get my bachelor's degree and so i went to northeastern they schools night school to get my bachelor's degree and it was you know we were going to school nights two or three nights a week and then i had one night a week of reserves so it was a very very busy time i had gotten married i had a child and it put a lot of pressure on my wife because you know four or five nights a week i was out  doing stuff for six or seven years but you know i i would work during the day and then you know do me other commitments that back then it was eastern airlines just have a very cheap flight it was like seven or eight dollars or something fly from new jersey to pass them and so we that was the st time i've ever gotten an airplane was when i went when i when we went we went by train or we came back we came back by plane i feel very strongly that when we got away from the commitment to having to serve as a result of the draft you had to make a decision was i going to get drafted and go away for two years was i going to list for three years or four years that i think the experience of being in the military even though i was only in for six months a century of active duty is very developmental and i think every person in the country should be required to serve in some way after high school because it's a very very maturing process you learn a lot about yourself you learn a lot about other people you a little a lot love a lot about other cultures you know i had grown up in belmont and you know back then kids from belmont were little fairly privileged life as middle class but fairly privileged life and you know when you're in the service you meet people from the south you meet people from get a very very poor number one kid that when he got dressed in black basic training he put his boots on the st pair of shoes you ever go wow can you think about you know to think about that in the in the context that this kid was put the shoes i was like he was oh my god he's a fantastic you know it was it was it was unbelievable to see somebody respond to that so i think you know i'm not saying that people should serve the military i think you know you can you can serve to experience that my youngest son is in the navy he went to the naval academy he's now an officer he's come in to select he's working on the f thirty five joint strike fighter either of the big new one billion dollar jet that they're you know he's a he's a navy pilot flew helicopters and i look at his life in the experiences he's had at the ages that he's had them i mean that age twenty two he was flying a thirty five million dollars helicopter and responsible for six or eight people twenty two minutes which is anybody get that kind of experience