Sometimes, I think that the only thing that got me through the 60's and early 70's, was the music.
And an hallucinogenic or three.
It was definitely a different world back then: a time that those who weren't around then simply don't have the frame of reference to relate to.
In one of my rare moments of sobriety, I enlisted. At the time, the results were mixed. But I'll forever be recognized (for VA purposes) as a Vietnam era veteran. The dividends that a spur of the moment decision to serve paid out in my geezerhood are immeasurable.
I'll never apologize for that. I made the commitment when few others would, and I'm proud of that now.
I'm sad on this 50th anniversary. But without JFK challenging me as a child, I would have never made the commitment as a young man. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
Time has elapsed. I'm an old man now.
I still believe, when I look back at what I did, that I made a difference. That I met Jack Kennedy's expectations.
They say that time heals all wounds.
It doesn't work that way in the real world. But we get by the best we can, through the darkness of night to the sunrise of tomorrow -- wherever in the world that sun might be rising.