As Soon As Tomorrow

The Marines could draft back then, and as luck would have it, they chose me.
At first, I felt cheated and did not understand why I had to go.
My friends and the surrounding people stayed home and continued living their lives.
I graduated from high school in May 1967.
I can still recall the new sense of freedom that permeated the air on that calm springtime evening.
Dozens of dark blue caps garnished with golden tassels soared into the night sky...bounced onto the ground, exploding into thousands of pieces of hot metal...I was back in the "Nam'' that time morph has haunted me for decades.
The memory of flickering stars and the sounds of my high school band playing ''pomp and circumstance'' has long since faded.