Reflections of An Uncommon Common Man

 After packing our ruck sacks which were very heavy we were tactical from the time we left our base camp. Every time we stopped for anything I would find a tree to lean against in order to help support the weight of my pack. Upon arrival we immediately began digging our defensive perimeter. I was foxhole buddies with a good friend, J. W. Smith, who was a Marine combat veteran in Vietnam. We did nothing but dig all day and as dusk arrived I was already worn out. We were tasked to man the perimeter that night, while other units did patrol and ambush duty. Besides our TANG unit there were elements of other guard units there. Memphis was there, along with Ohio and a couple of other states. I had my field jacket on but the night was so cold I was freezing and I was so tired from digging that I had trouble staying awake. Every time I nodded off J.W. would bounce a rock off of my helmet. The training cadre acted as the aggressors. It was pitch black and so quiet that all you could hear wa...

I call this chapter Prime Time because I loved the 1980's, at least for the most part. The early 1980's were crappy but I was in the best physical shape of my life and my economic picture was gradually improving. I was enjoying my service in the Air National Guard because those guys made me laugh more than I have ever laughed in my life and it was an honor to serve with a great bunch of guys. I loved the music of the 80's and my children were all young, beautiful, and still living at home. Plus, I had a beautiful wife that loved me. I was on top of the world. To top it off we had a great president in the White House and I never felt prouder of my country. It seemed like the economic stagnation of the 1970's and Vietnam syndrome was over. The cultural Communists in the Democrat party were continuing to make strides but I was hoping that the Reagan Revolution would override their gains in the long run. With the benefit of hindsight I was wrong and now we are in a fight fo...

We finally got a few days to see Germany before we left for home. Germany is a beautiful country and the terrain reminded me a lot of Tennessee. There are forests and hills everywhere and the towns and cities are beautiful. We had managed to go into Frankfort a few times before the air show and on the 21st I visited Mainz. It is a Medieval city where American forces crossed the Rhine river in WW2. There was a really neat flea market there by the river where I managed to find a Nazi Labor Day Medal and a WW1 medal. For historical reasons only, I wanted something with the swastika on it. It was against the law, apparently, to openly sell anything related to the Nazi's or Hitler in modern Germany. The clerk reached under the table and pulled out his WW2 memorabilia. After the air show we spent a whole day on a Rhine River tour where we floated down the river on a tour boat viewing German castles and towns along the river. The Rhine is the busiest waterway that I have ever been on in m...

    In May of 1983 a spot opened up and I was finally allowed to rejoin my Air National Guard unit. Things were finally falling into place but I was still not able to buy a car. Since my transmission went out in Florida I was not able to trade my car because I was upside down on it because I owed more on the car than it was worth. I was forced to have it repaired in order to keep driving. Before I was finally able to trade the car in 1987 I put three rebuilt transmissions in it, an engine, and several starters. I was either walking, running, or hitching rides to work more than I was driving. My first Guard drill was spent preparing for a two week camp at Rhein Main AFB near Frankfort Germany and we were scheduled to leave toward the end of the month. We were being deployed to Rhein Main to work an air show there. Because of terrorism across Europe in the 1970's and 80's the base was basically closed to the German public. Other than the locals who worked on the base. or vendors...

By the time I was hired at Cumberland-Swan Drug Company in March of 1983 the economy was in a noticeable recovery. Inflation was on the way down. The real estate market and the automobile industry were recovering. The job market was also getting better and by this time I was a believer in Ronald Reagan and I was a proud Conservative. Before Ronald Reagan a Conservative was bad, and a liberal was good. After my conversion to conservatism the term liberal represented all that was wrong with America to me. Today I realize that a true liberal is actually a good thing. You can have a civil debate with a liberal. The leftists are the crazy people and either the real Communists or the "useful idiots". I am a classical liberal as were the Founding Fathers. Before Reagan I was a conservative and just didn't know it. I believed that if you were a liberal it meant that you were open-minded on everything. That you were for the working man, against the evil rich and open-minded on the...

  During this time Debbie's cousin's husband Mike worked as a bread salesman at Bunny Bread in Nashville. He put in a good word for me because of my past bakery experience and his supervisor wanted me to come in that day to complete the necessary paperwork. I was ecstatic because a bread salesman job was good money and meant great benefits. It was very hard work and had long hours but that didn't matter to me. I wasn't scared of hard work. Officially I was still in the Army Reserve but I hadn't joined a local Reserve unit because I wanted to rejoin my old Air National Guard unit. I like to level with people from the start so I told him that I was still on the rolls of the Army Reserve which was a big mistake. The man's whole attitude toward me changed instantaneously. Within seconds I realized that I had lost all chance of getting the job because I was in the Reserves. His attitude went from your hired to don't call us we'll call you, just like that. I t...