Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional

[patphil]

60. The 2 sergents in charge of our dorm were pretty nice guys. I could see they had to work at being hard asses.

Their job was to toughen us up; make men out of boys...pretty much a bullshit task, but they did the best they could.
I won't ever forget all the new, and strange experiences we had there. I cam from a small town in northern New York, where there was only one black family in a town of around 6500 people.
It was quite different in basic training, where I met black, brown, and Asian guys. This was my first real incursion into the world at large.
All in all, I would rather not have been in the military. A couple of my friends who didn't get that experience got a big head start on me as far as getting jobs and building a life was concerned, but I got an education as to the strangeness of military life.
One more thing, since this was 1969, the Vietnam war was a big factor in choosing to enlist in the Air Force. Not going to be stuck on a hill in the jungle waiting for the Vietcong to attack. As it was, all but 4 guys in my barracks at my tech school had at least a 2-yr degree in college.
Also, 4 guys from my high school died in Vietnam. What a fucking waste.