A salute from this Vietnam era vet to all of those who served in country. I enlisted in a local National Guard infantry unit when I was still in high school (1962) and we did not have many boots on the ground in country. After college, my military obligation over, I was hired by the CIA. With the war in SE Asia still in progress, our training included several months of paramilitary, including an abbreviated version of Jungle Warfare in the Canal Zone. Somehow I ended up in Africa Division where they wanted me to study Arabic. The clock was ticking on the time I had left to complete an MA without losing a bunch of credits. I requested and was granted leave without pay. By the time I finished, Vietnam was winding down and the CIA was undergoing a reduction in force. I decided to resign and became a French teacher. first high school, then college. Reenlisted in an Army Reserve Military Intelligence unit where I reached eligibility to retire while missing both Southeast Asia and Iraq/Afghanistan, where my original National Guard unit served multiple tours.
