The Average U.S. Military Man
My first duty station after boot camp was the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in St Petersburg, Florida. The year was 1960, before our heightened involvement in the Vietnam War. St. Pete was a beautiful city on the Florida West Coast, where the townspeople had a lot of love and respect for the military. I was proud to wear my uniform when going on liberty. The old folks at the chess club called me ‘son’ and were anxious to engage in conversations with me over a chess game, anxious to talk about their WW II or Korean War experiences. They were all pro military. My favorite stop on the way back to the base was at the Stick and Rudder , a small bar just outside the gate. It was quite common for one or more of the regulars at the bar to buy me and my buddies a round of beer and give a toast to the U.S. Coast Guard. After Vietnam and most recently Iraq, the public support for the military seems to have waned. The respect for the young soldiers, sailors and airmen prevalent in the old da...