Me.<br /><br />Volunteered for the army at the minimum age of 17, or maybe earlier for entry at 17 as all I can recall is I did it at the earliest opportunity. Went through a day of tests that weeded the original 50 or so blokes of all ages down to 3. Other 2 blokes went into the office separately and came out. They were in. I went in expecting it was a done deal. Very nice recruiting major told me I'd done brilliantly on the tests but they'd like me to come back in a year and I was in. Only time I've felt something around my heart hit my navel in disappointment. I really wanted in. They were right. I was immature. Still am. <br /><br />If the army had accepted me I would have been a grunt in Vietnam a couple of years later. That's what I wanted, in my youthful idiocy. <br /><br />I don't think I had what it takes, although I thought I did then. <br /><br />I think if I'd survived, and the odds were very much in favour of that, I'd be one of the many blokes whose lives have been blighted to varying degrees ever since. <br /><br />My number didn't come up in the draft a couple of years later, which was by then a minor disappointment.<br /><br />Immaturity probably saved me from a lot of torment in what passes for my maturity.
