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Nov. 11th, 2024 11:42 amWe need to be thankful for those who served - particularly in the two World Wars. The world would be quite different if it wasn't for our victories.
On Veterans Day I am always glad that I am not a veteran. I was able to get draft deferments while being an MIT and Columbia student and then when I got a job as a computer programmer in what was deemed as a "critical industry". The Vietnam war was raging at the time.
The closest I got to being a veteran was in Army ROTC in my freshman year at MIT (It was required for freshmen and sophomores at MIT because it was a "Land Grant school"). I got excused in my sophomore year because of eyesight. I'd heard that you could get excused if you had flat feet - so I went to the MIT infirmary at the beginning of my sophomore year and they said I don't have flat feet, but my eyesight would qualify.
Icon is me in my ROTC uniform. In ROTC we learned a lot of military history and various practical things like how to polish brass buttons and how to march. I did get to fire an M1 rifle at the MIT rifle range.
On Veterans Day I am always glad that I am not a veteran. I was able to get draft deferments while being an MIT and Columbia student and then when I got a job as a computer programmer in what was deemed as a "critical industry". The Vietnam war was raging at the time.
The closest I got to being a veteran was in Army ROTC in my freshman year at MIT (It was required for freshmen and sophomores at MIT because it was a "Land Grant school"). I got excused in my sophomore year because of eyesight. I'd heard that you could get excused if you had flat feet - so I went to the MIT infirmary at the beginning of my sophomore year and they said I don't have flat feet, but my eyesight would qualify.
Icon is me in my ROTC uniform. In ROTC we learned a lot of military history and various practical things like how to polish brass buttons and how to march. I did get to fire an M1 rifle at the MIT rifle range.
