# So very young.



## squatting dog (Jul 1, 2020)

Forced to grow into manhood rapidly. Look at that face.


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## RadishRose (Jul 1, 2020)

He's just a boy! 
Let these evil old men duke it out in a ring!
Leave our kids alone.


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## Pepper (Jul 1, 2020)

Who is he?  Is he you, Dog?


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## RadishRose (Jul 1, 2020)

Wondering the same thing.


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## Gaer (Jul 1, 2020)

squatting dog said:


> Forced to grow into manhood rapidly. Look at that face.
> 
> View attachment 111834


Is it?  Is it you?  The ladies on the forum are requesting a picture of you, please?  Background might be Nam. You  were there,wern't you!


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## Lewkat (Jul 1, 2020)

When I look back and see what the enlisted guys looked like and those who worked for me, they were just boys.  Some were my age or a couple of years older, but they still looked like high school kids.


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## squatting dog (Jul 1, 2020)

Gaer said:


> Is it?  Is it you?  The ladies on the forum are requesting a picture of you, please?  Background might be Nam. You  were there,wern't you!


It's my fellow platoon buddy who was unlucky enough to have to carry that oh so heavy M-60 machine gun.


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## hollydolly (Jul 1, 2020)

All the guys who joined up were that young...and still are to this day... 

the class of 2020.. UK


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## squatting dog (Jul 1, 2020)

By the end of my tour in 1970, (started in 68), I was actually able to grow a sort of mustache. I felt so old and grown up by then.    I was considered an old man by then.


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## RadishRose (Jul 1, 2020)

Handsome, too!


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## Lewkat (Jul 1, 2020)

You still look like a young kid, mustache or not.


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## Pepper (Jul 1, 2020)

You are beautiful, and so was your friend.  Youth is beautiful, too bad most of us don't realize that at the time.


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## Gaer (Jul 1, 2020)

squatting dog said:


> By the end of my tour in 1970, (started in 68), I was actually able to grow a sort of mustache. I felt so old and grown up by then.    I was considered an old man by then.
> 
> View attachment 111841


  WOW!  STRIKINGLY HANDSOME!  Thank you for posting that!


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## AnnieA (Jul 1, 2020)

Very handsome! 

It makes me sad to think that you guys had no choice when drafted yet so many were treated as though you somehow represented the war makers behind the scenes when you returned home.   I was in Manhatten for a birthday weekend several years ago and my birthday falls near Veterans Day.  Got caught up in the parade route and saw a lot of guys your age marching.  I clapped, cried and wasn't the only one doing both!


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## Gaer (Jul 1, 2020)

THOSE EYES!!!


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## Ceege (Jul 1, 2020)

I remember that when someone I knew came back home, they never seemed to be the same. That loss of innocence, I suppose.  Coming home and seeing many of their friends already married with a child or two made them feel like they needed to catch up.  And a sadness that would come over them sometimes.  War really is hell.


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## jerry old (Jul 1, 2020)

See thread BRIGHT-EYED CHILDREN WITH GUNS
on thread Any of you write Poetry
Post 82  JaniceM


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## squatting dog (Jul 1, 2020)

jerry old said:


> See thread BRIGHT-EYED CHILDREN WITH GUNS
> on thread Any of you write Poetry
> Post 82  JaniceM


Yes, struck close to home.  How bout this?

At Arlington he's lowered down without a pause,
And his native land welcomes him with open jaws,
And the tombstone reads such a noble cause,
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.


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## jujube (Jul 1, 2020)

Man, dog, I would have gone for you back then!  I had a weakness for a guy in uniform; I married one in 1969.


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## fuzzybuddy (Jul 2, 2020)

Talking about how young dog looked, reminded me of this. I was  in my mid 20s when I was stationed In GTMO, Cuba. Right next door was the Marine barracks. Marines all looked like they just turned 18.  I was a corpsman, and worked in the eye/ear clinic. One day a Marine came in with physical form. I did the ear test and took him back to do the eye part. As he's rattling off letters, I noticed that the form was one used only for induction into the service. He's wearing a uniform? I asked if he was a Marine. He sat up "at attention"-only Marines can do that. He shouted, "Sir. Today is this Marine's  18th birthday. 

This Marine is entitled to join the Marine Corp,. Sir". This was in 1972, and the Marines in GTMO, usually had spent time in Viet Nam. I asked him how long he was in the Marines. "28 months". OMG. That made him 15 when he joined up. I called over to the barracks and asked for the Gunny. I said "Gunny, I have one of your men, he says it's his birthday." The Gunny said, "I know. He informed me bright and early ,today.  at 8 AM. We don't know what to do with him." . 

At Somewhere along the line it was suggested that I bring  him to my Officer Of the Day. I remember walking into his office. I poked my Marine in the side, and said. "Tell him what day it is". "Sir, This is this Marine's.............., Sir". "Now, tell him how long you have been a Marine". "Sir, 28 months, Sir." The OOD figured it out faster than I did. Somebody got a 15 year old kid to join. I left the 'problem' with the OOD I don't know what happened. We were afraid the kid might loose service time because of being underage. In 20, years that could be a huge difference in pensions, etc.


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## JaniceM (Jul 3, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> All the guys who joined up were that young...and still are to this day...
> 
> the class of 2020.. UK


And now many young women join up, too..


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## 911 (Jul 4, 2020)

When I was in Vietnam, I helped load a lot of 18 y/o bodies into Hueys. It works on you and makes you wonder, “Will someone be loading my body onto a helicopter someday?”


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## old medic (Jul 4, 2020)

1981 at 18, My utmost respect to our VETS.


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## 911 (Jul 4, 2020)

old medic said:


> 1981 at 18, My utmost respect to our VETS.
> View attachment 112219


Nice photo. Typical GI haircut, I see.


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