Sounds of Hope

When I started this series with the entry A Draft , I had no idea where it would go. Like a snowball that cannot be stopped as it rolls down the hill gathering more snow, this story keeps going and growing. Many of the details are still laying in the snow pile. You are hearing just the highlights, or lowlights. Everything is true. Nathan would run the trailer court. Often he'd sneak out of bed before I got up. He'd be outside playing by the time I did. It was a safe place. His best friend was Butch Hamilton. I could peek out the windows and see Nathan and Butch digging for frogs and worms. Too excited from play, trip inside to use the bathroom were optional. Nathan picked up a southern accent from his friend. Life seemed good. I had good neighbors. Army communities are like that; people cling to each other. Betty Boomer would take me to the store. Later, another Army wife decided I had to learn to drive. She gave me her car keys and said drive. That was all I needed. At 19,...

I went once to Fort Leonard Wood and stayed in the guesthouse for the weekend. He wasn’t supposed to have visitors during Basic but I took Greyhound anyway. I brought Nathan and remember in the quietness of that room he learned to point to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth and chin on command. I can still see his sweet little face as he sat on my lap and we played.  I went to his graduation from Basic. He came home for a short leave. My stomach was growing as another child was preparing to come into our family. He moved on to AIT, Advanced Infantry Training, at Fort Polk Louisiana. The welcome sign at Fort Polk declared it was the training ground for Viet Nam. I bought a Greyhound bus ticket to go to Louisiana for a weekend visit. Sunday we rode an old school bus to church in Leesville. The young pastor of the church gave us use of his car for the day. We drove around the swampy environs of Leesville enjoying our day of freedom. We returned the car to him after the Sunday night se...