As I entered my senior year at Swansboro High, the Vietnam war was ramping up and if you were a relatively healthy male, one thought was uppermost in your mind (yeah, other than girls), General Lewis B. Hershey and the Selective Service draft. My older brother had already started college and Dad had let Eddie and I know that we were not to assume that we could get a free ride to college as Melvin had. As I began to apply to different colleges (Western Carolina University, East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) I also began applying for student aid and/or scholarships.
UNC had accepted me and told me that there was a possibility of a debating scholarship, but they'd have to let me know at a later date. My draft lottery number that year was 32 and as I sweated my way into June after graduating, I became increasingly nervous so one day I hitchhiked to Morehead City and walked into the Navy recruiters office. The above image was on a recruiting poster with the words "Pride Runs Deep" and I was hooked. When I mentioned my interest in the nuclear program the poster mentioned I thought the guy would slobber all over me (especially after completing the screening test).
When I returned home and told my Dad what I'd done, his first remark startled me, "You'll be sorry!" This coming from a retired lifer in the Navy made me think that perhaps I'd been hasty; he especially seemed less than impressed in my chosen career path in submarines (Dad had been a carrier sailor).
Three days after enlisting I received a letter from UNC congratulating and notifying me that I had been granted a "full-ride" at UNC as part of the debating team. Oh well; the papers are signed and I am in the Navy now.
UNC had accepted me and told me that there was a possibility of a debating scholarship, but they'd have to let me know at a later date. My draft lottery number that year was 32 and as I sweated my way into June after graduating, I became increasingly nervous so one day I hitchhiked to Morehead City and walked into the Navy recruiters office. The above image was on a recruiting poster with the words "Pride Runs Deep" and I was hooked. When I mentioned my interest in the nuclear program the poster mentioned I thought the guy would slobber all over me (especially after completing the screening test).
When I returned home and told my Dad what I'd done, his first remark startled me, "You'll be sorry!" This coming from a retired lifer in the Navy made me think that perhaps I'd been hasty; he especially seemed less than impressed in my chosen career path in submarines (Dad had been a carrier sailor).
Three days after enlisting I received a letter from UNC congratulating and notifying me that I had been granted a "full-ride" at UNC as part of the debating team. Oh well; the papers are signed and I am in the Navy now.