Loophole in law granting illegal immigrants driver’s licenses could lead to voter fraud

I got out of the Army in 1972 after my first enlistment. I got out to go to college. When I got home there were no jobs. We had about 6 pipe shops in our town. That made the old cast iron type pipe that was used before plastic became the rage. A company from up north bought all of them and closed 5 and put hundreds of men out of work. Men that had been working there for 35-40 years. They were not educated except the back breaking had labor of those hot, dirty, pipe shops.

So, there were no jobs. Nothing. I went to the City and signed up for the policeman's test. I pasted the test and was in the top 5 or 6 on the list. Then I got notified that we would have to do a do-over of the test because no blacks passed the test. I asked about that at the next test session. The man there told me that a new law called for one black to be hired for every two whites. So, because none passed, the test was thrown out. We all took it again. ONCE AGAIN I managed to do well on the test and was expecting to get hired, UNTIL, that dreaded letter came again. The test would be retaken again in two weeks!!!! I got to the test madder than a wet hen. I once again asked about the test and the got told me, same thing as last time buddy, sorry, there is nothing we can do about it because of the Feds. So, I took it a third time. Once again, I passed and did well.

Wanna guess what happened??? You get ONLY one guess! Yup, same deal. None passed. So, I told my Dad, I was fed up with the crap, that I had a good job in the Army before I got out. I had made E-5 Sergeant after only 16 months in the Army. By this time, I could have made E-6 Staff Sergeant if I had stayed in. But, that was water under the bridge. So, I went down and reenlisted in the Army and did the other 17+ years and retired. They let me come back in as an E-5 also because they needed E-5s bad. Vietnam had screwed up the force.

I was fed up taking a test three times and doing well, but could not get hired. So, I guess sooner or later they may have managed to get some qualified people to pass the test. But, I was long gone back to the Army. A bunch of Federal Court mandated crap.

Wow. The Seventies were hardscrabble for a lot of people. I remember a lot of rusted cars and retreaded tires. (I look around when driving the highways today and often think “Boy, this sure isn’t the Seventies! All the cars are shiny!”

When I was in the USN in the Seventies, I did a few labor pool stints off the base to get a few more bucks. That was crazy. But I needed the money. When I got out in the late Seventies to go to college, I couldn’t find a part time job while I was going to school. I applied to a boat load of places, and the last place out of about ten I applied to was a Parker factory (ballpoint pens) and they never called me.

I just said screw it, I was going to see if I could stretch my GI bill money going to to a state college and living at home...my parents always said If I went to college they would forgo room and board. I sometimes think they never thought I would actually go...:)

I had a great time in the Seventies, even though I know it was tough on a lot of people.

Your post demonstrated that.

By the way, thanks for serving. You did damn well making E=5 in that time. I made it in three years IIRC, and I thought I was Sierra Hotel for that...you did it in far less!

I am still proud of that, though. That was a big thing for me. I realized I could succeed because I was dedicated to the job, principled, and...well...stubborn.

Before I went in, it wasn’t like I was a screw up, but it was hard for me to do damn near anything right. I was physically and mentally awkward, physically I was always getting hurt doing stupid things, and mentally, I was awful in school. Had to go to summer school for a few years. Even when I went to college, nothing ever came easy to me, I didn’t really enjoy it, but I finally did well, and I owe it to the military.

But when I got into the military, I had grown up a brat, and it felt familiar, and I found out I was good at being a mechanic and a sailor generally. I was always on time, always did the job right, didn’t get in trouble, and worked hard to advance.

It was great NOT to feel like I simply couldn’t do anything right. It was like a millstone on my neck.

So, I owe my country for letting me serve. I got so much more out of it than I think it got out of me, overall. And I am grateful.

Funny. After I had been a civilian many years, at work I was involved in some kind of team building exercise at work, and when your turn came, you had to take a coin out of your pocket, look at the year on the coin, and tell them what was important in that year of your life.

When my turn came, I pulled a coin out, and it was a quarter with the year 1978 on it.

I was overcome with emotion and was unable to speak. I think some people were puzzled by that, but they didn’t know that for me, 1978 was the year I felt like I made the full leap to adulthood. I had one year left and had decided to go to college. Before that, never in a million years would I have wanted to go back to school, but I made the transition from a lowly Airman Apprentice to Plane Captain, to QC mechanic, to flight deck troubleshooter, to special project guy with a representative who went on the cruise with us from Rolls Royce/Detroit Diesel Allison, and they had a pilot program where our planes were one of two squadrons being fitted out with special systems to monitor the condition of the jet engines to predict and prevent failures. The guy was also teaching college level math courses on the ship to the crew, and offered to tutor me personally at no charge. Just amazing. I failed math nearly every year I was in school, or rarely, a “D”. He taught me.

And I realized that I could be successful at things if I applied myself. That was a major revelation, it opened up my whole future to me, and I realized it.

So when I opened my hand and saw “1978” on that quarter, I felt again that amazing feeling of revelation where the world really did seem like it was going to be my oyster!

I never would have made the transition like that anywhere else but the military, and I am grateful beyond words for that.

(Sorry to get wordy there, reading your post about the Seventies made me very reflective...I know pride is not supposed to be a good thing, but when I was a kid, that was a hard emotion for me to come by...:)

Making E-5 that quick came with a bit of luck. I was a PFC when I got hit in Nam. Spent 4 months in the hospitals in Nam, Japan and finally Fort Benning, GA. While at Benning, I was assigned to the hospital holding company, all people wounded and coming back in the hospital, you get put into that company until you are healed and ready for release.

One day I looked up from my bed and this huge 1st Shirt was standing in front of me, about 6-4, 260 lbs, but not really fat, just huge!! He introduced himself as my company 1st Sergeant and just as he was getting ready to leave, he asked how long I had been a PFC. I told him about 4 or 5 months. He said he had one allocation for an E-4 and three or four guys eligible for it. He asked how I got injured and so I told him. He said, fair enough, you earned it, I'll put you down for the E-4 allocation he got. So, I made E-4 just before I left the hospital at Benning, Martin Army Hospital. I got assigned to the 1/29th Inf Bge over on Kelly Hill.

I was there about 4 or 5 months and got sent to Germany for my first assignment. When I got there, I was put in charge of the three 4.2 mortars crews and track vehicles (I was 11C, Indirect Fire Crewman or mortars. 81mm and 42 inch.), as we were the 2/14 ACR. I was there only a month or so and the 1st told me if I was going to be in charge over all three mortar vehicles, I needed to be an E-5, so he sent me to the board. I scored good and the first month I was eligible for making E-5, the cut off scores went below my score and I made it right away.

I really hit it off with the 1SGT. He was a giant, like 6 foot 7 or 8 and had to weigh 325 pounds or more (seems like I always got some huge 1SGTs along the way). We called him The Bear because he was as big as a Griz. He always was calling on me to do this, do that, and take prisoners to the jail in Nuremberg. We were very very under strength for a border patrolling unit. We had to be at maybe 60% and were really under strength in E-5s. So, it worked out great for me.

The Bear had this deep, gravelly voice. At formations he could be heard all over the parade field where everyone had morning formations. Everyone else delayed theirs about 10 minutes or earlier by 10 minutes so all their people could hear their 1SGT's speak. Bear drown everyone out with that voice, yelling, cussing, etc. He was one mean bugger, but I liked him.

He came into the Army without a HS education, got his GED, grad college, went to Law School nights when stationed in DC. Got his law degree and said he would use it when he retired, he didn't want to be no officer!!! Har, har!! He was the best 1SGT I ever run into. He CARED about the troops. He stood in formation one day and said, "I run this Troop. The CO is just a figure head, and signs papers. I RUN this Troop!!" And he meant it too. No one crossed him, enlisted or officer. He would basically listen to the LTC as ACR commander and the CSM. He made CSM just before he left us.

So, I was in the right place a couple of times to make E-4 and 5. Just lucky I guess.

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