God that must have been awful for you!
The “smile” guy probably did not give it a second thought.
Well, he was quite young, so I have a feeling it did indeed make an impression. We tend to remember being ashamed. But for the most part, yes, the 1980s were kind of an unpleasant time to be in the military, from a female point of view. Not a day went by that men didn’t inform me how they felt about my hair, my body, my looks in general, and express an interest in my sex life, my bodily functions, what underwear I might be wearing, etc. It really seemed like they were as obsessed as Arabs about it. Watching MAD MEN really brought back memories. I don’t miss that, and I’m glad to see that today’s culture is a little less likely to produce men who pant like dogs after every skirt.