I had tonal hearing loss, I could not hear higher frequencies, though it did make me very sensitive to any lower sound such as a diesel engine, I am a master mechanic in that field nowadays.
The recruiting officer felt a good position for me was carrier flight deck operations where of course everything is done by sight, hand signals and by what support group or color you are. I was a very fresh 18 having my birthday just a few days earlier on Dec 4th and I was on my own having left home in Arkansas and hopping a bus down to New Orleans, no job, living in a $25 a week room across the river in Algiers I had no guidance and no goals, I could have and possibly should have persevered and requested that I was capable of doing my job with limitations but back then things were tough. Not like it is today.
So I probably made the biggest mistake of my life by giving up. It took me many years to get somewhere in my life, actually it wasn’t until about 1981 that I managed to be somewhat better than a bum on the streets.
The American way of life. If you have drive and a goal you can do anything in this country. Glad to hear that you were able to pull yourself up.