dude,
write the bit about your decision to join in HS. that would make a good chapter
where in SoCal did you go to High School ?
The short version is that I attended St. Genevieve Catholic High School in Panorama City, graduating in '64. I am the oldest of ten kids, so it shouldn't surprise you that I had been out on my own since I was 17 but I finished high school on my own nickel by working at J.C. Penny's as a shoe salesman after school. I lived in Hollywood in a slightly converted garage and had some long commutes with a Honda 55 Trail Bike. Seriously.
After graduation, I attended Pierce Junior College for a year and kept working at Penney's. While I was at Pierce, I saw some Lefty "Ban the Bomb" demonstrators start yelling about the war in Vietnam and I remember thinking how odd and screwed up they seemed to be.
About the 16th of April 1965 I saw a Life magazine issue that showed a Marine helicopter Crew Chief trying to rescue some fellow Marines whose helicopter had crashed and I thought "I'm not better than he is" and within a week or so, went to the recruiter in Van Nuys and signed up for four years.
For me, there was never even a choice: my dad and my two uncles had served in WW II and as I said before, both grandfathers in WWI, so I just saw it as my turn.