Pvt. Richard Reynolds 1958

RJR1958, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Richard Reynolds offers this photo in commemoration of Veterans Day, inspired by the one of Buckles in his uniform. Mine was taken during basic Army Infantry training at Ft. Jackson, SC. [Buckles, was your photo also taken in basic?] The date was in September 1958 very close to my 24th birthday on the 26th of that month. I was late to the Army, having finished law school at Emory Univ. in the spring of 1958 and already having opened a law office in Atlanta. I had not been involved in the Korean War. When I enrolled at Emory University as a freshman in the fall of 1952 (age 18), the Korean War was hot and heavy. I joined Emory’s Air Force ROTC. The shooting war ended in June 1953 and around that time the ROTC said it would limit its program for juniors and seniors to those headed for flight school. I did not want to do that so I withdrew. Because the shooting had stopped one did not have to go into the military as long as he was enrolled in college and his grades were OK. But when university was over in 1958, the mail soon brought the draft notice. I had several options by which to satisfy my obligation. As a lawyer, I could go to Judge Advocate school and get a direct commission as a Capt., but that would have required a three year active duty commitment. I could simply wait to be drafted, but that meant two years as an enlisted man. And I already had a law practice, such as it was after only a few months. In the end I opted for the Georgia Army National Guard as an enlisted man. It had a program that involved a six month active duty stint followed by six years in the Guard - - weekly meetings, summer camp etc. Though I was a practicing lawyer the Army turned me into a truck driver and a clerk typist - -the wonders of military organization! I did not get attached to an Army legal unit until my last two years with the guard (1963-1964) when I was assigned as a law clerk to the Judge Advocate’s staff, 48th Armored Division, Georgia National Guard. During the last year of my commitment (I was a sergeant by then), we got a visit and lecture from a Green Beret officer. He talked encouragingly about his unit’s efforts in South Viet Nam. He told how they, as advisors to the South Vietnamese Government, ran the Strategic Hamlet Program. They would go into the jungles and round up all the natives and move them into central camps to protect them from roving bands of Viet Cong. He said it was a most successful operation and thought we might like to be a part of this pacification effort. Of course, things escalated rapidly from that point forward. In August 1964, the month before my enlistment was over, the Gulf of Tonkin incident took place, and American involvement was soon escalating at a rapid pace. I thanked my stars that I was honorably discharged by then. Eleven years after my 1964 discharge, the Viet Nam War finally ended in April 1975. At the time I was 40, had three sons, and a booming law practice - - And, I might add, an ever increasing interest in circus history. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See what's new at AOL.com and