My Vietnam War Experience-- Part 1: The War That Wouldn't End

This past May and June I wrote about different Vietnam War veterans giving their reminiscences of that war.

Well, for me, it wasn't an experience in South Vietnam.  The war ended before I graduated from college.  But, I was fairly sure the war would be going on even now with the way we were fighting it.  Had it continued past 1973, I was going to be there.

I really wasn't so much against the war in junior high and part of high school. The war started when I was in junior high at Winston Park in Palatine, Illinois, and went all the way through those two years.  Then it continued all the way through high school at Fremd and Palatine.  Surely it has to end at some point.  No war goes on forever, or so I thought.  But no, it didn't and was only showing signs of escalating instead of coming to an end.

I always felt that the war might have ended in the 1964 election had Barry Goldwater been elected.  I know the North Vietnamese must have been afraid of him when he said he would begin bombing Hanoi.  President Johnson in the election didn't say what he was going to do as far as bombing.  Johnson won in a landslide and soon began bombing Hanoi.

--RoadDog

Ten-Song Trips: 1973 and 1968-- Part 1

From WDRV, the Drive in Chicago.

The years 1964 to 1973 are very special to me as that was when I got interested in music thanks to the Beatles. Plus, these were my junior high, high school and college years. Always lots of memories in these songs. Plus, back then, I didn't keep a journal so it takes these songs to jar the ol' memory.

Bob Stroud plays the songs on his Ten at Ten segment, broadcast at 10 AM and rebroadcast at 10 PM. And, he plays the songs without commercial break! Every two songs he talks about what was going on back then and runs newscasts and commercials.

It's all in a trip back.

RoadDog


WILL ROGERS SAYS: We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business.

First Day as a New Teacher

The August 31st Chicago Tribune had an article about Cynthia Klaczynski who had her first day of teaching at Glenbard South High School in suburban Glen Ellyn. She is a "cart" teacher which means she moves from room to room with her teaching materials on a cart. She was nervous and admitted it to her students and told them that this was her first year. Cynthia also has an assigned mentor teacher to help her.

"I wanted to be a teacher since 6th grade," says Cynthia Klaczynski, 23. "This is it."

"Klaczynski and hundreds of other novice teachers throughout the Chicago area are ready to test their college courses against the realities of managing a room crammed with young people."

She has five classes. around 100 students, and gets paid $44,000 a year for her efforts.

This article brought back some memories of my first day of teaching in Round Lake, Illinois, at John T. Magee Middle School, back in August of 1973.

I was very nervous and did not sleep well the night before. However, I never admitted to the class that I was nervous or that this was my first year. The less they knew, the better, I figured.

I had two classes each of seventh, eighth, and ninth graders and three different preps. One was seventh grade geography (a course where I would get a new group in every quarter), another was a yearlong 8th grade history class, and the third was ninth grade world georgraphy, also for the duration.

Essentially, the principal gave me books, a room, and told me to go to it. At least I didn't have to "cart it" from room to room. I had no mentor and had always known that I wanted to be a teacher.

My great grandfather was a teacher, as was my Aunt Louise and my mother (although she didn't start teaching until I was in 6th grade as she stayed home to raise us and finish her college courses), and my father could have been one. Since then, my sister has entered the teaching profession. My brother also could have been a teacher, but like my dad, chose the business world.

My salary for that first year was a whopping $7900. But, back then, you could live on that money. I wouldn't recommend trying it today.

I was hired the week before school started, but that is another story.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Teaching I Go (or Went). --RoadDog

The Second Day at School

Since I am now celebrating the beginning of my second year of retirement, I look back on memories of the first days of school.

I really disliked the very first half-day, well, at a bit over two hours I guess you couldn't call it a half day.

I would have my homeroom and have to go over the school rules according to the "In the Know" booklet. That was boring and seemed to go on and on forever.

As bad as that was, it wasn't anything as bad as trying to teach the kids how to open a combination lock. A few would have had experience with it, but most had never seen one. I tried to make it as simple to learn as possible, but to no avail for some of the seventh graders, who were getting lockers with locks for the first time.

It was even worse until the last several years at Magee, when the combination locks built into the lockers finally gave up the ghost and quit working. The district replaced them with the hand-held combos. At least this way, we got to practice opening the locks in class instead of at the lockers.

The hardest part was the second move to the left which requires going all the way past the first number. This threw many a kid. And then there some kids who hadn't quite figured out the left-right thing.

To Be Continued...

Let's See, is that L-R-L, or R-L-R? --RoadDog