Mastodawn

Good morning. 🦆🪿🦢

21 April 2026

I once came across a stack of letters I had written to my grandmother from Vietnam, back when I was in the Marine Corps more than fifty years ago. What struck me as I reread them was how barely literate, I sounded. I caught myself thinking, Good grief, was that really me? The handwriting was pure chicken scratch, and the spelling was a coin toss at best. To be fair, I was still a teenager then, barely out of high school — though you wouldn’t have guessed I’d graduated from the way those letters looked.

Back in those days, not having a high school diploma wasn’t much of a barrier to joining the Army or the Marine Corps. I’m not sure what the Air Force or Navy required at the time. I did have a diploma, but I remember plenty of recruits who didn’t — maybe even more without than with. It was a different era, and young men were still being drafted. I enlisted, but I still carried a draft card in my wallet. I sometimes wonder if they even issue those anymore.

When I was a Marine, I had a Marine Corps service number — and I still remember it after all these years. I came in right as the Corps was preparing to switch from the old service‑number system to using Social Security numbers instead. I’m pretty sure my dog tags had that number stamped on them. I’ve long since lost track of those tags, so I can’t check.

Sometimes I think of that period as the beginning of my second life. Time moves on, the years flip by, and we grow and improve. It’s a continuous learning process. Truth is, we’re learning right up until the end.

“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” — Benjamin Franklin

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” — T. S. Eliot

“I am still learning.” — Michelangelo, at age 87

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