On April 4, 1968, I was in the Navy. I was at that time only a third of the way through basic training. Upon arrival at boot camp, a month earlier, I was promptly escorted to the barber shop to have my head shaved. There, I stood in a long line of young men with every hair style you could imagine, including the classic unkept hippy-do, and full-on Afro with imbedded pick-comb.

This mass fleecing was the first of many steps in our basic training that was designed to strip away individualism and minimize personal identity. We no longer belonged to ourselves. We were now property of the U.S. Navy. But no amount of head shaving, common dress or cohabitation could ever remove all our differences.

The 1960s were turbulent times. The entire country was engaged in a decade-long awakening. There were riots, demonstrations, and great marches. The “Great Society” legislation of 1964 still had not taken firm root in much of the nation, and Martin Luther King Jr., like Moses, was peacefully leading his people to the “Promised Land” in the face of strong opposition. Race sorely divided the nation in 1968, and even though there were no visible hostilities in recruit company 168, there were still clear divisions. White and Hispanic recruits kept to their cliques, and Black recruits kept to theirs.

I was made a squad leader in boot camp. I was given this responsibility because I was tall, not because of any meritorious action. Having a tall squad leader made it easier for the shorter men in the squad to line up on the leader........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal