It Ain't Me

 FORTUNATE SON by Credence Clearwater Revival (1969)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
They're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief"
They point the cannon at you, Lord

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, yeah
But when the taxman comes to the door
The house look a like a rummage sale

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
They send you down to war
And when you ask 'em: "How much should we give?"
They only answer: "More, more, more"

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

I used to listen to this song often and when the song was playing on the radio in the car at the same time I was driving, I would turn the volume up loud and roll down the windows to let everyone listen...  we were children of the 60's and we were no fortunate son...

HOWEVER, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Three years prior to the song's release date, I had graduate from high school in Cairo Egypt specifically because I was, in fact, a FORTUNATE SON...  as my Dad was a high ranking official in the American Embassy and I held a Diplomatic Passport.

It was in 1969 that I also dropped out of college and lost my deferment for the draft, so instead of waiting around to be drafted, I enlisted in the NAVY...  thinking being on a boat was better that grunting around on the ground with a rifle.

I wasn't much into the military hierarchy but I found myself adapting very quickly and like any FORTUNATE SON, learned how to manipulate the system so that I could get more vacation than had been approved...  all legal mind you...

I would ask for 5 days of vacation in between 2 weekends neither of which were my duty weekends.  So, at noon on Friday, I would leave for home, then while home on Sunday, I would call into the ship at midnight, informing them that my vacation had started.  On that next Friday, I would call the ship just before midnight, informing them my vacation had ended...  then I would report for work that following Monday.

Five days of annual leave approved but actually 9 days taken...  and since the military gave us 30 days of annual leave, I could perform this little stunt 6 times which is exactly what I did...  of course, I was not the only clever sailor to do this.

Unidentified Flying Objects

An unidentified flying object (UFO) is any aerial phenomenon that cannot immediately be identified. Most UFOs are identified on investigation as conventional objects or phenomena. The term is widely used for claimed observations of extraterrestrial spacecraft.   SOURCE:  Wikipedia

The term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was coined in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object". Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and "technical aspects"

W T F...

After all these years, our Federal Government finally admits to having witnessed UFO's...  and, on top of that, these UFO's were seen by US Navy Pilots...  making the sighting even more credible...

It leaves this paranoid author wondering just how many more things our Federal Government have been hiding from us...

Honorably Discharged from US Navy 1972

My rank was E5, I was in Communications, and we had just returned from a Med Cruise and I decided I would not shave my face until we returned to Norfolk...  but, I decided to keep my beard for another 6 weeks since that was the date for my discharge.  Admiral Zumwalt was CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) and according to one of his Z-grams, sailors could grow full beards and their hair could be undetermined in length as long as it did not interfere with military head gear...  Many "lifers" retired because of Zumwalt...   but, I enjoyed the opportunity he provided us.