Modern Neon Sound: Stiff Little Fingers "Tin Soldiers"

In 1982 I graduated from high school. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States. As a young adult I was pretty certain that the world I was about to step into stood a pretty decent chance of being annihilated by nuclear war. It was also possible that we could simply find ourselves in the middle of a pretty intense war with Russia. We had a cowboy for president, and he was not to be messed with! It also didn't help matters that the US government began requiring young men to sign up for Selective Service. Supposedly there were no ifs, ands or buts about the matter. I understood it to be a law that when you turned 18 you had no choice but to register your name for a possible draft! As it turned out, there was a choice, a moral choice, and many of my friends never filled out the paperwork. I, on the other hand, had learned that if you didn't sign up you would not be eligible in any way for Financial Aid for college. I caved to the blackmail, went down to the post office, and I filled out the Selective Service card because I was definitely filling out the application for Financial Aid.

My request for financial aid for college was turned down. As far as the Selective Service went, I was hoping that if I ever received the "Call Up" that my poor vision, or at least my wimpy demeanor, would exclude me from any sort of service. Of course, I hoped I would never have to find out what the inside of a Draft Office looked like.

One of the conditions of Selective Service was that you had to re-register every time you changed residences. Since I wasn't going to receive any Financial Aid from the government, I decided that my commitment to re-register every time I moved was over. The interesting thing about that decision was that for the next few years, every time I moved, and as you can imagine at that age it was quite a few times, I would receive a postcard from Ronald Reagan reminding me that I needed to re-register! He always seemed to know where I was so I never found the need to follow through.

To the young men and women who voluntarily sign-up for military service I urge you to read all of the fine print, question the promises the government may make to you, and most of all keep your head low.