Sharpshooter

The Armed Forces drafted my Dad at age 18. Following in the footsteps of his older brother Jim, Dad enlisted in the Navy. Or my Dad tried to enlist. You see, his eyesight was poor, and he was rejected by the Navy at the recruitment center. But Dad was determined to be in the Armed Forces. So he arrived 4 days later at the same recruitment center and enlisted in the Marines. But this time he knew the process of moving from room to room with his paperwork, and he was accepted that day into the US. Marine Corps. He recounted, “I might have memorized the eye test, and there may have been a pencil with an eraser involved as I moved between rooms.”

My Dad is quite proud of his service as a Marine. He served in China and spent time in “Peking,” he believes, because he was able to type. But he is most proud of qualifying on the rifle range as a sharpshooter, despite his poor eyesight. His good right eye allowed him to shoot well enough to qualify. By the way, sharpshooters earned an extra $3 per month, so his monthly pay increased from $50 to $53. Hope he did not spend it all in one place.