Edward Dill:  

I was born in Cleveland in 1946 and my childhood was probably best defined by the reality of having a growing family without a growing income. When I was born, I had a sister 4 years older than myself. By the time I was living in the southside projects and going to Lincoln High, I had 2 brothers, 3 sisters and a very sick father with no life insurance. As best as I can remember, at the age of 16, the projects were, at least, the 13th resident I'd lived in and I had one more before I left for the Army in1964. All of those moves meant a lot of schools. I went to at least 6 elementary schools (I only actually remember 3 of them), 2 junior highs and 2 high schools, the last four being Newton D. Baker Junior High, Thomas Jefferson Junior High, West Tech and Lincoln. I graduated from Lincoln in 1964 and after getting into some trouble with the law, thankfully before I turned 18, I wound up going into the Army vs. going to detention home. By that time, we'd moved from the projects to a duplex on Walton Avenue,on the west side of Cleveland. By that time, my mother was an alcoholic and my father had passed from cancer. Oddly, I don't remember the moves as being a big problem. I'd gotten used to them. I'd make friends and then lose them to a move and find others. As a kid, it was what it was. I still have fond members of living on W.79th and Franklin Blvd when I was 9 or 10, living on Lakwood Hts. Blvd. in Cleveland when I was 13, going to Riverside Elementary and my time in the projects. I loved sports and played them whenever I could. My time in Lincoln was a pretty good one mostly. I had begun high school in West Tech but living in the projects made that quite impractical. I was late for first period class in 7th grade so many times, they failed me which meant I'd have to repeat my "token" technical class, mechanical drawing, again to stay there. I chose to opt out and go to the school in my neighborhood. What made it easy was that the first day I was moving into the projects, I met a girl who offered to show me around and meet a circle of her friends and that made the transition so easy for me, even though most of the people I became friends with were underclassmen. Of course, that meant nothing to me. The people I met in the group were surely as intelligent and mature as anyone I met in my classes. One of the girls I immediately was drawn to and she became my first steady girlfriend. We became very close (probably too close for comfort) and my feeling for her became a bit obsessive, in that I seemed to want to be with her all the time. As a group, we did have fun, often going on "beach parties" to various locations. But a bit of information, true or not, led me to believe that the sister of my best male friend had said horrible things about my sister who was only 12 or 13. I was beside myself and confronted her publically in school and called her some choice names and that outburst ended my friendship with the group and my relationship with my girlfriend. I saw my girlfriend one time after that, maybe 6 years later. We got together and things were ok for awhile and then exploded. I have no idea how it happened but it did and that, as they say, was that. After I graduated, I went to Ft. Knox, KY for basic training in the Army. I went by train, my first travel NOT in a car. I spent 16 weeks there in both Basic and Advanced Training in Personnel School. I then got orders to go to Korea. I first took my first flight from Cleveland to California and then boarded a Merchant Marine Troop Ship for Korea with short stops in Hawaii and Okinowa. We were allowed to disembark on one of those and I chose Okinowa because I wanted a taste of Asia before I got to Korea. I spent a total of 18 days on the Pacific and once I developed my own routine, it was quite peaceful. I'd sleep during the day, have guard duty at night and spend free nights sitting on a catwalk at the back of the ship looking at the stars and the ocean. I spent 16 months in Korea and 3 months in Vietnam on temporary duty. My temp duty was probably due to my having asked for a 6 moth extension in Korea and stating it was NOT for the purposes of marriage (they were discouraging marriage between American soldiers and Korean women. I got the extension and then promptly filed to get married and the Army shipped me off to Vietnam for awhile. When I returned to Korea after 3 months, I continued the paperwork and we were married at the US Embassy their before I left for the US. She remained while getting her passport and visa. I got assigned to go from Korea to Germany but when I got to the East Coast, they allowed any solider with less than 2 years duty left to choose to stay in the US. I did and they sent me to a post in New Jersey. Eventually my wife joined me there and our time together was quite horrible. She couldn't adjust and I couldn't seem to help her. I left the Army at the end of 1967. Broke, with a job I couldn't stand back in Cleveland, I reinlisted in the Army for 4 years (!) only to get the reinlistment bonus to send my Korean wife back home. I should have been devistated but I took it well. I asked for Korea as an initial assignment and they gave me Thailand. Both Asian but thousands of miles apart. I actually enjoyed my stay in Thailand, although what I enjoyed may seem a bit seemly since I was still technically married but with no clear sense of bringing her back to the US. So, like any red blooded GI away from home, I spent most of my time drinking, smoking weed and cavorting with women. Even though, by then, I was a Sergeant, the Commanding Officer assumed I might indulge in the weed and used me as a conduit between the real junkies (we had young guys seriously addicted to opiates....I once found a friend in the barracks with a needle still in his arm). I never named names but I let him know how serious things were there. I also had time to see some of the beauty of Bangkok and the countryside. The temples there were breathtaking. From Thailand, I was sent to Lawton, Ok (Ft. Sill). The most interesting aspect of that period was the Native American history associated with the area and Fort Sill specifically. Very early on, the local narco detective began taking me in for suspicion of drug use. To him, I looked hippy-ish, even with the military hairdo. I wasn't (only good old American booze) but he didn't like my civilian choice of clothing. (Had he simply reported me to the Army, I'd really been in trouble). Eventually, when I knew I wouldn't be rubber hosed, I suggested that I would contact the American Civil Liberties Union because I felt harassed. They stopped picking me up but f...Expand for more