A question for aging boomers

now that we are in this new world global bush co world of shit since 2000 and we lived through the Reagan hell and Vietnam .

What point in time in your life would you like to go back to just for a day and relive it and if you were able to , would it help you now feel a bit better .

It seems rather obvious.

Then I'll decide whether to be offended by the redundancy, but I already have my suspicions!

As you pointed out, it's the redundancy.
We're either aging or dead. No point in asking opinions of the latter.

:dunce:

Much better!

The day I lost my virginity...

Seriously, my favorite memory of the 60's was getting to meet Carl Stokes when he was running for Mayor of Cleveland...

I shook his had and felt the electricity and from that day on I was hooked on politics...

That was sometime during the summer of '67...

I was nine...

And, joined the Marine Crotch. Instead, I could have done something useful for 4 very long years.

The revelation (to me) that you are of your vintage was astonishing. I feel that it is likely that you are one of the great ones.

I was in the Corps from 1962-66... MOS 0331...Southeast Asia War Games (Our motto: "Hey... we got second place!").

The Corps made me what I am today... a pacifist, a radical, an atheist, and a skeptic.

I went in a rather naive 17 year old. Emerged 4 years later as a Marxist, anti-militarist, anti-war, agnostic.

I've matured into a pacifist/anarchist cynic.

Having some idiot tell me that I had to kill people for "my country" was downright insulting.

MOS 6412. Air-wing pogue who told them what the could do with their offer to give me Cpl's stripes if I would extend my enlistment to go to Vietnam.

I joined in 1962 (for 4 years).

MOS 2533/0141 (I saw the handwriting on the wall and became an office pogue). 1st ANGLICO 1964-1966.

But, while awaiting the Secret clearance I didn't get, they did teach me how to type. I spent only 1 year as a jet-mech (well, a plane-captain - glorified wing washer and gas pumper) and the rest personnel and training.

Eat the apple and fuck the Corps.

After the many murders of liberal leader and the fiasco of the Right-wing-caused war in VN America was fatigued and depressed. So when Jimmy and Rosalyn hopped out of their limo and walked down Pennsylvania Ave. hand-in-hand, I actually had hope for America again. Of course that was before the VRWC and its toadies in the MSM destroy the presidency of this good man who promised us that: "I will never lie to you."

Bush not only did not dare get out of his limo, he hunkered down in the seat so protesters wouldn't see him, and had the driver speed through the streets until safely inside the WH grounds.

Bush also never promised that he wouldn't lie to us. But that's okay, because if he HAD promised not to lie to us, it would have been a lie.

had hope, or the day, shortly thereafter when I finally got laid.

He was at our high school

And all my friends were still alive then too. No stomach for high school reunions... too many empty chairs from that damned war.

Yeah, the weekend before, when Bobby was at our stadium.... yep. To hold that one more time would be a help. To be that young and hopeful for just a moment again.

at a cemetery with an Eritrean family. We were sitting down having a bit to eat when rocks started hitting around us. We looked up and saw a guy coming at us. He has a sling and was loading up to try at us again. The cemetery was a small steep hill. we got up and ran around the hill, the guy ran to the top and tried to hit us from there. We had a bit of shelter, but not enough. I remember stopping to let the others go ahead, I heard a rock buzz by my head and then cracking as it hit the rocky path. I quickly caught up with Them. We got out of range unharmed and flagged down some workers. They took their picks and shovels and headed up the hill. The guy gave up without a fight. He was angry that his father died and he wanted to kill someone in revenge.

The day Israel attacked my brothers on the USS Liberty was a huge event in my life. That happened during the six day war. It was a turning point for me.

USASA

A fresh, new beginning after the corruption of the Nixon/Ford years and the seemingly unending horrors of Vietnam.

Just out of high school, not a worry in the world, single, and raisin hell! Had a great union job with full medical and dental benefits, a 71 Camaro (road hugger), and spent most of the summer at the lake, camping, fishing, swimming and skiing.


It started goin to hell after that! Reality kicked in! Bummer dude!

74 was better cause I bought my first Porsche then and gas was about $0.35 per gallon and I got to drive through Nevada at 135 mph, and I was young and buffed and beautiful. On the other hand, people actually wore leisure suits. Not me, but folks did.

i also graduated hs in 73, and the following months changed my life irrevocably. if i could "do over" any time, knowing what i know now, that would be it.

No worries except what time I was leaving the next week at age 12 for the Lions' Thanksgiving Day game at Tiger Stadium with my uncle.

That was truly the last day of my childhood, the last day I felt safe and that the world (mostly) made sense.

The world turned against me/us. It was the worst day in the history of the USA. But I think worse times are coming. Mark my word.

live long and grow as a leader.

I was in 8th grade. There was a particular irony about that day; this boy on whom I had had a huge crush since the beginning of the school year had asked to walk me home for the very first time, and so we had a "date" for that Friday. I was so excited about it!

Needless to say, the paradigm shifted radically that day on both the macro and the micro levels...

sw

1967 - the "summer of love" - even here in the Midwest - folks were pretty laid back, with people doing the "V" peace sign all over the place - even at total strangers.

I remember riding a bus home in downtown Chicago (this is no lie) and some folksinger dude with his guitar hopped on the bus, started strumming some folk song and the whole bus chimed in all the way down North Michigan Avenue.

The years of safe hitchinking. . .n/t

Life was much more violent back in those days than today. Murder, rape stats much higher.

I could whisper in his (left) ear, "Stay out of Dallas next year! You'll be killed!"

I'd probably get my ass kicked by the OD, but it'd be worth it.


Alternatively, I could go back to when I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in 1968 -- and I could borrow my friend's MG and drive over to Lackland ... and run down a certain reservist doing basic training.


For the record: I'm NOT a "boomer" ... I'm a "war baby."

If it is what I think it is, you must have been one STRACK MoFo! Eh?

... for dignitaries visiting a ship. A head of state rates eight sideboys, four on each side of the ladder (stairs) coming onboard a ship. I was a cadet at the USCGA and it ws the end of the Summer Training Cruise. JFK called us back a few days early so he could review the ship at a pier at the Navy Yard in D.C. It was quite the experience. Yes ... I had a clean and spotless set of whites in my locker at the end of the cruise. Voila! I was the last of four on his left.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideboy

I'm awe-struck.

... it was a kick. When I think of how clueless I was at that age (18-19) - somehow thinking that kind of thing was 'ordinary' - I could kick myself in the ass. Hell ... just THAT summer, I got to 'meet' Prince Phillip, who reviewed the ship (USCGC Eagle) in Edinburgh (he asked me a question), sail across the Atlantic and back on a square-rigger, be a sideboy for JFK, and actually sit on the floor of the Senate (on the left side, of course). But I've never worked as hard or been as busy in my life as I was that first year as a cadet - it'd be hard to describe to anyone not familiar with military academies of that time.
(I hope to more fully recover some day.) :evilgrin:

I was there in May-June 1971 for basic! :banghead:

live forever,healthy and active.

I knew nothing about politics and that my parents would keep me loved and safe and that, as long as Teddy (my bear) was under the covers with me, the monsters couldn't get me (I don't know where that idea came from, but I remember having it).

People were breaking loose of the hypocritical religious bullshit of the past and were looking for a way to live in a freer way. The beatles were at the top and british bands were thriving. John Lennon and the anti war movement was picking up steam. There was a general feel of hope that one day things would improve thanks to the young ones of the day. That feeling no longer exists and we are simply stuck in a cycle of anger, despair and egotism

you are already there.

A time I would like to go back to? How about my mother's womb?

Seriously, San Francisco, 1965 would have been a good time to go back to.

,avacado green, and surfing Ocean Beach in S.F. Oh, I did meet Jessie Westlake. His father printed all of the original Fillmore posters. We used to fuck around with his printing presses trying to print business cards.

1965, 66...

Before it all got ruined...yeah...

better than the duck and cover days of 57? Better than the Reagan years of 77? Better than the Bush years of 07? Compared to what?

remember asking you along for the ride. You didn't like Frisco in '65? Fine. Go find your own space time continuum and check in anywhere, anytime you like.

I love Fillmore posters!! I learned how to paint in that style when I was in art class in junior high, in about 1967. I still have one that I did in '67, framed that says "FLOWER POWER"!!!! Designed my own, drew the letters in pencil, painted the colors, outlined the segments in black India ink on a brush.

Day-glo poster paint is one of the great inventions of the 20th century!

The Fillmore style owes a lot to Art Nouveau as well, another of my favorite styles (think Aubrey Beardsley and such).

I would like to go back to 1963 when i got my first guitar at 13 and thought this was all I needed to get by .

My age-ism hackles are up all the time, now. Running out of estrogen and all that.

Funny. I've been reading these responses to your thread and contrasting the level of interest and enthusiasm with just how loudly the crickets are chirping over at the DU "Baby Boomer Group." Obviously, you got things stirred up, especially our nostalgia.

I just wish we could coalesce more here on other issues that might be of particular interest. I'm not yet convinced that AARP is really the way to go with political self-advocacy.

I don't want all our past and our efforts to die and become one page in some history book that makes us seem like nothing more than a group of drugged up hippies .

AARP to me is a shill group I get there sign up cards all the time and never filled one out yet . It sounds like American Activists RIP .

'61. dont know boomer ended

we had a surplus No war kids were high school and we had money

Man, how quickly we lost it all!!!

just destroyed this country

And yeah, I would feel better today. That is; if I didn't make that same mistake again.

the 60's were exciting times. There seemed to be constant activity. You couldn't listen to the news without hearing the latest activity of MLK, Malcolm, Huey, H Rap Brown, etc. Change was in the air. We did our part by sitting in at the Lunch counters on our way from school. We carried signs in front of City Hall demanding the right to vote. It was exciting, electrifying times. To top it all off, we had an ally in the White House.

Then the shots rang out in Dallas. Fear crept in as I felt a loss of innocence.

we never really know the good old days when we were actually living them

walks over to us and gave us a 6 pk of beer he had confiscated. wink

not for the beer, or the pot, or even being 19.... but because all shit was just not such a big deal.

Never go back ..... just look back fondly and learn from what you lived through.

I **still** have the very first car I ever bought with my own money. Its in pieces in my garage. Every now and again I think I ought to restore it. Maybe my kids will after I'm gone. I have all the necessary parts. I bought them years ago. Never got around to actually doing it.



Maybe they'll bury me in it.

place in the winter of 1973, when the spring of 1974 was full of promises before the summer of 1974 shattered everything of my world as I would ever know it. I wish my life was one continual loop of the fall of 1973 to the late spring of 1974. Even when I think there is hope that it was worth what comes after...like Lucy taking the ball away from Charlie Brown, I realize that the rest of my life has been nothing but lies.

from my heart

It is okay...Every once in a while someone comes along and I think, oh this is it. This is what is better...Turns out they are lying. I don't why I have had to meet so many liars this time around. I am hoping that all my bad karma is working out so that my next life is really something wonderful. I am thinking that I must have been a really shitty male last time around.

You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm trying to think, but I can't remember anything happening at that time period.

I chose to go back to a time when I was happy...really had nothing to do with worldwide events. I guess if I went by that I would have to choose to go back to before JFK went to Dallas.

I was at home with my sister babysitting our youngest sibling. While taking a break on the front porch, this gorgeous Cornell student stopped his Harley and ask for directions to Woodstock. I helped him out and he asked if I'd like to go along for the ride.....

I said no. (!)

A do-over of that day would be great.

I had a few of those lost opportunities myself, but neither Woodstock nor goodness had anything to do with it!

:popcorn:

At one point about 7 years ago I saw (and bought) a Mary Englebreit card that showed a little sojourner at a fork in the road. The road signs pointing in either direction said: "Your Life" and "No Longer An Option". Below the picture: "Don't Look Back".

It still hangs over my kitchen sink, and it took me a long time to learn how to accept that.

I'm a lot happier now. I am sorry my country is going to hell in a handbasket, but my personal life is good, and I'm over being scared to actually say that out loud.

Hekate

I was 17, and had been living in Paris for the previous year with my parents. That summer started by getting tear-gassed and beaten in the Paris student riots (pictures here) in May. That experience was followed by an incredible two month driving trip through Europe: first to Morocco (camping on an enormous, pristine ocean beach in Agadir), then to Prague where we heard the Czech students playing guitar and arguing politics in Wenceslas Square during the last heady days of the Prague Spring. From there we drove across the Soviet border where we saw the tanks waiting to invade, then up to Moscow and Leningrad, out through Finland and back to Paris where I bought my very first pot outside a cafe in the Latin Quarter. After a week we drove to Le Havre for passage home on one of the final crossings of the original Queen Elizabeth. To top it off, late in the summer we were visited by one of my sisters' friends from Paris, a wonderful enthusiastic girl, and we eagerly relieved each other of our virginity.

If that's not a perfect boomer summer, I don't know what is. :hippie:

Day I got married. Still married, best day of my life

Having just achieved the first major goal of my life, and enjoying the fruits of it on spring break, turning 11 years old, and before my mother's summer plans crashed the high I was riding on.

One of the best times of my life, having nothing to do with the state of anyone's world but mine.

:shrug:

Have had too many bad experiences with the younger people in business.

there are very few moments that I would like to revisit. As most "fond" memories, we tend to gloss over the truly sad or mind numbing events that were actually going on at that time.

Frankly, as crappy as the world is today, I still love being with my wife, my family and my home. Each day is a treat for me.

for the first 24 years of my life I lived in a very abusive household. Most of my "good" memories are very private. After that, I traveled and learned who I was. Passed through one failed relationship after another until I found someone that brought me back to life.

My fond memory is just yesterday. I was spending time with her, having dinner, petting my sweet doggie and so appreciative of the peace we have in our home. Our love is a love of consideration, understanding and respect.

My life is far from perfect, but you know what, it's a damn good life to me.

So I think I'm lucky when I say, my fondest moment was yesterday or this very morning when I kissed her goodbye before I left for work.

:)

My life at home was not the normal happy family thing but the friends I had back in the 60's gave me a new family even without the blood ties .

the best day was the inauguration of JFK -

the worst was finding out in the college parking lot that he really had been shot - a weekend of tears, muffled drums and unbearable emotional pain

yes

If you have a lot of time on your hands, do NOT get married. Take up community work. lol

:)