This year, over the Memorial Day holiday in Chicago, I'll be
joining a small cadre of fellow U.S. Army veterans at a 50th year
anniversary of sharing some little known activities in military intelligence
during the Cold War.
Often jokingly called an oxymoron, military intelligence is
in fact a deadly serious strategic part of the Department of Defense, spread
across its various branches. It encompasses collection of foreign intelligence,
analysis and protection from foreign interests doing the same to the U.S.
By late 1968, the manpower needs of the military during the
Vietnam War were at their height. Draftees served two years, often as infantry
riflemen. Young officer candidates were often commissioned as infantry
officers. Reservists faced a longer service obligation. Young men weighed their
options.