Fifty-five years ago today.

 Fifty-five years ago today, I raised my right hand and proclaimed:

"I, John Marshall Flora, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

The scene was the Armed Forces Induction Center on West Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis.

And thus began my 41-day career in the U.S. Air Force.

I consider myself still bound by that oath.

I was given an early discharge because a lost records physical - my physical records from the Induction Center went astray - indicated I had enough allergies to plants and animals that I would be a bad investment for the Air Force.

I was glad to be sent home, but let the record show I volunteered at a time when the Vietnam War was heating up.