No one asked if I wanted a vaccine

[Cyrano]

Back in another lifetime, I found myself in Fort Dix, NJ for basic training.

Day one, we were issued uniforms. Day two, we took off those uniforms and walked in a row between doctors and medics on both sides of us. Everyone in line was getting jabbed in both arms with perhaps a dozen or more shots to protect us from ... everything in the world, I suppose. No one asked us if we wanted those shots.

(I didn't mind the shots, but I did mind the barracks which were built for "temporary" use during WWII and are still standing as far as I know. Turns out, the toilets had no stalls. There were about 8-10 thrones lined up out in the open. This was cultural shock at its maximum. But you can get used to anything. By the second day, no one cared. Do you suppose today's MAGAs would claim that their "Freedom" required a stall?)

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Only if "liberals" said it did not.

[Cyrano]

2. No one was saying anything. We were all told to shut up and

do as we were told. The army ain't a democracy.

[Thomas Hurt]

3. Of course, I wasn't referring to the Army.

[HAB911]

4. You know, they didn't ask me either

[csziggy]

5. OMG a freaking VACCINE PASSPORT

How evil!

[HAB911]

6. Some of us were ahead of our time

[Cyrano]

7. You got papers?

I never did. If any exist on me, they're probably somewhere in DC, or some storage facility in Nebraska.

I noticed your first form say's "Georgia" which means you might have been at Fort Benning. I spent a couple of months there and left with red clay in everything I owned. It took about two years to get rid of the last grains.

[HAB911]

8. Oh yes

Sand Hill for basic, Ft Leonard Wood for AIT, 1 year on the Korean DMZ, 3rd year back at Benning's 197th Brigade

as for papers, I carried that for years in my wallet

[cab67]

11. I'm a civilian and have one.

Some countries won't let you in without being vaccinated for something or other. These are mostly tropical countries where yellow fever is endemic.

[Cyrano]

16. I can only guess that, at the time, my uniform was sufficient.

[cab67]

24. They're not always checked, but your uniform may indeed have been enough.

[HAB911]

17. They should be standard issue for everyone!

[Traildogbob]

9. Remember well

Navy did the same. But before each deployment, more lines and high velocity stream Vax guns in each arm. Many times after a day or two in a foreign port for shore leave, the sick bay lines were full of sailers needing STD shots. And not one whined about what was in them or their freedumbs.

[sarge43]

10. You might faint; you might hyperventilate;

you might even like Wiley Coyote hold up a sign reading "What in heaven's name have I done?!" You did not whine.

Griping is mandatory
Whining is forbidden.

[Traildogbob]

21. Hahaha

Griping mandatory. Truer words never spoken!

[Cyrano]

14. There really is a sorta' democracy in the services

Like anywhere else, there are white supremacists in all the services.

For reasons I wasn't mature/knowledgeable to understand at the time, I enjoyed watching bigoted assholes having to obey the orders of their superiors and call black/Hispanic officers "Sir." It's only now that I fully savor the agony it must have caused them to have to call a black/brown man "Sir."

(If you haven't been in the service, there is a code of conduct that has nothing to do with race, religion, or anything else. You either follow it, or you get kicked out, or thrown in the stockade/brig.)

How about some of you wingnut "militia heroes" join one of America's real services and find out how well your beliefs are received there? (Oh, and it ain't just weekends.)

[RVN VET71]

18. Had an African American Drill Sergeabt for Basic at Knox

He was married to a blonde haired, blue eyed German woman. 2 other Drill Sgts in my company, decent guys but white and deep south, used to get all red in the face in the afternoon, at day’s end, when my guy said good bye for the day and told them in graphic detail what he and his wife planned to do with each other. He loved that look in their eyes, oh yes he did!

[leanforward]

12. Anyone remember their time in RVN

Does anyone remember their time in RVN around the base camp and those smokey 1/2 barrels being burned everyday? The Vietnames ladies were in charge of burning and stirring. Nuff said.

Ditto on shots, all of the above comments.

[monkeyman1]

20. damn straight - was there from 67-70 ! TFG called us sucker's & loser's ? guess what -

HE'S THE THE BIGGEST LOSER IN AMERICAN HISTORY !

[Mickju]

13. Similar experience in basic training in 1970

No one complained about being vaccinated. I didn't even know what we were being vaccinated against. Never would have thought of complaining

[kairos12]

15. I got all required vaccines.

Including my Jump Wings pounded into my chest and Ranger Tab safety pinned to my shoulder at graduation. My TAC said that’s what I get for not having any family show up for my sorry ass at graduation.

[burrowowl]

19. When my Dad was sent to Spain for

the State Department in 1959 my Mother and all us kid from 11years old to 18 months had to get lots of vaccines (the typhus was the worst) when we went to join our Father. Had one of those yellow vaccinator cards for ages, actually it is quite handy reminds you when your tetanus shot is due.

[hunter]

22. As I recall that happened to me as a four year old entering Kindergarten.

I remember that school nurse. I think she'd served in a Korean War M.A.S.H. unit and didn't take shit from anyone.

[Grins]

23. A whole bunch of those barracks...

…at Fort Dix we’re built during WWI! My grandfather built some of them.

When I was stationed at Fort Riley in the early 70’s - same thing - the Army made use of WWI barracks at Camp Funston (although for non-housing purposes.) I was housed in WWII barracks at Camp Forsyth for a few months. Pretty sure they have now all been (mercifully) torn down and the land repurposed.

[MFM008]

25. I remember

Standing in lines in school to get some kind of vaccines now maybe they ask my parents for permission but they certainly didn't ask us. Also I seem to remember them checking for TB quite a bit back then..60s..

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

26. No needles for me when I went into the Army ...

All the vaccines were administered via hydraulic pressure from overgrown squirt guns. They push against your arm, tell you to hold still, then "bang" and the vaccine is under your skin. Repeat many times for various vaccines. With no needles to handle, it was fast to vaccinate a few hundred inductees.

I was in "temporary" barracks for a few assignments, but for basic (Ft Bliss, El Paso), the barracks were brand-new, one-story, cement floors. No waxing, no "bufflers", just a quick sweep and mop.

[sakabatou]

28. I wonder why those pressure guns aren't used more.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

29. A few people flinched. If you moved while the high-pressure stream is on, ...

... it causes a nasty slice. Like a water jet cutting sheet metal. Much blood.

[flotsam2]

27. Sounds the same as

Ft Dix '72