Chapter 3 Are you still friends with any of your friends from high school? How have they changed since then?

This question is a little easier to answer. I was very shy when I was in high school. (Believe it or not! 😊) I only had a handful of friends at that time. A year after I graduated from high school, I joined the Air Force. I went to basic training, technical school and then to Viet Nam for my first base. After my year in Nam, I went home on vacation. I met up with a few friends for some beers and talked about the good old days and my experiences in Nam. I was invited to a party at one of my friend’s friend’s place. They were all college friends, and I didn’t know anybody. Most of them were anti-war and when they heard that I was in the military and spent time in Viet Nam, they said some not so nice things and I felt really out of place. I then went to Mt Home AFB in Idaho for one year and then back to Nam. This time I spent 18 months in Nam. When I returned home on vacation, most of my friends had left the neighborhood.

Of my 22 years in the military, I spent about 18 years in Asia including Vietnam, Thailand, Okinawa and mainland Japan. When I visited my hometown, I would spend most of my time with family. I visited a few of my old neighborhood friends several times. Back then, we didn’t have email and lost touch with each other.

How have they changed? As we all grow older, our ways of thinking and lifestyles change. I think that living in Asia affected my way of thinking. Even now, when I visit the States, I sometimes feel like a foreigner.

I attended Queen Anne High School in Seattle. The school building was built in 1909. The school closed in 1981 due to a lack of students. In 1986 it became and apartment building and since 2005, it has been a condominium. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is also an official City of Seattle landmark.