A Hero's Welcome [antikvár]

CHAPTER 1Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 1966In my senior year in high school, I was still completely convinced I'd never have to serve in the armed forces. That was back in 1966. Of course, I realized that my student classification was certain to be changed after I graduated. Yet, because of my religious beliefsbecause I was totally against killing, in any warI was confident that I would be given conscientious objector status and would not be drafted.When I graduated from Franklin K. Lane ffigh School that June, I was reclassified i-A. Still certain I'd be exempted from the draft, I started job hunting and made plans to enroll in night classes at Community College in September. I had decided to take Hotel Technology, a course in which I could eventually specialize in pastry baking. I'd always beUeved that if you ever go to school to study something special, it should be something you really like. And for me, cooking and baking were the greatest. I had been into both at home since the age of eight, could cook up just about anything, and especially liked baking pies and cakes.During the months following graduation, I'd found out that many prospective employers just weren't about to hire someone with a i-A classification. So, though I'd managed to land a clerical job at B. Altman's department store, I decided to make it over to the Selective Service office in Brooklyn and submit an application for conscientious objector status. After all, I figured, why shouldn't I qualify? Though I was officially a Baptist, I'd been studying with1