What better way to start a story than with a beginning
This isn’t how I thought my story would turn out. I saw myself going to college, meeting a nice girl, getting married, and having a few kids and a dog. A normal, uneventful life.
Then there was the draft. I distinctly remember those moments, even though my memory was apparently “eradicated by shockwaves from a roadside bomb.” I walked out of my house, age 18 they said, feeling the cool April air invigorate my lungs and heighten my senses. Strolling up to the mailbox, I reached in, my calloused hands meeting smooth paper.
Tyler DeFelice
I pulled out a letter addressed to my name. Funny, I barely ever get mail, I remember thinking. Glancing at the return address briefly before beginning to tear open the envelope, all of my movements slowed to a stop.
United States Military Service
Bold red letters warned me in large font that the letter was: Important. Cautiously continuing the task of opening the pristine envelope, I pulled out a crisply folded letter. A letter so nonchalant to the contents.
Hello! This letter has been sent to notify you, Tyler DeFelice, that you have been drafted to serve the United States Army in the North Korean War.
That’s all I needed to read. It was obvious the rest was unimportant.
That’s all I remember.
Everything else is red.
