As the summer of 1965 approached, I was in my senior year in College. Vietnam had blown up and on March 8th, 1965, US Marine Corps Battalion Landing Team 3/9 waded ashore on Red Beach just south of DaNang. I completed four years at Wesleyan in May but decided to return in the Fall to finish up my degree requirements due to changing my minor too late to take all of the required courses. I was fine with that because I thought (rather naively) at the time, that perhaps Johnson would resolve Vietnam.
Over the last two years of my College life, my career interests continued to evolve. I did plan at that time to become a candidate for Navy OCS upon graduation. As world events evolved, it looked like it was going to be a reality rather than a possibility particularly with the early bombing of the North. None of this deterred me from exploring other options such as studying Law or a career in the U. S. State Department Foreign Service.
Although I actively dated in College, I had determined a year or so previously that I was not going to enter a long term relationship until my military status was determined. The draft had started up and was already snaring people that I knew. Returning to Wesleyan guaranteed me a 2-S status for the Selective Service System aka “The Draft”. 2-S was a student deferment until after graduation.
For the summer of 1965, I decided to go back to Martha’s Vineyard and have a fun summer for what I thought was probably the last time. I looked at several job options and decided to drive the freight truck for the Martha’s Vineyard Cooperative Dairy. This meant arising at 4:30AM, driving out to the Dairy, driving the freight truck to the ferry in Vineyard Haven, taking the 6:00 ferry to Falmouth, driving to the Hood Distribution Center in North Falmouth, loading the truck with an iron hook by myself (my loads varied from 12 to 18 tons of dairy products, driving the truck back to catch the 12:00 ferry, and unloading the truck at the Dairy and be done by around 2:30 in the afternoon. I did this for 6 days a week. It was a perfect job to leave some beach time and to have a social life. The catch was going to bed by around 11:00.
Martha’s Vineyard was a center of protest against the Vietnam Conflict. My coffee house, The Mooncusser had gotten a little famous so it was packed every night with quality folk and mountain music. As a long term “customer”, I always had a seat when I went even if I helped around the place a bit. I almost never had to pay the cover charge. I grew to really love that music and it is an affinity that I have to this very day. I attended some beach parties with some of the bands who played there but I soon discovered that Ms. Mary Jane was very popular so I stopped going to them as the police were very tough on drugs. I wasn’t interested in drugs at all.
I lived at The Wesley House which was an old Resort Hotel built in 1879. I had worked there for the previous two summers. The Owner said that I could stay there with full room and board in exchange for helping out when and where needed. So, I performed repairs, bussed when needed, waited when needed, and worked behind the desk on a limited basis. In short, I was a troubleshooter. The Staff of the Hotel was all College students working for the summer. They were from good schools and mostly were nice kids. I was a little older than most of them (perhaps a year or two). Among the staff was a woman named Susan Olson who, on a whim, decided to apply with her sister for a job in the Wesley House. Susan had graduated from Augustana College (Illinois) and had just finished her first year of teaching in Littleton, Colorado. Little did I know what was to come!
I had an active social life on the Vineyard that summer. A girl whom II had dated on and off for three years was back for a little while. I met a number of women at The Mooncusser, some of whom were more than very interesting. But, as I said, I wasn’t going to pursue any long term relationships until my military situation was resolved. However, as the summer progressed, I grew very interested in Susan. We never dated formally but went out in Groups. As things went, we wound up talking to one another a lot. I remembered being a little concerned that she dated a Secret Service agent for part of the summer.
In early August, a crewmember from Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow’s yacht returning from a beach party drowned in the waters just off East Chop. A day or so later, I took a date to dinner at Monroe’s Restaurant in Oak Bluffs, We were shown to a table for two just near some secluded booths. My date saw Frank Sinatra and I told her not to bother them or even to look at them. When it came time for me to pay the dinner bill, the waiter said that it had been taken care of with thanks. We got up, nodded, and left.
The Civil Rights movement was very active. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in July but the violence continued in the Deep South and then, unfortunately, in August, the Watts riots began. All of these events were reflected on The Vineyard with peaceful demonstrations, intellectual discourse, and great awareness. Of course, in the Northeast, we thought that we knew it all. We did not!
By the end of the summer, I knew with some certainty that my immediate future after College would most likely involve military service. I also knew that I had strong feelings for Susan. Since I used to talk about Susan with her Sister, Carol, who ran the bakery, I am pretty sure that I got “ratted out”. But, I struggled with myself because of my impending military plans. At the end of the summer, as we all said our farewells, I felt empty and drained. Susan sailed off into the morning sun and I thought I probably would not see her again.
I remember going to the Mooncusser the night they left. Someone sang “The Times they are a’ changing”…and how right that song was! They were a’changing for me..and I didn’t know it yet!
jtdraig 