'2001 A Space Odyssey’… I remember seeing that movie on the military base to which I was assigned while serving the armed forces in Germany in 1968. The year “2001” seemed like a year that would never truly come about. It was just too far off in the future. During my stay in Germany, man landed on the moon assuring me that the end was just about to take place. I didn’t have anything on which I could base those feelings, I just thought man wouldn’t last that long because he’d overstepped his boundaries by going to the moon.
A few days after seeing that movie, I was assigned to guard duty; a job we all despised. Getting ready for guard duty was such a hassle. It required a lot of effort on the soldier’s part to get ready for it, and you’d better show up to the guard formation looking good. By that I mean, closely shaven face, fresh starched uniform, shiny boots, rifle well maintained and have the chain of command memorized from the President of the United States down to your commanding officers.
Once I was “selected” to be part of the guard duty, we went to the guardhouse to lie around and read books or do odd jobs and, of course, the all important job of guarding “something”.
I was assigned to a self-propelled artillery unit, which meant that the base had many acres of ammo bunkers over which the guards kept a close eye. Towers several stories high were built around the perimeter of the ammo dump, as it was called. The base was located on a mountain high above the Rhine River. Huge pine trees, that made aerial observation difficult in those days, hid the bunkers.
At times it was enjoyable being on guard duty, that is, if you were assigned to the far side of the ammo dump. Once the noisy guard truck delivered new guards and returned back to the post with tired soldiers, there was peace and quiet and it was enjoyable looking down on the nature below. I often observed German Shepard’s tending a flock of sheep off in the distance or the deer and fawns scampering around below the observation tower, never aware that they were in the sights of a fully loaded M-14 rifle, which of course we never fired. The smell of those huge pines on a misty morning, or the heavy snowfalls bending the pine branches took me back home into the arms of my beautiful, blonde fiancé. Back then, I wondered if I’d ever make it back home for our wedding or would the world end before getting out of the military.
The year 2001 has come and gone. Look at all the many positive things that have taken place since that time. My life has changed, and has even been productive in some ways. Year after year, I’ve see the New Year come in and the old go out. Our Presidents have changed several times. Not only has man landed on the moon, but other things are happening in space that we don’t even know about.
I once made a telephone call to my future bride from Germany on her birthday and it cost most of a month’s wages for a 26-minute conversation during which we mostly cried. Today I called my friends in Puerto Rico on my cell phone, talk for an hour at no charge. Each year things change, but time keeps on ticking and the year’s keep on coming.
Thank God my wages have changed since those days in Germany. Recent Social Security records show that my first year of military service pay was $1,350 while the next year’s earning exceeded a whopping fifteen hundred dollars. I think that’s about a 9% increase. Things always change, but not always for the better. While my phone service is better than it used to be, driving through Kansas City is not. Murder rates keep climbing every year and it’s totally out of hand. Our schools have grown in size and number, but so many areas in our nation provide sub-standard education. Can you believe that many of today’s kids make it all the way through high school, yes, even receiving a high school diploma and can’t read most words on the front page of the newspaper?
Time is moving on. There are probably a lot of new years ahead of us. But what if 2006 were the last year? Would you be ready for the end? There may be a lot of future ahead of us, but on the other hand 2006 may be the end for you, it may be the end for me. Do you think much about the future? Does the year 2039 seem impossibly far off? If you are the age I was in Germany I’m proof that it can happen. The year 2001 was thirty three years in the future the night I watched ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ but it showed up, right on time. It seemed impossibly in the future.
I wonder if in the year 2039, thirty three years from now, there will be a lonely soldier standing watch in a tower overlooking fawns at play, taking in the wonderful fragrance of the pine trees while dreaming of the home and the future he’ll build for his bride. Just in case that might occur, I’m praying for him today.
Our wishes of success and a bright future go out to you. Happy New Year and God bless you all!
