Strangers in the Night
Copyright© 2015 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 23
"You're not really from Central Michigan?"
"Oddly enough, I am."
"Why the third degree?"
"The United States is having a difficult time with the idea of transferees. Your switch, is a raving lunatic. His English is atrocious, he hates your mother, cell phones and computers are completely unknown. And his existence is anathema to the Church. Besides all that, he is insisting on the lifestyle he had in Finland."
"I don't blame him ... this is heavenly."
"Really?"
"Certainly, we race, we sail, the family has millions, I'm not really related to my sisters and they're beautiful. We're not hemmed in by Puritan morals. No wonder he went nuts."
"The government wants you back," she said.
"Good luck with that," I grinned.
"Have you no duty to your homeland?"
"Not one speck. I live here, I speak the language, I have a loving girl ... err ... girlfriends, My daddy is rich and my momma's good looking ... I ain't crying," I said.
"What if I told you that Russia is going to invade Finland?"
"I already know how That turns out," I said.
"The draft..."
"Possible ... in fact, I have to report this summer." I pondered a moment, "How's the war in Vietnam?"
I had been 'transferred' in 1964 and the draft in the US was getting into high gear. Thousands had been called up to replace the regular army being sent off to the wooly wilds of southeast Asia. I knew for a fact that I was 1-A in my old world ... with the Finnish Army, I knew that I'd be with almost ALL of the 18 year olds in the country. Eighty percent of all males are inducted at 18. Of course, my initial would be for 165 days then it's the Reserves until I'm 60. Even if I took the civilian choice I'd still be in the civilian reserves.
After the initial indoctrination I'd be free to enroll in a university.
It's a rite of passage in Finland ... you're not a man if you don't serve.
One thing I forgot ... I had to report ... in June.
Shit!
I wasn't in Finland in June ... well ... sorta ... I was on the boat ... probably in the canals ... and likely Russia.
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