A UNIQUE REUNION After 30 Years

Dennis Goes to War

Dennis returned home after his first year of college. Then, in December 1967, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and in June 1968, he was sent to Vietnam. There he saw the horrors of war.  When his tour of duty was up in 1 969, he returned to the United States, eventually landing job with a large company in Ohio.  However, he wasn't satisfied.

"My boyhood dream was to move to Alaska and homestead," Dennis explains.  So in 1971 he an d a high school friend set out to fulfill that dream. Rather than homestead, however,, he worked at number of odd jobs.  For a while he lived in a tent and worked in fire control. He grew a beard and long hair and began smoking marijuana.

In 1972, Dennis left Anchorage to experience the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.  After that, he built a small cabin in the woods of Arkansas. There he worked at framing houses and finishing concrete. In June 1973, Dennis hitchhiked  around the country to see if he could find a purpose in life.  

Next time:  A UNIQUE REUNION After 30 Years - Mark in the Antiwar Movement

From the Awake! magazine, 2002