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Free Fire Zone Chapter 1; Beginnings, page 2 Charleen Jacobson was a bona fide member of Jacksonville aristocracy. Her family was one of the oldest families in Florida. Her grandfather served in the legislature for years and was a household word to most Floridians. Perhaps this was the reason her social conscience was so acute, well informed on everything, especially America's involvement in Vietnam. Never being one to keep quiet, she didn't hesitate for a moment to let people know where she stood. She stopped short of actually condemning the war, but held grave reservations. She was a Democrat in Republican country but all of a sudden, none of that mattered, only her son. As she pondered many of the questions, the most penetrating one was: What if Jake had to go to Vietnam? When she first began to think about it, he was at the end of his senior year in high school and had registered for the draft. There's no way it could happen, the war will be over, America's not going to get that involved: Jake will go to graduate school, be a doctor, a lawyer, maybe even minister. Time and time again, she thought of the possibilities but then would hear about a son getting a deferment. Rosaline Felton's son was going to med school, Betsy Rosewood's boy had asthma, Cynthia Barrett's son joined the National Guard. Just sit tight and let Vietnam pass was Miles Senior's philosophy. When Charleen tried to talk about the possibilities of Jake getting drafted and going to Vietnam, he just refused to discuss it. The day Charleen called him at the office turned his world upside down. He started home immediately. Riding along, he didn't follow his usual procedure of checking out palms and people watching. As he passed the "Pizza Palace," tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of the hundreds of times over the last few years they had shared time together at the "Palace." Miles' mind was foggy. He ran over the alternatives. The first thing was call Barton, his lawyer, maybe he would know somebody on the draft board. Another deferment, that's it, Jake could go to school. Miles felt better. He would present his plan to Charleen and Jake and all would be well. Vietnam is a poor man's war anyway. People who had means and political influence didn't fight this kind of war. And, for the life of me, I can't figure how we've gotten ourselves so embroiled in a hopeless situation.
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Beginnings; page 1
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