Jake Appears Before The Draft Board, And Escapes To Canada!
This is a presentation made by The Game Loft and The Belfast Public Library (Maine), to which the general public was invited to attend and participate in, where people shared their experiences during the year of 1968. Some of those in attendance are young people who were not alive then, but are involved in a role playing game designed to learn about history and discover some of their own, inner feelings about the life we live, in the here and now, in America.
In fact, I will say that is exactly my own experience in my limited involvement in this role playing game, where oldsters like me and youngsters like them take on various characters, born in Maine around 1950, coming of age during the violent year of 1968 in America; violence in Vietnam, violence as our ghettos as our cities burned, violence at the Chicago Democratic Convention, and personal violence in our families as we argued over the changes taking place in our society.
It is for this reason that I have decided to post this video to my CNN i Report site, because it was such an important learning experience for me, but like all prevaricators (Bill Clinton included), I will NOT post it to my YouTube site, as you can see me promising that to everyone at the beginning of the video.
Yet the public was invited to participate, and it was in a public venue at the Belfast Library, and The Game Loft made an audio recording without getting a written consent or telling us what the tape was to be used for. Nor, was any offensive language used, nor was anything revealed that might get anyone in to legal or moral trouble, as the events we talked about occurred over 40 years ago, and included silly subjects about which Beatle we like the best, and more serious subjects like how our parents felt about the draft and The Vietnam War. Plus, the role playing game was used for public entertainment during a tourist weekend in Belfast, Maine, so this is not as serious a conversation as one might project.
So it is with that attitude in mind that I post this valuable video, where different people from different walks of life talk about how they either joined the military and went to Vietnam, or didn't go to Vietnam, and how that era affected all of us as a whole. I have encouraged The Game Loft to distribute this role playing game to other cities, so other adults and teenagers can experience the learning and growing effect of this interesting role playing game they have developed.
Since I live 150 miles north of Belfast, Maine, I was not able to attend the tourist event on Saturday, August 28th, where a final chapter of this game was played in public for the enjoyment of tourists and residents of Belfast. I am told that, during the day, Jake was drafted by the Selective Service Board, and that he and his band gave a public concert during the evening, after which Jake gave a hearty scream, got in to an auto, and escaped to Canada. Below, I will recreate parts of a letter I wrote to The Game Loft staff about Jake's decision to go to Canada. :)
Well...LOL
I'm sad to hear that Jake fled to Canada, and the reason I'm sad is as follows.
I'm sad because Jake will be like the guy on ALL IN THE FAMILY. Remember the sad kid that had to sneak in to the country to see his family and ate Thanksgiving dinner with Archie Bunker angry at him. Meaning, fleeing may save your life, but it causes a lot of rift in the family.
It's very strange. I swam a few years ago at East Musquash Lake and talked to a guy whose oldest brother had gone to Nam, and the middle one had not, and the youngest (the guy I talked to) had been too young to be drafted. It seemed that the oldest (veteran) and the middle (hippie with long hair) fought very badly and really upset the Dad, a WW II vet, I think. It seemed to TEAR APART THIS YOUNGER BROTHER'S SOUL when he talked about it, seeing his older brothers so divided.
This was up here in this area of Maine, which you know is pretty conservative. Hmmmmmmm.......
Sad War. All wars are sad.
I'm glad you are all having fun with your game, and IT'S A SELF LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR EVERYONE, I think. It has been for me, anyway.
A very valuable learning experience, and I suggest you GIVE IT AWAY, or MARKET IT AWAY, or MAKE IT EASILY AVAILABLE TO OTHERS AROUND THE COUNTRY, because I think the whole country could use a game like this right now!!!!! I really think it's a very important game, a learning tool, and NOT JUST FLUFF for fun.
But thinking back upon it, towns change every 20 years or so as new people have kids, etc. Twenty years ago, Belfast was a chicken processing town, and all of your tourists and retirees weren't there, and during Vietnam, Belfast was mainly a fishing town.
I saw the town newspaper, The Republican, and saw the picture of the two people dressed up as transvestites out of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, a movie I watched more than a few times...LOL..and thought was pretty funny.
SO THAT WAS THE TOWN THAT WAS CHEERING YESTERDAY, but I can guarantee you that the fishing town of Belfast that was there in 1968 WOULD NOT...NADA...NO WAY...BE CHEERING, BUT JEERING.
I think that the poor guy, whomever it might be, who fled to Canada from Belfast in 1968 would not get much cheering, but probably face a very ANGRY and ASHAMED, CONSERVATIVE FISHIN' FAMILY, and extended family, and there would be a lot of sadness that Jake could not visit his family at Thanksgiving.
I'd say that, more likely, the JAKE OF BELFAST OF 1968 would have enlisted in the Navy or the Air Force, BUT PERHAPS A FEW FLED TO CANADA.
I DO NOT think that the REAL BELFAST of 1968, the fishing village that it was back then, WOULD CHEER POOR JAKE.
PS The Game Loft, a learning program for teenagers who like to play role playing and historical board games, which is supervised by a staff member from AmeriCorps VISTA, can be contacted at www.thegameloft.org