Bobby Slack

I met Bobby in the 9th Grade, when I met most of the EHS Class of 66.  Later, Bobby quit working at Doug's IGA and I applied for the his job.  Doug knew me from working at the Etowah Restaurant because I went there to pick up stuff for the restaurant.  Doug hired me.  Bobby came back wanting his job back and Doug rehired him and from there our friendship grew.
After graduation we continued to work for Doug because we made about $40.00 a week more than most factory workers but worked a lot more hours.  Because we worked late we would run around together after we got off.  That led to some escapades.  In the Fall of '66 I met a family who the father was attending Lee College and had a son, daughter, and another girl who lived with them because of difficulty at home.  There was always young people at their house, especially on weekends.  So we became part of that gang.
Neither of us went to college that year and just rocked on enjoying life.  In the fall of '67, I enrolled at Lee College and began the first year of college and worked at Doug's 3 days each week.    Bobby stayed at Doug's and we were still running around together.
We received draft orders effective July 9, 1968 and were sworn into the US Army on that date.  We were taken to Ft. Campbell, KY for Basic Training.  We were in the same Platoon.  After Basic, Bobby went to Ft. Eustis, VA and I went to FT. Lee, VA for advanced training.  I was near Richmond and he was near Virginia Beach.  I took a bus over to visit him one weekend.  That was the last time we saw each other until we were civilians.  We both received Orders for Vietnam but mine was changed and I was kept at Ft. Lee for another training class and then sent to Korea.
Bobby was at DaNang, S. Vietnam for a 12 month tour of duty and then extended for 6 months after a 30 day leave with the intention of staying another 6 months and then getting out about 3 months early.  (We both extended our enlistment in Basic for 1 year to get the schools we wanted).  Bobby decided not to do that and was assigned to Ft. Hood, TX.  After a few months there he received Orders for Germany where he spent the remaining 8 or so months of his enlistment.
I was married about 3 months before my enlistment ended and stayed at Fayetteville, NC working at DuPont for a few months but moved to Cleveland, TN at Thanksgiving and reconnected with Bobby and he was in our home several times and we went to his wedding in Tellico Plains but arrived late and Bobby and his bride were coming down the aisle.  Life was getting more complicated and time consuming with job, children, etc. and we lost contact.
I found out that Bobby had passed away while we were working in Yellowstone National Park in 2005 and that gave feelings of regret that we didn't reconnect again when we might have had more time to enjoy the time together.