WHEN WE THOUGHT WE WERE "COOL"
Looking back 50 years to my youth, I smile, then laugh at myself for thinking I was something special. Surely, I survived SEER training, combat weapon training, and firefighting school at the Marine Corps base. And yes I even passed the basic swimming course at the UDT SEAL base. I earned a Black Belt in Goju Ryu Karate in less than four years. I was a 23-year-old Vietnam veteran when I came home for the last time to claim my promised management position at the New China Club Restaurant. When I met the owner, Mr. Fong, in front of the restaurant, he casually dismissed me with an off-hand wave. I had even gone to school with his daughter, but my reunion and promotion vanished with a wave of his mighty hand! So cool! I stood there eating his dust instead of a combination plate! ("How quickly they forget their promises.) Later, when I moved to San Diego, where my illustrious military training began, I started teaching local, disadvantaged youth the discipline and rigorous martial a