I was drafted in 1966 and took the troop train from Boston to Columbia, S.C., to be trained for Vietnam at Fort Jackson. I was on the train with several friends from Brockton, Mass., including my close friend Richie, an African American from our high school who lettered in football. The train stopped at Hamlet, N.C., and we were allowed to get off to use the facilities.

And there it was, my first encounter with discrimination when we saw signs that said "whites only" bathrooms. We were directed left or right depending on color.

"No way," I said.

"Tom, let it be," Richie said.

We survived the war; Richie became a decorated police officer and I became a teacher. Nothing that I saw or did in basic, advanced infantry training, or 'nam bothered me more than that incident in North Carolina.