No episode of Dark Shadows premiered on ABC-TV 56 years ago today. The network pre-empted Episode #891 to show news coverage of the end of the Apollo 12 mission.
All three astronauts who traveled aboard the Apollo 12 spacecraft were officers in the United States Navy. When I was a teenager, I assumed I would go into the armed services. The Navy was the only branch that did not immediately reject me because of my various medical problems. They gave me several waivers, but finally declared me unfit for military service because of my astigmatism. So I went to college instead.
Even so, I still have a certain feeling of attachment to the Navy, enough that Apollo 12 is my favorite of the lunar landings. The mission’s official patch is kind of embarrassing, like something you might find on a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal, but here it is anyway:
Dark Shadows Commentary 
It’s showing the spirit of adventure in the emblem, which is enough. Yes, the service loomed before you and you pursued being accepted through some effort on your part, good for you. Likely you’ve reached the nostalgic phase of life when we ponder the lives we would have led if this path had been taken, or that one …
At least, I have because the Marines called out to me so for years in high school I spoke with recruiters, collected pamphlets, and so on. I decided against the service and went to work instead, earning enough to travel, which is what I wanted from the service in the first place. It’s an exercise in speculative fiction to consider the what-ifs, ha! 🙂
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