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David Thatcher
N O V 2 0 1 6 D E C
In 1960 my father, Norman R. Thatcher, Jr. who was just
22 years old and married with four (4) children received
paperwork from the Selective Service System with a di-
rective that he report to the U.S. Army Induction Center
in Providence, RI. The draft was in full force that year as
the United States stepped up its commitment to place
troops on the ground in Southeast Asia (SouthVietnam).
I recall Dad telling the story of how he and many other
youngmen his age were paraded like cattle through vari-
ous stations including one for a G.I. style physical. How-
ever, when he reached the table to verify marital status
and dependency they quickly stamped “4-F” on his pa-
perwork in bold red ink after learning that he had a wife
and four dependent children.
My parents came from “blue collar” middle class families’ with strong
Christian values at a time when men were the primary bread winners
and women were perfectly content to be housewives and raise their children. Dad
worked two fulltime jobs, one as a carpenter by day and the other as a metal pol-
isher at night. The early 1960’s was an era of true patriotism and a time when all
Americans embraced newly elected President John F. Kennedy’s infamous speech
“Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country”.
It was also a time when public service was an honorable calling and many self-
less individuals answered the call to serve their country and local communities
in various capacities. With military service out of the question Dad had another
form of public service in mind.
1961 was a very busy year in many respects as it was the same year that we
moved from a small apartment within the inner-city to a newly constructed ranch
style house in Warwick where my parents grew up. My Dad never complained
about manual labor or working long hours but it was his passion to become a
police officer just as his father Norman R. Thatcher, Sr. did in 1934 when after
serving in the U.S. Coast Guard became one of Warwick Police Department’s
continued on page 13
Thatcher Family in April of 1966.
Dad & Mom in 1956.
Family vehicle the day after it was
firebombed in 1966.
RI Municipal Police Training Academy Class, 91-III, Det.Thatcher,
2nd row, 3rd from left.
Full Dress Uniform
– Warwick Police, 1962.