In 1957, I met a young soldier who was stationed at Donaldson Air Force Base in Greenville, S.C., my hometown. William A. Kelley—Bill—was 21 years old and I was 17. He told me he was 19 and I believed him. I was a junior in high school, and if my parents had known that he was older, they would not have let me date him.
We met on a blind date. Actually, he was dating my friend Peggy, who had asked