1960s Peace Corps Volunteer David Entrikin was kidnapped for days by Afghans along with another volunteer



"I learned about my own ability to survive," said Entrikin, 65, who was kidnapped for days by Afghans along with another volunteer. "I was in very remote places. You learn to live off your wits. I learned I could do that." After their Peace Corps leader went blind while serving and Entrikin learned some of the farmers he was working with had been taking bribes, he decided to end his tour early. He turned down a new offer to help other farmers plant opium poppies.

1960s Peace Corps Volunteer David Entrikin was kidnapped for days by Afghans along with another volunteer

Peace Corps changed lives of 3 volunteers

Published: Sat, March 19, 2011 @ 12:06 a.m.

By kristine gill

kgill@vindy.com

Witnessing poverty firsthand changes a person. Three former Youngstown-area residents can attest to that.

Each traveled abroad in the 1960s when the Peace Corps was just beginning, and each returned with new perspectives on life in the United States.

"When we signed up, this country knew nothing about the rest of the world," said David Entrikin, a Boardman native who served with the Peace Corps in Afghanistan beginning in 1967. "Rich people went to Europe, and the rest of us knew nothing. And that changed. All of a sudden young people were getting out. Almost everyone afterward traveled and brought it back. I think we got more out of it than the host countries did."

[Excerpt]

Entrikin called his time in the Peace Corps an adventure.

"I learned about my own ability to survive," said Entrikin, 65, who was kidnapped for days by Afghans along with another volunteer. "I was in very remote places. You learn to live off your wits. I learned I could do that."

"As a young male graduating from college, you went to Vietnam or you did something like grad school or got married and had a baby," he said.

Entrikin chose the Peace Corps and was one of eight volunteers from a larger group of 80 who worked on an agriculture experiment growing wheat with native farmers.

After their Peace Corps leader went blind while serving and Entrikin learned some of the farmers he was working with had been taking bribes, he decided to end his tour early. He turned down a new offer to help other farmers plant opium poppies.

Instead, he took a year to travel and returned to the States where he was arrested for avoiding the draft. He reported for duty but failed a physical and never served.

Entrikin worked in Washington, D.C., for a year teaching welfare recipients to read. In the past seven years, he's become the unofficial documentarian of homelessness in Seattle where he photographs people living on the streets.

"Made friends with two fellows [in the Peace Corps]who have been lifetime friends since then," he said. "They were better people than me. They were teachers, so they actually stayed three years. One became a high school teacher, and one is the head of a home for mentally disturbed children. My experience was I was an adventurer. It was my opportunity to get out, and for me, to travel was extremely important."

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: March, 2011; Peace Corps Afghanistan; Directory of Afghanistan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Afghanistan RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers; The 1960's

When this story was posted in October 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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