The recent death of Dr. David Kliewer touched me deeply. Although I didn't know him personally, I knew quite a bit about his life and his extraordinary efforts on behalf of his fellow man. And what I knew made me wonder about the evolution of people's beliefs and values over time.

Kliewer was a Marine in World War II who was captured after the first battle of Wake Island and spent four years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. If any man ever earned the right to hate, it was Kliewer, but he went the opposite direction. He became a voice against war and an equally strong voice for affordable housing, universal health care and, more than anything else, for a community that lived up to his high ideals. In the 25 years I've lived in Corvallis, few people have exerted more influence on the town than David Kliewer.

But many men with similar life experiences considered Kliewer's liberal, pacifistic leanings anathema. To them he was a sellout, a man who should have known better. In our society, the typical male becomes more conservative in his views as he ages, following the dictum that "a man doesn't become conservative until he's got something to conserve." And military service seems to strengthen a conservative bent.

I am reminded of Dec. 1, 1969, when I sat in the living room of my fraternity house in Blacksburg, Va., with 15 or so fraternity brothers. We were seniors at Virginia Tech and had gathered with some trepidation and a great deal of beer to watch live television coverage of the first Selective Service Lottery. The number assigned to our birth date would determine if, and how soon, we would be drafted into the military. This was not a symbolic exercise; Vietnam was in full swing and barring George W. Bush-like connections, if you were drafted, you were going to war.

The young men in that room were against the war. Many of us had taken part in anti-war demonstrations. In a few months we would help overrun the University Administration Building as part of an anti-war protest. We were long-haired liberals and proud of it. There was talk of becoming conscientious objectors, or going to Canada. I was somewhat removed from those discussions because long-haired, anti-war liberal or not, I intended to go to Vietnam. I was, and continue to be, confused about wars. So were my fraternity brothers, but as it turned out, they didn't have to worry.

I was the only one who pulled a number low enough to be drafted. And I fooled the draft board by enlisting in the Marine Corps. My fraternity brothers all graduated and went on to their various, nonmilitary careers. I lost track of them for years but now I receive e-mails from one or more weekly. The thing I find most amazing in these communications is how far right on the political spectrum many of my friends seem to have moved. Young men who demonstrated against the Vietnam War now actively support Iraq. Boys with whom I stood in line to sell my blood now rail against welfare. Friends who were always too hung over for church now bemoan the removal of prayer from schools. A couple think Creationism should be taught as science.

It is interesting to me that as they age, so many men become crusty and narrow-minded while so few do the opposite. What is the key, I wonder? What aspect of a man's personality, age or experience tips the scale between callousness and compassion, benevolence and insensitivity? And what do those concepts have to do with being a liberal or conservative, a Democrat or Republican?

I suspect David Kliewer knew. I should have asked.

Pat Wray is a free-lance writer and longtime local resident. His general-interest columns can be found in this section on alternating Fridays. He can be reached at patwray@comcast.net.