 He attended Hazelton Elementary School, Fremont Junior High School, and graduated from Franklin High School, Stockton, California, in June 1964.After he was turned down by the Army and Navy due to being legally blind in one eye, Pittman enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Stockton on September 27, 1965.He was discharged on October 31, 1965 to enlist in the regular Marine Corps on November 1, 1965.