What convinced you to join the military?
I don’t mean “Duty” or abject sense of “honor” or anything like that, I mean more like what things drove you towards service?
For me it was two things. The first was the book “Ender’s Game” which was largely responsible for landing me in a military school. But the second was the 1987-1990 TV series “Tour of Duty.” To this day when I hear Paint it Black I want to head off into the jungle and hunt Charlie.
Anyone else have some sort of thing that pushed them in this direction? Probably most of you were relatives, but I had none that served except my grandfather and he never even told me he served until I was in.
Category: Politics
Grandfather was presented with his DSC at Chateau Thierry in 1918. One Uncle enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and then graduated from the Naval Academy. The rest of my uncles and my Dad all served during Korea or Vietnam, mostly Naval Aviation. My Dad, finished his career in the mid 70s as a recruiter for the Navy Nurse Corps here in Iowa. It was pretty much a no-brainer that I was enlisting when I turned 17. Of course, my Dad being a proud papa, found folks at the MEPS, that had been there when he was active and bringing folks for processing, and brought them to see my swearing in….hearing a 60 some year old lady comment that she remembered changing your diapers, right after I had taken the Oath….probably could have done without that…..
Heh, started reading these and was pleasantly surprised to find myself at the bottom of the 101 comment/story list. Like many others, it was more a question of when than if. I’m certain G.I. Joe cartoons played my part but back then even the wartime Looney Toons were my favorites. Red Storm Rising was I think the second full size novel I read after Jurassic Park showed me those big ones Were possible to finnish. College was never meant to factor prominently in my future I think, I went to recess maybe 10 times in all of 3rd and 4th grade combined, I was being punished from not doing my homework and would sit and read encyclopedias about ww1 and ww2. I made my brother play war with me and Mom and Dad take me to rent Longest Day every weekend. After dropping out of community college and getting CO poisoning from the shithead I worked insulation for’s panel truck, I announced off hand that next evening at family diner that I had “kinda sorta” driven to town and joined the Army. I don’t remember much other conversation that night. Red Storm rising and Team Yankee had made me want armor but along with helping convince me I was doing the right thing, Starship Troopers made me want Infantry. By coincidence got the best of both worlds, Mechanized! I still feel a little bad about scaring the hell out of my family but I’m also glad I’ve been able to make them proud. I’ll never forget when I Graduated OSUT and my aunt and uncle came down with my folks to see me. Aunt Shari was hugging me say stuff like ” He’s so cute and handsome in his uniform!” and I was saying “C,mon Aunt Shari! I’m a killin’ machine!!” So here I sit a fair bit older (and broker) with a quite possibly useless degree and a ton of school debt thinking hard about at least finding a guard unit or something again!
A woman. High School girlfriend thought it would be great if I went to Citadel and after 4 years in a military environment and my hero (to me) Army Sig Corps bro’s counsel, I reported to Ft Bragg. It later occurred to me that girlfriend’s motives may not have been pure. She was in Jax Fla and I was locked up in barracks in Charleston.
I can do this twice. After VN: I got out because of the Army chicken shit ways. After a couple of months of dealing with Ma Bell’s chicken shit ways and I realized that I didn’t like civilians and legs, I came back. Ma Bell bosses used coercion to get a 100% Savings Bond participation that would make a grizzled Sergeant Major blush.
I wanted to be a Rifleman in the Infantry. I am still trying to figure out why myself but enlisting in the Army Infantry has been the best decision I have ever made.
Was in Junior High when Desert Storm happened. I knew then I wanted to join the Army. I went in Airborne Unassigned. Was excited to see combat. 93-97 nothing happened! I missed Somalia and got out before Bosnia. Just a 5 jump chump….