(no subject)
Inspired by scearley who says he's the first in generations not to have military service.
My dad and his dad served, though Dad was drafted in the VietNam era, and my Grandfather was drafted in quick succession by the Latvian, Russian, then German armies in WWII. My mom's dad joined in WWII in the Navy and spent the whole war in the Pacific on a tin can destroyer. Before that, records are hazy about my ancestors -- the earliest ancestor on my Mom's side to step on American soil did so around 1900, and my Dad came over as a pre-teen.
Neither I nor my brothers and sister served. I almost joined up during Desert Storm, I was unsure about my major and bored with college. I had my EMT license and years of ambulance experience by then and a lot of stories were about the troops dropping from heat exhaustion, so I was considering joining as a medic, and maybe go pre-med out of it afterward. But the local recruiting Captain came on TV every night and said: "Join if you want, but we already have our quota. If you enlist, you'll be sent to Korea, and we'll take those trained troops over in Korea and send them to Kuwait, and believe me, you don't want duty in Korea." So I finished my degree and here I am. I've wondered a lot how my life would have been different if I had joined anyway.
My dad and his dad served, though Dad was drafted in the VietNam era, and my Grandfather was drafted in quick succession by the Latvian, Russian, then German armies in WWII. My mom's dad joined in WWII in the Navy and spent the whole war in the Pacific on a tin can destroyer. Before that, records are hazy about my ancestors -- the earliest ancestor on my Mom's side to step on American soil did so around 1900, and my Dad came over as a pre-teen.
Neither I nor my brothers and sister served. I almost joined up during Desert Storm, I was unsure about my major and bored with college. I had my EMT license and years of ambulance experience by then and a lot of stories were about the troops dropping from heat exhaustion, so I was considering joining as a medic, and maybe go pre-med out of it afterward. But the local recruiting Captain came on TV every night and said: "Join if you want, but we already have our quota. If you enlist, you'll be sent to Korea, and we'll take those trained troops over in Korea and send them to Kuwait, and believe me, you don't want duty in Korea." So I finished my degree and here I am. I've wondered a lot how my life would have been different if I had joined anyway.