Joining the military

I was listening to a talk show radio program that featured to seargents discussing the war in Iraq and PTSD when a caller asked what she could do to inform her 17-year-old son about the military, as he said he is going to join as soon as he is of age. I thought about calling but didn't. I wanted to tell this lady that there isn't anything she can do to stop her son from joining, but she can tell him some things I wish I wouldn've have known. The Marine Corps was intriguing to me because of the glamour that is portrayed in recruiting videos and in movies. It is a place that will make a man out of you and teach you discipline. It is a line of work where you can save lives and get the bad guys. I was drawn to this because I wanted to be a better person and I thought the Marines would do this for me. The truth is nobody can make you a better person but yourself. There are druggies and drunks and racists and creeps and assholes in the military just like every other place on earth. When I realized this I became disappointed and fell into some bad behavior which I now regret. I thought the Marines would make me this great person that we read about in the papers but I've finally realized that it was never the Marines that made those people great, it was their heart and soul. It is their courage and state of mind, their persistence and internal strength. It is not something that you can be trained to be. It comes from within and you can be this person in any line of work. You can be a hero working at McDonalds or in a factory, you can change lives for the better just about anywhere, including your own. I wish I would have known this because I think I would have been a better Marine and would have had the courage to stop some of the senseless killing that even the highest ranking officials couldn't stop. I believe that there are leaders in the U.S. military who have this courage, but there are far too few of them and many are shut out by the cowards who feel like they can win wars through fear and violence. If I could say anything to that 17-year-old I would say go ahead and join, but do it for the right reasons and don't give up.