I was in high school in the 70's, so when I think of joining the military, the first thing I think of was, to put it mildly, the lack of welcome when they came home, if they came home.
I never voiced my opinion to my kids, and then one day, my youngest son was beginning his senoir year in high school, said he wanted to join the Navy. It took everything in me to not scream, and I was really very proud of myself, the way I just smiled. And doing a little digging, I found out they had what they call the DEP program, in which, once a month, he'd go down to the navy office and get a feel for it, all the while knowing he could change his mind if he wanted to. I also knew that if I expressed my displeasure with his decision, that would be a sure way to get him to join, so I went along with the whole thing
After a year, he still wanted to join, and the recruiter picked him up, took him down to Columbus,where he went through testing, etc. We drove down on the day he was to go to boot camp in Chicago, and oversaw him picking his rate nad the swearing in ceremony.
He tested in to the nuclear propulsion rate, so not only was he giving something to the Navy, he was getting an education out of it. He's been on the USS Ronald Reagan and has even earned some awards. Down at Nuke school he got an award they give to one member of each graduating class, the 'Personal Excellence Award.' and last year he was the Reagan's 'Sailor of the Day.' I feel kind of guilty being so proud when in the beginning, I was so against the idea.
He had to sign up for 6 years because of the training they put in him, but I will be the first to admit, I'm glad he did what he did, the way he did.
You got a good one