During the Vietnam conflict, my father served two tours as an artillery officer, his younger brother was a Marine computer engineer who stayed stateside, the third brother was in the Air Force flying interdiction missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail (KIA), and the youngest was an aircraft mechanic on a carrier stationed off the coast of Nam. I later served during the Cold War as an Air Force computer specialist. We were a typical patriotic military family. It wasn't until much later after I had retired that I realized it was all a lie, and needless to say, it was a rude awakening. As General Smedley Butler said, 'War is a racket'. And to this day, the greedy war-mongering psychopaths are still at it.

IMO, military service is still a honorable and, likely, rewarding path as long as you know what to expect and what you want to get out of it. If you are considering signing up, try to go into a specialty field such as electronics, computers, or a health care related field. You want something that will transfer over to your civilian life after you separate. If you're after the educational benefits, as I was, by all means go for it.

You also need to know that the US military is being misused to overthrow the governments of countries that are not agreeable or subservient to US interests. This has been going on for at least a century. You probably heard on TV about America using its military and economic power to spread 'freedom and democracy' and to be a 'force for good.' Well, this is complete and utter bullshit propaganda.

We are not fighting the made-up 'war on terror' or some made-up evil dictator. These are complete fabrications. We are, in fact, forcing regime changes for economic and/or political gain, and in the process, committing the most abominable crimes against humanity. I personally could not be a part of this. You'll have to decide for yourself.