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I have several friends that have served in all the different branches. My buddy that was in the Marines was in Somalia, Honduras and other places before actually fighting in the first gulf war. He talks about what he saw in the fighting, but he says the things that stick with him the most is what they were able to do in Somalia. His group brought in food and help set up refugee camps and for a lot of the people they helped it was the first meal they had in days. The warlords in that country would take any food that the aid groups sent and hold it to use as a political tool. My buddy was part of the group that helped break that up to some degree. He actually shipped out of that country about three weeks before the infamous Black Hawk Down incident happened.
He talks a lot about helping people in various places and how proud he was to have served. I have mad respect for him and all my friends that served. For that matter I have great respect for anyone that serves in our military. When you sign up you may have any one of a million different reasons to do so, but you never know when a war might break out. Take for example all of those kids that joined up in 2000. They might have just wanted to get some money for college or do something different and see some of the world. I'm sure they had no idea that the events of 9/11 would happen and they would end up in a war. That is part of the deal and it is why everyone who served deserves respect. One day you might be mopping a floor and hanging out in a barracks, the next day you could be in some god-forsaken shithole fighting for your life.
I would have joined after high school myself, but I have asthma so I couldn't get in.
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