Veterans what prompted YOU to serve your country?

oldafsp

oldafsp

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As the son of a full bull Colonel in the Air Force, and visting or being stationed at various air bases there wasn't much choice for me.

Entered the Reserves at 17 to avoid being drafted and not having a choice. Reported for active duty 2 weeks after my high school graduation...the rest is history as they say.

As a young lad I was so impressed with the Air Policemen on duty at the gates. We were at Offutt from 1961 to 1964.

This picture is what made me choose my career field.

How about you?
 

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My two heroes as a kid were Audie Murphy and my cousin Martin ex-USN. Martin had two ships blown from under him during WWII. So, I joined the Navy and served during and in Korea "the forgotten war".
 
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Felt it was my duty and responsibility as an American. So I joined the Air Force and played with bombs. So cool.

t
 
Joined the Marine Corps to avoid the Viet Nam era draft.

I wanted to be part of an outfit that would teach me to take care of myself over there.
 
after high school there were two choices...................college or military service.

there was no money for college.

4 1/2 years in the us airforce security service. (we spied on russia & china) 1963 - 1968
the real good part, i was stationed in england, 50 miles north of london. i met my wife at a dance, new years 1965. this year we will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.
 
In 1968 the Army was snatching newly HS grads after the ceremony. It was inevitable, my turn had arrived. Not caring for sleeping on the ground, I chose the Air Force. Working around B-52's was fun.
 
Not very glamorous but I joined to pay for college. I was married, 29 years old and looking for a way out of working construction. My dad had been Naval Air Corps from 41-53, older brother was Navy 66-69, one brother-in-law was 11b 66-68, 10 of my 12 uncles had served in the military, so the military was kind of a family tradition.

In 1987 we had not been at war for some time and Field Artillery was offering a $3000 bonus for Field Artillery Surveyors plus college money so I enlisted. We all remember what happened in 1990, in 1993 I was discharged as part of the Peace Dividend that we have all been enjoying, finally finished college thanks to Uncle Sam, and that's the story.
 
Great X5 Grandfather - Revolutionary War
Great X2 Grandfather - War of the Northern Aggression (Wounded at Vicksburg)
Great Grandfather - Spanish American War (Doctor)
Grandfather - WW I
Father - WW II and career Army (Medical Corp)
Uncle - (Father's brother) - Career Army
Uncle - (Mother's brother) - Bataan Death March (Survived as POW in Japan. Saw first atomic blast)
Uncle - (Mother's Brother) - Career Navy WW II, Korea (lied about his age to get in during WW II
Uncle - (Mother's Brother) - Merchant Marine, N. Atlantic, WW II

Always liked my uncle's Navy uniform so I enlisted in the Navy 1968(yes the draft had something to do with that but it was always expected I would serve). Protected Jacksonville from invasion by Georgia for a while and then protected the Mediterranean from the Russians. Got to play with airplanes.

Brother - career Army - Panama, Grenada, Desert Sheild/Storm (Bronze Star). Now he has a nice safe job as a deputy sheriff.

As far as I know, my family did miss the Alamo since the part of my family that moved to Texas didn't do so until around 1866-67.

CW
 
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I had a hardship deferment (wife, kid and in college) but Nixon canceled those.

A lottery number of :"31". Enlist or get drafted.
 
My grandfather was a Soldier, through and through. (10th Mountain Alpine Mountaineers)
I always wanted to be just like him, and he told me if I joined the Army he would beat me to death with a sock full of bullets.
I joined the Navy, and of course 15 years later I am on my third tour with the Army haha!
 
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JamesArthur60 said:
In 1968 the Army was snatching newly HS grads after the ceremony. It was inevitable, my turn had arrived. Not caring for sleeping on the ground, I chose the Air Force. Working around B-52's was fun.
Click to expand...

Same situation here, in 1968 got handed my diploma in one hand and a draft notice in the other basically! A ton of folks were going to canada to avoid serving, I figured it was too cold to head north so I enlisted in the Air Force asap. They immediately sent me to Shemya, Alaska! So much for avoiding the cold. lol.
 
As the surviving son of a combat veteran (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) who died 3 years after retiring from the Army, I had a deferment from the draft. I tried going to college, but it wasn't for me and I became a municipal police officer. After living most of my life around the military, I decided it was my turn to serve, not just my community, but my country as well. I started slow, enlisting in the Air National Guard, as an Aircraft Security Specialist/Security Police, as it fit nicely with my civilian career. After a couple of winters walking around airplanes with a rifle on my shoulder, I decided to apply for flight training. I did well enough that the Air Force offered me the opportunity to go on active duty. I never looked back and had a great career, retiring with a total of 28 years of service.
 
One of these forms with my name printed on it.

DraftNotice.jpg
 
I wasn't all that interested in going to college when I graduated from high school. So, I decided to join the Navy, for several reasons.
It worked out for the best, though...when I got out of the Navy, I knew darned well that I wanted to go to college. Plus, I had the GI Bill to help pay for it.

I think my service experience was a very good thing. It matured me, gave me some self-discipline, and made me want to go to college. When I got out and started to school, I was there to learn and not party. Had I gone to college right after high school, I would not have done as well. Plus, I think every young man and woman should serve their country...when they get old, they can look back on it with pride, no matter what their motives were for serving at the time.
 
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Bottom line - could not wait to get away from home. Hoped to travel overseas, but got stuck underground in New Mexico (ICBM mechanic with SAC) Never got out of the USA. Air Force was the best!!
 
Basically did it to get out of the folks house and do some growing up away from their misguided direction. Didn't even tell Dad.
 
High school was a fun place to socialize and p/u girls. Therefore the grades for college weren't there. The local economy was driven by textiles and I had worked some in the mills already b/4 graduation.

Military was an exciting choice for an old country boy that wanted to see the world. The Air Force seemed like a good place to start.
 
My two older brothers were both in during the early years of Nam in the mid 60s and made it home, so when I turned 18 I followed suit and enlisted in the Army. Not to mention I was already 2000 miles from home and hungry at the time:)
Had some regrets while I was in but never since getting out - well maybe just one! I wish I would have had the smarts to go into the Air Force instead of the Army. The food and living standards were a whole lot nicer...
 
I joined the Navy 1978 one step a head of a pregnant girl friend with a shotgun toting uncle.(I married her a year later).
 
I joined because there was nothing happening in Western Maryland. Jobs were scarce and I didn't feel like 3 more years of college were going to be much help. So later, I let Uncle Sam pay the tuition and I got a nice pension out of the deal. 21 years well spent: Wurtsmith AFB MI, Sheppard AFB TX, and Andrews AFB MD.
 
Wasn't ready for college, so told the draft board I wanted voluntary induction. This was after Korea but before Nam got serious. German beer, brats and schnitzel for two years courtesy of Uncle Sam.
 
Several reasons. My father and uncles had all served. I felt it was my duty to give something back to the country that provided me with such a great standard of living. It was a way to get away from home, grow up, travel and do things that other people my age didn't have the opportunity to do.

I joined the Marines because I wanted people to know that my commitment to our country is unquestionable. The fact that the dress blues are a total chick magnet was just a bonus.

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Marines don't have that problem."
-Ronald Reagan

Semper Fi and Happy Veteran's Day to all who have served our nation in our armed forces!
 
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