Originally posted by Sandman
Just a question... veteran to veteran...
Was patriotism what motivated you to join the Marines?
To be honest, it was about 50-50.
I certainly was not in a dead end job but I did want a change. Incidentally, I ended up back into the same sort of work anyways.
And, yeah, I wanted to give back to this country. I don't care much for people who only want to take. The people who think they are entitled to stuff from the government, that shirk personal responisibilities and expect others to bail them out, people who abuse welfare and beget a new generation of welfare users/abusers. And what is four years really?
I'm not some sort of liberal, 'socially concious', limp-wristed, pony-tailed, Prius driving, hippy. Rather, I'm more of a conservative if I had to catagorize myself, but I try to do the 'right' thing. I give blood three times a year, I hold doors open for people, I stop and help women/children/old people if they need help (car breaks, flat tire, groceries fall, etc), I try to make a positive impact. I don't do it to elevate myself above others, to point at my acts and piously and contempuously address people to how much better they could be, I simply do it because I believe that it's the right thing to do and it makes me feel good. I truly believe that everyone should do a little something to make things better than when they arrived.
This isn't really a religious belief either. I'm not strongly religious but I'm certainly not aetheist or agnostic. I would help someone even if they were a Jew, Morman, Protestant, Chatholic, Methodists, Baptists, Seven-Day Adventist, ad naseum. I would even help a Muslim if I didn't actively believe that particular Muslim thought the US is inherintly and holistically evil and want to destroy it.
I even support mandatory military service, or if you 'object' to the military, then some sort of civil position.
I support a few select charities in my community, my wife and I are talking to our local community college to create a bi-yearly scholorship to help married students with children just as we were when we went back to school.
Patriotism? Maybe patriotism with sense of social responsibility. I could have been more selfish and not chosen the military. I wanted the change (it was not imperative) and I thought that I could use this chance to give something substantial not just locally but to my country. I'm extremely glad and wholeheartedly proud that I did.
[edit] I also was extremely aware that I might be in harms way. Gulf War I was in effect when I enlisted. Got my Fire Watch ribbon coming out of boot camp. Several of my friends while I was in had already spent time in Iraq.
