Hear from Pfc. Nathan Spencer, a scout with @FightingFirst who shares how the #USArmy has influenced his life.

Video by @FortBenning #WhyIServe #KnowYourMil #ArmyValues pic.twitter.com/yvkHAbFhUK

— U.S. Army (@USArmy) May 23, 2019

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You have to read the responses to this. They’re a knife in the gut. This is how most of them go:

Like I said, they’re mostly like that. This is about as good as it gets, at least from as far down in the thread as I’ve read:

Pros: Serving made me realized that I had the strength & courage all along. It made me realize if I can make it in the USMC, I can make it anywhere.
I felt I belong, got a 2nd family, & did something greater than myself

Cons: Lifetime of aches and pains, mentally & physically.

— Sara Samora (@SaraESamora) May 24, 2019

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And now the Trump Administration is talking about starting a war with Iran. He does that, and he will destroy the Republican Party.

How about you, readers of this blog? How has the US military (not just the Army) influenced your life — for better or for worse? I’m seriously asking for all kinds of stories.

I’m thinking right now of the guy I know who won a medal in Iraq, but who called the war there “a waste.” I’m thinking of the other guy I know who came home and couldn’t bring himself to go into a church, because he said God couldn’t forgive him for what he had done. His wife still doesn’t know what it was. It is, for him, unspeakable. I’m also thinking about the veteran friend who told me he wishes civilians would quit thanking him for his service. He knows they mean well, and he always thanks them, but he said that after a while it starts to feel like virtue signaling — that is, like civilians want to hear themselves thanking a soldier for his service, so they can regard themselves as the kind of people who thank soldiers for their service.

On the other hand, I am sure I have friends who served who remember it positively, but I just haven’t heard them talk that way about it. Anyway, I want to hear from you readers.