“I Never Served”

I’ve mentioned several times in this blog my sense of being in a rapidly diminishing population of those who have served in combat in the defense of our country. Combat veterans are now a tiny fraction of a percent of the population. Nearly every man I meet these days reacts to my history of time in combat by saying, “I never served.”

My sense, as recently expressed in my blog post about restoring the draft, is that service in the military makes us better men. It certainly made me a better man. My tendency is to feel sorry for men who never served. They were deprived of the advantages I have as a result of my time in the military and especially deriving from my time in combat. They will never know the honor of having defended their homeland. And they will never experience the bond between men who fight side for side for their country, the strongest bond I have ever felt.

So for those of you who have never served, forgive me if I pity you. You have missed one of the great experiences of life.