I still occasionally hear people say that young men should join the military so they can grow up and become men. But will joining the military make you a man? It might. But it might also, or might instead, make you a killer (in an unjust war or in America when you come home), a drug addict, a victim of suicide, an abuser of alcohol, a legless man, or a brain-injury basket case. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, a two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner, said about military service: “Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.” If you want to be your own man, stay out of the military and work a real job–that will make you a man without baggage to carry around the rest of your life.

The Best of Laurence M. Vance