ON SERVING YOUR COUNTRY: A lament. “What is going on? Is this anecdotal only to our region, or is it happening everywhere? And, quite honestly, would a parent – especially one who had been in or knew anything about the military – even recommend that as a choice to their child in the current cultural environment? Listening to friends, other vets, and fellow Marines, that has to be happening more often than not. When I pose that question, ‘Would you tell a kid today to go in/enlist?’ the first exclamation out of their mouths rhymes with ‘duck’ and is followed by an emphatic ‘NO!’ It is so toxic.”