In reading Dyers "Any son will do", it brought back a lot of memories. I joined the US Army in 1976 just out of high school. While the Army basic training is not as tough as the Marines, it still takes young men and women and changes them from civilians to a common military group. She was right; the best ages to get recruits are the late teens. I was 17 and had not a clue what I was going to do with my life. Within the first few hours in El Paso at Ft. Bliss, I was being transformed into something that would stay with me for my life. For the next 8 weeks we were trained in military basics, shooting, and just how to get along together in close spaces. The Drill Instructors yell, cajole and at times treated us like dirt. However, at no time were we ever disrespected. We were taken from a group of people who couldn't even walk straight to a cohesive group of young men. You can't even believe how much you can grow and mature in that short of time. I ended up spending a total of 16 years of my life serving the military. They also taught me the skills to start me on my life long career in the medical field. I have been in medicine as an army medic, and a paramedic for the last 25 years and am now heading for my Nursing degree.