How did you tell your family and friends that you were joining the military?

MSgt James Parker My father died when I was 7. He was an Air Force Captain who served in WWII and Korea. He died when his plane crashed during a training mission. My mother died when I was 15. My older sister, who I was living with, was not happy to hear that I was enlisting. My friends all thought that I was crazy.

In person, the day before the Recruiter arrived IOT get my parents to sign consent for me to join since I was 17 at the time

"Joining the military" was in-person (joined ROTC in college and was part of SMP). "Going on active duty" and deploying to DS/DS was by phone (transferred to RA back in OBC through the Commandant's Program).

I said goodbye to my best friend when the recruiter honked his for our trip to Cleveland MEP station. I guess from there the rumor mill picked up the task of informing. I informed my Mother and Grandmother the day prior. I never went back aside from Family losses.

If I had it to do over again I would not change a thing.

I was seventeen years old, wanted to get away from home. I walked in and told my mother the recruiter would be by a quarter to six tomorrow morning, be up and ready to sign and have your divorce papers ready so he could take down the divorce number (both parents were required to sign unless one has sole custody). She signed, we left. My only return was after boot camp to get my stuff that was left and car and I never went back.

I was 17 soI had to have permission...my mom didn't want to but my dad said it was time for me to go br a man...worked out just fine

I knew my Dad served in the 82nd Airbourne Division before I was born , and almost all of my uncles were retired Sergeants . So I started talking to Dad about it a whole year before I enlisted .

There was only one phone line in the house and none of the instruments connected to it could be used for text. Email wasn't even yet a dream and snail mail would have been weird (and a waste of a postage stamp) since we had the same address. Those who didn't live there saw more of me than did the family (I was rarely home) and they witnessed my struggles to enlist. The real challenge was telling my mother that I was going to Vietnam following my graduation from Infantry OCS. I know she wasn't happy but wasn't surprised since I had volunteered.

I told my parents 24 hours before I was departing for training because I knew they didn't want me to go.

No text or email when I enlisted in 79, so face to face was the course of action for myself. Although many of my friends and family thought I was crazy enlisting in the Corps.