Login & Share to Win! Given the chance to travel back in time, what advice are you giving yourself?

Damn, join the AF and be a firefighter, you serve, you learn, then you go to work fir a city FD making great money with benefits. At that time I didn’t feel like putting out burning aircraft or being a cop. I guess my ASVABS scores were what they were.

Keep a detailed record of everything you do, when you do it, and the names of all the people you are serving with. You will need all that information in your fight for Agent Orange benefits.

Don’t get married! LoL

Honor, integrity, and truth to yourself and those you serve with are paramount. You can never regain what you lose. Killing for a good or bad cause is still murder; learn to live with it before it destroys you.

First, Continue your education. Second, Knowing what you know now, invest… Microsoft and others. Lastly Have fun especially now that you know the answers.

Do not get married until you are at least 35 years old.

There is no glory in war, only necessity. When you're called upon to serve, serve with honor, as much courage as you can muster, and always trust in your fellow soldiers, your team. You'll be fine.

So so so many things come to mind, but one nugget of wisdom to send back to my younger self would be "Hey LT, although it is NEVER a good idea to do this under any circumstance, it is especially unwise (after returning from a year deployment to Iraq following 9 months of unaccompanied pre-deployment training) to buy your spouse of two years a vacuum as her birthday gift."

Do not make decisions based on emotions. I loved serving and my decision to leave the military was emotional, not logical. I was young, immature and greatly influenced by someone who did not have my best interests at heart. I would have had a fantastic career. I did find my way back into the military community as a civilian in 2005 and am completely fulfilled today. I never regret decisions I make however would have made a different choice knowing what I do.

My decision to join the Army began at 10 years old. The reason was two people greatly influenced this decision. My Uncle was permanently injured by a sniper shattering his elbow which left his right arm in a permanent "L" position. He did not let this stop his from becoming one of the best mechanics in the area. My cousin was a prisoner of war in Korea and he was brutally beaten by the guards. He spent over a year in rehab in Okinawa before he came back home. He was a big man, 6ft, 2in and around 235 pounds and in great condition. When he came back and walked through the door of his parents house, he looked to be around 80 pounds, bent over and had bad eyesight. The thing that stood out though was he had a big smile on his face which told me they may have broke him physically but not his spirit. While in Viet Nam, I spoke with a sergeant who related he was a prisoner of war in Korea (volunteered for Viet Nam) and said he would not be there today were it not for this one person there with him in prison who protected him and others from the guards by knocking them down when they started beatings with their rifle butts. I asked him if he remembered the persons name. He gave the name of my cousin. My uncle was Wilford Combs and my cousin was Delbert Henson.
After spending 21 years in the U.S. Army, I wrote a book titled "It Started & Ended" dedicated to the two people I have great admiration for; my uncle and cousin. Both passed away in 2020 and I miss them but will never forget them.