What Things Were Difficult to Communicate to Family and Friends About Your Military Service? Login & Share to Win!

Vietnam - family never asked questions, wife knew something was different, loss of 26 aviators during 69-70, being a AC and Operations officer. Being a OCS Tactical Instructor and breaking down the candidates in artificial environments to see if they could take the pressure before being in combat.
My life changed when I married and my children could not understand why I never got mad. If only they knew what I did in service as an officer in OCS. I have told them, you don't know what I was before I was
married.
Also, in Washington DC when riots and anti war demonstrations at their worse. Unit put on alert to go to pentagon and support security there. Martin King killed, rioting and burning down town on 14th street DC.
difficult to explain circumstances that caused riots, burning of businesses.

I didn't have a hard time communicating anything about the military to my family as I am from a long running military family. My pop and many uncles were in WWI and got all kinds of medals, and my grandfathers were in WWII, both got a purple heart and one also received a citation of valor. It was all second nature by the time I got there lol...

Camaraderie, the beyond of inside jokes, the jokes itself, speaking in code, the look, the hand signals. The definition of what friends and family are. Your other brothers and sisters and most importantly (to me) " To be early is to be on time to be on time is to be late." only military people get that

"Why can't you "blow off" work today?" Duty.

Gee, there are so many.
We could start with the hyper vigilance of constantly scanning your surroundings. The questions of what you've seen/done in your deployments. Have you killed/how many always seems to pop up with the un educated. Mostly for me it was "The Team" camaraderie that you never seem to be understood.

Telling my family what I did, which was highly classified in strategic reconnaissance.

The fact that my military friends were family also. Also in my case. I had a mostly male ( back in my day) job so almost all my friends were male I was just one of the guys. Lol

The truth about what your actual job consisted of. Some pages are better off not turned, and the true brotherhood does exist, as far as you reach out!

How WET the part of Iraq we were running convoy security patrols out of was!

Thanks for all the upvotes, my brothers and sisters!