My brother Joseph, who is 14 years older than me, was already on his national military compulsory service when I was 4 years old, the age from which I remember myself.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My younger brother is a decorated combat veteran and was a platoon leader in Iraq.
My brother and sister are both older than I am and were born before my father went off to World War I.
My father and brothers were in the military.
There's a tradition of public service in my family. I'm one of three boys that joined the military. My father was in the Peace Corps.
I was drafted when I was 17, and I spent two years, and I lost a friend in war.
As a little boy of eleven I entered the Cadet Corps. I was not particularly eager to become a Cadet, but my father wished it. So my wishes were not consulted.
Also in the new constitution, we want to lower the voting age from 20 years to 18 years and also gradually implement a voluntary military service in replacement of the current compulsory military service.
I've been extremely lucky having been in the army when I was a boy of fourteen.
The mere dates of my existence do not interest me, except in one connection. When the Great War started I was too old to be acceptable as a volunteer; when conscription followed I was too old to be conscripted.
My grandfather had been on the New York City force with his 11 brothers around the turn of the century. He was killed in the line of duty. My father, who was 16, was the oldest son, so he had to quit school and go to work to support his mother.