My son joined the military in 2004, I think it was. He had graduated at the top of his class, and received a full scholarship to the school of his dreams in another state. His life was on track to pursue the career he always wanted. He stopped by the house to tell me that he joined the National Guard in our hometown, and was planning on transferring to the National Guard in his college state when he finished his basic training. He did it as a way to better support himself while in school, and I suspect because the specter of 9-11 still hung over the country, and many of his older brother's friends had joined up right after our nation's tragedy. Although I expressed my concern, he reassured me that the National Guard would see no overseas action. At the end of basic training, he was told that his unit would be undergoing additional training, as they were being sent to Iraq. He lost his scholarship as a result and stayed with his hometown unit. While home for a visit, he related the story of how he picked his MOS. He simply asked the recruiter what had the highest sign-on bonus. The recruiter pointed to the acronym 'EOD'. My son never even asked what it was, he just signed on the dotted line. After getting to Iraq, my son's unit replaced the marines leaving Abu Ghraib. He did well with the whole EOD job. He was attached to the 10th mountain for a time, where he had a LOT of, shall we say, ribbing, for not being 'real' military. He was cool under pressure, and has a stack of commendations and a bowl full of 'challenge coins'. To hear him relate the exploits he's allowed to talk about, you would never think any of them were a big deal. It is just his job. When I got him to tell me about the 2 coins he received from our previous Secretary of Defense, I was so proud, and laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants, because even though my son is a hero, he is a comedian at heart and has a way of telling me things to lessen the worry factor they might cause. My son found out recently that he was being tapped to go to Afghanistan, as an expert in his field. When members of his unit found out, they ran down and signed up so they could go back with him. Then my son found out he didn't have to go. But rather than leave his brothers in arms hanging, he signed up anyways. Like everyone else serving overseas, my son has a very dangerous job. He has saved countless lives, and saved us taxpayers millions of dollars. He has made many friends, both in the military and overseas. My sweet, sensitive boy has grown to be a confidant and capable young man, who has the complete trust, respect, loyalty, and the love of everyone who knows him. Despite having to go back overseas and various other setbacks, he is trying hard to start a business, where he employs his dad and various other friends who need help. He is a great father to his young son. He is just an all-around great guy, who takes responsibility-to family, friends, and duty-very seriously. While I know there are plenty of other veterans and active duty men and women much like him, and I am proud of our military as a whole, I couldn't be more proud of my son.