I didn’t really know what to think when my brother got into the military.
I was honestly worried about him, but I was unsure whether to be proud of him for finding this career or disappointed because he might get himself killed.
I thought about the different wars going on and all the poor guys who were killed while serving their country. He had a hard time in boot camp as he always wrote letters talking about how much trouble he got into all the time. He said when everybody was in trouble, they would drill them hard in a building until there was so much sweat, it would actually rain down sweat. I thought that sounded disgusting. Also, they had to clean everything up until the place was sparkling clean, and he said sometimes they were forced to use nothing but a toothbrush to clean all the floors instead of a mob. I thought that was a bizarre type of punishment, but I supposed it taught the youngsters how to be soldiers. My brother said the military was going to pay what he really wanted in life though and that was to become an HVAC professional. I thought he could have just gone to a regular HVAC trade school, but he said he was too broke and he didn’t want to have to get student loans. He eventually served his time in the military and when he came back, he was a certified HVAC professional. He worked on the heating and cooling systems overseas at different military bases. He actually taught me a lot about how to work on heating and cooling equipment when he got back. He ended up getting work with one of the most reputable HVAC companies around too!