I am a product of the Kennedy generation..I was 14 when he was murdered,,and from that point forward my life would be influenced by that monumental day in Dallas .. to this very day still effects my way of living my life..and how I see and deal with the world around me..When I was 18 ..I enlisted and served 3 years in the Marine Corps..including 2 tours of duty in Vietnam from 6/66-1/68...Everything that is me has it's roots in the time I served in the Marines..and my in country time and experiences while serving near the hamlet of Chu Lai Republic of Vietnam..I will tell you this one absolute truth..Never in my most wild imagination was I prepared for the sacrifice emotionally and physically that becoming a Marine would demand from me and the others who were wondering just how much more our body's could take ....and finding the will power necessary to make it one more day while in training..In the Marines ..You had to earn the right to be called a Marine..The mystique of becoming the Warrior called Marine..was never a given..The failure right back than was 30 %..Ho0w I made it to the finish line is still a mystery to me..The brutality of that training period was for us headed for Nam ..Was 6 months of the most intense mind numbing intensity I would ever experience..It was when I and my fellow Marines endured the tours of Vietnam that the why questions were answered..I truly believe if I had not been trained by the toughest and most brutally honest men on earth for my time in Nam .I would have been a casualty rather than a lucky one that came home ..when so many didn't...AS I'm sure you have heard this hackneyed phrase..from.."I would not trade my experiences for all the gold at Fort Knox..But you could never offer me enough money to get me to do it again.is.the absolute truth ....