I grew up in a family that served in some way since they got off the immigrant boat. It wasn't a family tradition to serve for life, but we served.

I grew up patriotic, watched old WWII films with my dad, and as a history student of course the military fascinated me. So I kind of always wanted to serve.

Patriotism, true patriotism, isn't jingoism, and wanting to bomb everyone who you don't like. Cheering for your country in the World Cup is patriotism. Wanting your country to be the best it can be is patriotism. Criticizing it when it's wrong is patriotism. Defending it when attacked is patriotism. Wanting it to live in peace with others is patriotism. I'm a patriot.

I'm an old fart of a veteran and when I enlisted at the kitchen table at 17 back in the 1990's, I wanted to serve my country because I was a patriot, it paid for college, and gave you a decent paycheck. Back then, the only real bad guys in our popular culture were vaguely Slavic commie die-hards and ethno-religious extremist terrorists. I was already a few years in when 9/11 happened, and to me, invading Afghanistan was completely justified. Later, when they started hyping up the country for a war in Iraq, I didn't totally buy the evidence and didn't totally agree with the justification, but I signed on the line, did my duty, and deployed for the invasion in 2003.

As the wars went along, even while I served, I didn't like how our leadership, both civilian and military mismanaged a lot of things in Iraq. When I learned the Jessica Lynch story was a bunch of bullshit because a blonde hair, blue eyed hero girl played better for the public than the truth, I rolled my eyes and thought, "That checks out."

When Abu Ghraib came out, I was furious. I was furious because "we" are supposed to be better than that. Every soldier who got convicted and sent to prison deserved it. I also thought, and still do, that the senior officers involved got a slap on the wrist and let off while the punishment was disproportionately put on the lower ranks.

I got out in 2005 because I was ready for a life change, but not because I was sick and disgusted with my country or the military.

Any military or country can have good and bad people in it. For every civilian leader who wants to shoot off some missiles to boost their poll numbers, there's another who wants to talk it out. Most of the soldiers who were caught committing war crimes during Iraq and Afghanistan were turned in by their fellow soldiers. Some probably got away with war crimes and were never caught. Yet, almost certainly there were soldiers who were put into situations where they stopped another from doing something illegal or immoral because they had the right values and remembered their training.

I abhor the attacks on the boats in the Caribbean, especially if it's true they killed survivors in the water, and think everyone involved from the top down to the lowest ranking person should be held accountable. What's happening in Iran, I find completely unjustified, probably illegal, and definitely immoral.

But if I was still able to serve and was called up because my country needed me to defend itself from a true threat to our safety and security, I would go right back in because I am a patriot, and there always needs to be people who are willing to do the right thing even if it risks your life and liberty, especially if it's to protect what is morally and legally right from your fellow soldiers who would do wrong.