You did it right Dave. You walked the higher road. Let them know how you felt. Donated anyway. Opened their eyes to the double standard. You did right to honor your mother.
Brotherhood. The 9mo of training I had really had a major impact on my life. I came back and the Guard guys were. . . Not high speed. I missed my calling by staying guard. My folks initially talked me out of 2yr or 4yrs of active duty. Did Basic and AIT. Came back. Got a good job. Started college. Met a girl. At that point, I wasn't going active duty. In the 9.5yrs of guard I held myself to a high standard. Was generally drawn to newer guys in the guard who just came off active duty. Really missed the boat by not going active.
Even so, when I left the guard. . . .Something was missing. I pretty much had immediately joined the local volunteer fire department. Spent a solid 12yrs doing this. Very similar brotherhood there. If you guys are missing some of this feeling, maybe the volunteer FD is the place for you. I should add that the FD I joined was a combination full time/volunteer dept. I later joined a second department (ran on both at same time). Second dept was all volunteer. There is a MAJOR difference in "some" departments. The all volunteer dept I was in was sort of like the guard compared to active duty.
Brotherhood. The 9mo of training I had really had a major impact on my life. I came back and the Guard guys were. . . Not high speed. I missed my calling by staying guard. My folks initially talked me out of 2yr or 4yrs of active duty. Did Basic and AIT. Came back. Got a good job. Started college. Met a girl. At that point, I wasn't going active duty. In the 9.5yrs of guard I held myself to a high standard. Was generally drawn to newer guys in the guard who just came off active duty. Really missed the boat by not going active.
Even so, when I left the guard. . . .Something was missing. I pretty much had immediately joined the local volunteer fire department. Spent a solid 12yrs doing this. Very similar brotherhood there. If you guys are missing some of this feeling, maybe the volunteer FD is the place for you. I should add that the FD I joined was a combination full time/volunteer dept. I later joined a second department (ran on both at same time). Second dept was all volunteer. There is a MAJOR difference in "some" departments. The all volunteer dept I was in was sort of like the guard compared to active duty.
