----- in retrospect. I should have really answered: "because I want it bad enough". Honestly, I don't think I will know what I'm truly in this for until I'm in training or even an operator.

I'm also on Base Honor Guard and I think that's the closest experience I have in which I could possibly derive an answer to all too familiar question: "why do you do it?" Well, when I'm at a funeral folding and presenting the flag to the next of kin I ask myself the same question. And As I'm giving the presentation speech to the family I realize that I'm there to Honor a lost Brother or Sister.

I don't want to become a PJ to be a hero. Don't get me wrong. I fully understand how even the most honorable of jobs can be one of the most thankless.

I don't want this strictly because I "want to serve my country".

I want this because I owe it to myself to earn the very thing I represent every time I fire a volley during a 21 gun salute. I want honor.

But, that's all talk. Actions speak louder than words.