Yeah, September 11 happened and all my friends were like, 'Let's join the military!' and I was the only one who actually did.

September 11 happened, and all my friends were like, 'Let's join the military!' and I was the only one who actually did.

When I happened to get into school, I felt like I could approach it as aggressively as things in the military.

As a child, I used 'gay' as a bad word, as in, 'That's so gay.' All my friends did.

I was having an argument with my stepfather, and he was like, 'Why don't you join the Marine Corps?' And I was like, 'Noooo! Well, maybe, actually... ' I went and saw the recruiter, who was like, 'Are you on the run from the cops? Because we've never had someone want to leave so fast.'

In the military, you learn the essence of people. You see so many examples of self-sacrifice and moral courage. In the rest of life, you don't get that many opportunities to be sure of your friends.