All My Friends are Ex-Armed Forces.

There’s a great difference between civilian life and military life. I don’t think it takes any more brains to be in one than the other. You find knuckleheads in both. You can do well or badly. People who are industrious generally do well in either. But of all the years I spent in industry, which was about the same length of time I spent in the navy ... I was thinking the other day, I don’t have a single friend that is close to me in all my industrial connections. And I’ve asked other people about it and they say the same thing - that you don’t make friends in civilian business. I think no matter what business you are in, whether it’s clothing or building airplanes or digging coal or whatever, you don’t seem to make friends. Now in the armed forces, it’s quite different. All my friends now are ex-armed forces, not only the navy but the army and the air force, as well. Some of us talk about this and they have the same experience, because almost all the … everybody who was in the armed forces ... you have to get out when you are quite young, so half your working life is going to be spent in civilian life and you’d think, therefore, half your friends ... it’s not so. So there’s a kind of bond that happens to people in the armed forces. And it isn’t all to do with risking your lives together. It’s a little more than that. You have a common purpose, which is a bit higher than making money. You know, I mean, you know why you are there. You’re there to do the best you can for your country, and you do. Otherwise, if you don’t, you wouldn’t be there. You can deplore the behaviour of people when you are in the armed forces and you can actually do something about it. As an example - and the armed forces do not put up with any kind of sleazy behaviour, I mean - if a sailor or an officer is found stealing things, he’s dead meat and they don’t shilly shally around, having some judge decide that you should have rehabilitation in a nice cushy place. He sets a detention and that’s it. So, you’re there. I know it sounds kind of trite, but you do have that feeling. And I think everybody in the armed forces has that feeling, or else they wouldn’t be there. I think there’s basically a different attitude towards things. You look at your country as something that you help build and protect.