Jeri wrote:
I think those who have never been in the military tend to believe things about the military based [on] stuff they've heard.

Indeed. I remember when I saw the (brilliantly crafted, but very manipulative) film American Beauty. At the very beginning the viewer is told that the protagonist will die, but not who kills him. But I guessed right away--correctly--who the murderer was. I thought it was the guy who was supposed to be the retired Marine officer, but the reason I thought he was the killer was that he was so completely different from anyone I'd ever met in the military that I figured he was obviously a psychotic murderer masquerading as a veteran. Of course, my mistake was that I didn't realize his "psychotically repressed-homosexual killer" personality was merely what the typical Hollywood writer/director/producer thinks is typical of high-ranking military officers. So I was right, but for the wrong reason.