Almost all of my family served, I have an 84 your old Uncle that has 2 Purple Hearts and 7 Bronze Stars from numerous landings in the Philippines. In his heyday, he was a man's man.
Both my boys served, with the oldest in an Airborne unit in Alaska (he has been out about ten years), and my youngest having just got out. He was a Sgt. in the 82nd Airborne, with one tour in Afghanistan, and 2 tours in Iraq. I am just a lowly retired Police Sgt. with SWAT and Tactical K9, but I'd like to think I made a difference.