Remembering other kinds of loss. When I was little, there was a man in our church who I thought was a nice guy, likable. My parents I heard talking about him like there was something wrong with him. I asked, and they said that going to basic training had broken him and now he couldn't make any decisions at all. He had to be told what to do at all times.

His parents were getting older and were worried.

I don't know what happened in the long run.

I mean, the point of basic training is learning to follow orders, and I guess he lost everything else. He was really pleasant to be around.