INTRODUCTION

A unique band of people is scattered throughout the United

States. They can be found in every major city, each suburb, and

the smallest towns. They are on the farm and in the shopping

mall, occupying every imaginable rung on the social ladder--

and a few that are unthinkable--from the boardroom to the

soup kitchen.

And though there are twenty-six million people in this

group, they re considered a special band of people by the general

public, by the government, and most especially, by themselves.

Of course, I m talking about the men and women who have

served their country in the military.

They have shared the mixture of excitement and dread

during those long nights before reporting for their first day of

training. They have experienced the indignities of boot camp

designed to change them from civilians into members of the

armed forces. And together they have known the hardships of

moves and separations from loved ones, the bafflement of fit-

ting into strange new environments, and the fear of realizing

that if troops must take to the field anywhere in the world to

protect the security or interests of the United States, they re

the ones who will go.

when the day came to take off their uniforms, they

assumed a new, special status, one that set them apart from