Speaking only for myself, I tried to enlist three times; was rejected every time, and it darn near killed my old man (a one star with 40 years in). Have about 25db hearing loss in one ear and 40db in the other, a result of an infection when I was 3. Even tried cheating the hearing test, sitting next to someone with good hearing at the Oakland induction center (I scored top two tenths percentile on my ASVAB test). Wanted to fly helicopters and the Army was/is pretty much the only place to learn to do so (other services have choppers, but the Army has many many more.
I still think they made a mistake not taking me, but that’s how it goes.
I was lucky to be accepted in the Marines - nearsighted all to beat heck and I had a broken back from a motorcycle crash - but they took me anyway. The Marine Corps tended to accept volunteers readily and thinned out the less motivated through the strainer of boot camp.
I am certain you would have been a fine soldier - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In a sense, I'm happy you didn't get into uniform. I saw way too many good, motivated young guys with excellent potential killed. We have that wall covered with their names.