One thing I forgot to put in my original post that says much about the kind of boy we raised is this. He came home from school on 9/11/2001, and one of the first questions he asked me was how old did he have to be to join to fight those bas###ds (first time I ever heard him swear).If he wants to fight, I recommend going into the infantry for Marines...Sounds like you have a great kid, I bet he'd make a good officer in whatever branch he decides to join.
He has been checking into the Marines --- that's why I was surprised when the Coast Guard came up because he had made no mention of it at all.
He is a good kid -- sometimes I swear I don't know how that happened !!!