Military life lessons

The following editorial appeared in the Hartford Courant. O n Veterans Day, let us thank the military for teaching millions of men and women how to, in the words of J.D. Vance, “live like an adult.”

Anyone who’s had the fortune to read the fascinating “Hillbilly Elegy” knows the part the Marine Corps played in the life of the author, who grew up in a devastated town in Rust Belt Ohio and eventually, against the odds, made it to Yale Law School.

The Marine Corps taught him not just to cut his hair, iron his clothes and run every day. “I took mandatory classes about balancing a checkbook, saving and investing,” he wrote. “When I came home from boot camp with my $1,500 earnings deposited in a mediocre regional bank, a senior enlisted marine drove me to Navy Federal — a respected credit union — and had me open an account.”

When it came to buying a car, his boss “sent an older Marine to supervise as I shopped for my first car so that I’d end up with a practical car ...

“When I nearly agreed to finance that purchase directly through the car dealership with a 21-percent interest-rate loan, my chaperone blew a gasket and ordered me to call Navy Fed and get a second quote (it was less than half the interest). I had no idea that people did these things . ...

“The Marine Corps demanded that I think strategically about these decisions, and then it taught me how to do so.”

Americans love veterans and rightly honor their sacrifices on this day. Let’s not forget the service that the military performs as (in Mr. Vance’s words, again) “the most significant social institution in our country,” one that provides the housing, jobs and especially the life lessons that that so many young people lack.

So thank you, veterans, for your service. And thank you, military, for yours.