-a job with risks, rewards, and reasonable compensation -not intrinsically more patriotic than a variety of other jobs (although the culture is designed to make you think it is) -I have contributed far more to America outside of service than I did inside it -I left service convinced that patriotism is not really a value worth caring about. It is like "team membership" like being a Yankees fan.

I guess to me patriotism isn't telling everyone else how much better you are than other countries, it's constantly reminding yourself how much better your country can be, and striving to make it happen. Don't need to be in the military to do that, and sometimes going into the military might be counter productive to that goal.