Life woulda/coulda/shoulda been different

I just received an advertisement in the mail for the Army National Guard:

THE MOST IMPORTANT WEAPON IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM.
YOU.

Opening it, I read the following:

CITIZEN. WARRIOR. DEFENDER OF FREEDOM.
Your country needs you. ...Now is the right time to stand up and be counted. The men and women of the Army National Guard invite you to join their elite fighting team.
etc.

It's a nice, slick advertisement. I've never been averse to offering my service to my country, but I've never been able to before (details below). So for the third time in my life, I called a recruiter.

For the third time in my life, I came up against the same brick wall: I have asthma, and asthma disqualifies one from military service.

For the record, my previous attempts at volunteering were in:

• 1988, when I succeeded in winning an Army ROTC scholarship, but later received a letter informing me that my asthma disqualified me from service (I saved the certificate, however);
• 1990, after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

I've reflected at times on how my life would have been different, had my health not precluded a career in the military. I tend to thrive in structured, disciplined environments, and I don't do so well when I don't have structure around me.

I really have no idea how my life would have ended up. I don't fantasize about it or anything, and I suppose I should thank God for it, since this is obviously a part of his plan. A strong melancholy affects me nevertheless when I think about how I would gladly have served my country, whereas a large number of people I know proclaim loudly that, if the government reinstates a draft, they will move to Canada.