"My children are in the service"

[GSCole]

The reference might be to a specific branch of the U.S. armed forces,
but my experience has been with folk who know little of whatever branch
of the service.  Also, in a region where most of those who join 'the
service' tend to join a particular branch of the service, it might be
taken as a given that the person is in the Army or Marines or one of the
other branches.

Recently, I called and asked a colleague about her son's military work,
after someone had mentioned that her son was in Korea.   I was told that
he was still in Korea, and my colleague didn't think that he was in the
DMZ, but he worked on vehicles, such as jeeps and trucks.  An additional
question revealed that he'd joined the Army.  He'd been in Korea for at
least a year, but the family didn't have a lot of details about his
work.  My presumption is that he worked in an Army motor pool, near
Seoul.

George Cole   gscole at ark.ship.edu
Shippensburg University