Colonel and Eric in “Holy War (2)”

How do you think I felt when you rejected the Marines?

Eric

I didn't reject the Marines. I...

Chose a different path? Took a different road? When you came to me and said you were not going to enlist in the Marine Corps and indeed had already enrolled in Seminary, I felt you were rejecting me and my whole way of life. At that time, that was unbearable. And then I realized that you weren't rejecting the Marines or me. You were choosing something else, following your own heart, as is Matt. Matt may leave your house, Eric, and he may leave your church, but he can never leave behind what you taught him. What makes him, him is you. You raised him. He'll always be your son, and as long as he goes out into the world and does some good, does it really make any difference whether he's Christian or Jewish, as long as he's still Matt? That, I eventually had to realize about you. You may not be a Marine, but by heaven, you are my son, and up until now, you've always done the right thing and made me proud. Do the right thing, and make me proud.