In 1956 when I was 8 years old my grandmother from Texas gave me a .22 rifle and bullets to keep in my bedroom

 For an 8 year old this was a very great honor. It meant that my family trusted me to protect the family just like children had been asked to do for at least 400 years here in America. Not all children were given guns because they couldn't be trusted. But, when you were given a gun you were expected to behave like an adult and the adults around you considered you to be a young adult and ready to die protecting your family then just like it was for hundreds of years into the past. But, this all began to change with the Viet Nam War were children began to be infantalized (made younger than they needed to be) so in some ways now children don't ever grow up even if they are 25 or 30. So, in some ways I was more mature at age 4 to 8 years old than people I meet now at 25 or 30 and more ready to die defending my family at age 8 than they are at 25 or 30 years of age here in the U.S.