I can definitely confirm that it is a real thing. I had girls flat out turn me down for dates because they knew I had come home early. Pressure from family was the worst but even my (very serious) girlfriend at the time broke things off. “I’m afraid you might freak out later in life” was her reasoning.

Many people are great and non-judgmental... but it’s SUPER rough coming home early. Even non-assuming people make it tough because the question aaaaalways comes up in casual conversation. “So where did you serve?” “How long ago did you come home?” “You say you served in ______? that’s strange - didn’t you just turn 20?”

Basically what I’m saying is that it sucks to come home early when you live in Utah.