With Father’s Day approaching, we are in need of clarifying how the role of dads in the past and present can prepare us for developing the best dads for our children’s future.

Historically, each generation had its war. In each generation, a boy received “social bribes” such as being considered a “hero” if he risked dying so others could live. He soon absorbed that if he risked being disposable, his parents would be proud and that girls were more attracted to an “Officer and a Gentleman” than a “Private and a Pacifist.” Serving either in war, or as his family’s sole breadwinner, gave a boy his mandate for manhood — his “sense of purpose” as a man.