Because they're dumb. Going through boot camp, you constantly heard "Don't get married." What do dudes do? Get married to the first girl they meet when they arrive at their duty station (after they buy a truck obviously). They then deploy, workup is three months, home for a few, then seven months in country. And meanwhile your wife is at home, you've known her for a cup of coffee, and she's like "Shit, I don't know how to be alone."
In the CSI episode Ellie, The eponymous Ellie Brass is caught up in a situation, and Warrick is sent to work his forensic magic. In the end, after dealing with Ellie's attitude throughout, Brass tells Warrick Ellie is the result of an affair, but she doesn't know, and believs Brass is her bio-dad.
Ellie was a popular episode, so the character became recurring.
With the population so high, I'm personally not desperate to see my genes perpetuated. It was drilled into me that having kids in poverty is a really bad idea, also I never thought I'd be a good dad (though I get to do dad stuff for my adult stepdaughters and grandpa stuff for their kids so it goes.) For most of my life having kids was off my agenda.
Granted, my wife and I would still have to sort out matters of the affair. If relationship exclusivity was betrayed or communication was lacking, she and I would have to sort that out.
And yet If we were in a position to raise children, then it wouldn't matter to me if the genes were mine or someone else's. I would still be a dad or at least a participatory adult involved in raising them. They'd grow up with my values and be witting and deliberate when they rejected them.
Of course I'm mad enough to be a regular at the March Hare's tea room (🐰🎩🫖☕️) so hopefully I wouldn't inflict that on them too much.
It's funny because it makes fun of "Wholesome" stories which were prominent at some point (Still are on FB). Even if it was all about his girlfriend cheating, it's still simply using the soldier as the butt of the joke with no deeper meaning.
The only thing wrong with this meme is how old it is (IMO).
Yeah, it's actually legit fucking insane. I've been deployed 3 times, and the amount of infidelity I witnessed from both spouses, every time, was...something to behold. The first time I went I naively thought people were blowing the rate out of proportion before I got there but it was like...so many people.
Like I get that military life is difficult, most people get married hella young so the partners can stay together, and then deployments happen. Deployments happen right after one spouse uproots their entire lives to move halfway across the world with no support system. It still sucks to see because once it all comes out, it tears families apart every time.