In the military the goon squad were tasked with cleaning up the mine field before sending in the combat soldiers. The goon squad was usually made up from soldiers with less intellectual endowment than the rest, hence they were expendable.
So we find the narrator telling his parents, possibly writing an archetypal letter from his military life, about the illustruous career he could have made, but that in fact his command is more like a sentence to death. He could have been a major, or a corporal or a general manager (had he gone into corporate life), instead he grew up "too soon" to find out, that rather than have a great career, or being patted on the back as some are, or even rather than being punished by the rod, his punishment is much worse, he's been put in the goon squad. So when they've looked him over and given him the eye, he's been selected for the goon squad, which once they're called into action, leads to an almost certain death.
In the military the goon squad were tasked with cleaning up the mine field before sending in the combat soldiers. The goon squad was usually made up from soldiers with less intellectual endowment than the rest, hence they were expendable.
So we find the narrator telling his parents, possibly writing an archetypal letter from his military life, about the illustruous career he could have made, but that in fact his command is more like a sentence to death. He could have been a major, or a corporal or a general manager (had he gone into corporate life), instead he grew up "too soon" to find out, that rather than have a great career, or being patted on the back as some are, or even rather than being punished by the rod, his punishment is much worse, he's been put in the goon squad. So when they've looked him over and given him the eye, he's been selected for the goon squad, which once they're called into action, leads to an almost certain death.