quote:So what we've got here is a bunch of kids who either:
1) took a foolish risk to seek adventure, and paid the price, just like the guy who gets his chest caved in by a rodeo bull, or;
2) were so misinformed and misled that they thought they were fighting for "justice" and "freedom", and paid the price for that stupidity and gullibility, or;
3) people who thought it would be neat to tote a machine gun and "avenge" the USA for 9/11 by capping a few and , and paid the price for that stupidity, or;
4) people who thought that it would be a good way to pay for a college education, and paid a much higher price than college could ever have cost. For the record, I was hip enough to know that student loans and grants are easily obtained, and I survive to type this message equipped with a master's degree and my brain still in my head instead of splattered on some Baghdad highway alongside the wreckage of a poorly-armored troop transport. If these kids thought risking their lives to sack a country was the best ticket to a college education, I say to their grieving families: Pell Grants. Stafford Loans. Work studies.
I will grant you that those are all foolish reasons to join the military. However, those aren't the only reasons.
Tradition. There are families that have had people that have served from the the American Revolution until now.
Patriotism. They love their country, and would be more than willing to kill or die to defend it.
Debt. This one you most surely will not get. There are those that feel that pell grants, loans, welfare programs, and the rest, should all be repaid. Not everyone thinks they should take but not give back. True, there are other ways to repay those debts, serving one's country is nothing to be ashamed of.