I guess every 3 months my son plans on giving me a heart attack

[MissMillie]

He's back to thinking about joining the military immediately after high school, and I'm thinking I may kidnap him to Mexico and then burn his passport so that he can't come back home.

I've got an email in to someone from Veterans for Peace. Honestly, these kids (actually my son, the young man who lives w/ us, and their friend) believe that the recruiter can promise them where they'll end up and what job they'll end up doing. And they think that if they end up not getting what they signed up for that their contract w/ the U.S. government is null and void.

I thought that at least my son was going to go to college for 3 years and then apply to OCS, but now he's saying he doesn't want to wait that long.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Oh good grief, my dear MissMillie.........

Sure the recruiter can say those things, but there's no way those promises will be kept.....

And of course, there is NO WAY IN HELL that the contract will be null and void......

Kidnapping your son sounds like a very good idea to me........


:wtf:

[GCP]

2. Recruiters lie through their teeth

Ask DS1, and there's a great Vanity Fair article in this month's or last month's edition, telling about what stress the recruiters are under and what they'll tell the kids to get their quota for the month, eg "you've got a heart murmur? Have you ever heard it?"

[ismnotwasm]

3. Tell him my daughter

Who would have had 12 years in (has 8) , is now getting out because the army LIED, and broke her reenlistment contract. She just got back from Afghanistan a few months ago and the way it looks now, can redeploy her unit to Iraq within 6 months. There are desperate and full of shit.
My dear little convenience grocery store clerk friend from Korea, is now in California with her son who was shot twice near the heart. (He's going to be ok!)
Tell him now is not the time. They are liars.

[DawgHouse]

4. Those recruiters are persistent.

Marines call my son about twice a month. They called again tonight. He keeps telling them that he is not interested. At first, he was polite but now he just goes off on the recruiters when they call. They don't care, though. They just keep calling.

Sorry I can't offer any advice. It must be awful to have one who is thinking about joining. :(

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. What about the

Do Not Call Registry? Can you complain to them about the calls? Wouldn't that be great?

[DawgHouse]

8. That's what's weird. I am on the Do Not Call Registry.

And my phone number is unlisted. They got the phone number from his high school TWO years ago when he was a senior. They've been chasing him for a few years.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Kids are born to kill us, don't forget that

But, in the meantime, get him a copy of this absolutely brilliant (and very readable) book: "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account Of The War In Iraq," by John Crawford.

And, if he has any questions after that, I can put him in touch with my friend's 20 year old son, who was assured by the recruiters that he'd be all right with finishing college, and that they'd never let him get sent to Iraq.

He was in his freshman year when he was called up and he's now just coming to the end of six months of what is to be (at least) a two-year stint in Iraq. He will probably never be the same, and his rage will never subside.

Your son wants no part of the military. Not now.

[6000eliot]

7. That's what they told my nephew

and as soon as he finished training, he went straight to Iraq.

[bigwillq]

9. Take him to an anti-war rally

Let him hear it from veterans or moms and dads who lost their children. I think that would change his mind. I'm hoping it would change his mind.

[NewJeffCT]

10. back when I was in high school in the mid 80s

I graduated in 1985. A guy I knew pretty well that graduated in '86(he married the girl that lived next door to me growing up) was told by an army recruiter that he would have his choice of where he would be stationed...so, he chose Hawaii, and then a couple of other locations you'd expect an 18 year old male to choose. I'm guessing that choice 2 was like southern California, and 3 was like Florida. He ended up stationed in Montana. When he asked about it, he was told "welcome to the real world."

This was when the army was not desperate, mind you!

another friend of mine was having trouble coming up with college money, so he joined the army reserves. he was told that it would not interfere with his schooling and was promised a pretty good bonus for signing up. However, the first summer he went in for training, they would not let him out until mid September, 2-3 weeks after school had already started. So, he had to miss the whole semester. On top of that, they only paid him a small amount of his enlistment bonus, since he had only completed a small amount of his tenure in the army. Later on, his army unit was canceled by something like BRAC. So, he was transfered to the National Guard. However, the army then DEMANDED that he pay his full bonus back because he hadn't completed his enlistment in that particular unit. Luckily, this guy is fanatical about keeping his receipts and he was able to get a letter from our local Congresswoman in support, and he managed to not have to pay back his bonus. But, it was still a pain in the ass.

And, again, this was in the mid to late 80s when he had signed up.