‘Not everyone is cut out to be in the military’

[wallybarron]

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2005022632

[Sir Craig]

1. It took me almost 19 years to realize the truth of that statement...

First I would like to give kudos to Jessica Lynch for being among the first to support the scholarship made in this young recruit's memory.

Now to explain what I meant in the heading: I've been in the military for better than 20 years, and I recall being the young, gung-ho ate up type that you would believe was your typical recruit material, and for a while I was: I would tear up at any mention of flag and country and knew all the words to "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.

The physical demands for me weren't all that great: I was still young, had been involved in sports during my high school and early college years, and really it was more trying to get past the psychological aspects. But I stuck it out and became a full-fledged member of the military.

And then reality kicked in. The longer I stayed in the military, the more I saw and experienced. Soon I started getting less misty eyed whenever I saw "Old Glory," and realized that it was nothing more than a piece of cloth utilized either as a symbol for what America stands for, or more commonly as some kind of club to beat people over the head to keep them from questioning authority. More and more I began to see the military as an extension of that club, and heaven forbid you should ever have a contrary opinion to those of your "superiors."

In the last 19 years, I have grown tired of the bullshit that the military has come to represent. Many have asked me why I stayed in, if I disliked it so: if not for love of God, flag, and apple pie, then why? The answer is shamefully easy: I was more afraid of the uncertainties of the outside world, having gone into the military originally because Ronnie Raygun's America was not what you would call a boon for job seekers. That fear kept me in, until now, some 20+ years later, I am ready to retire.

I have done my job honorably, and deep down I knew that if it ever came to pass that I would be willing to lay down my life in defense of my family and friends, but that is not what the military is anymore. We have become an extension of the neocons' greed and lust for power, and I no longer have it in me to keep up this facade that we are simply "protecting America" by pre-emptively invading countries that posed no real threat to us, now or anytime in the conceivable future.

I cannot imagine the tortured feelings of this young recruit's family, especially after the letters. That he discovered rapidly what it took me years to realize is one thing, but to know that the realization still came too late for him is something else entirely.

Deep down I hope they hang the Marine bastards that felt the need to push this poor kid beyond his endurance, all for the sake of promoting and encouraging the "rough and tough" image of the Corps.

[idiosyncratic]

2. Thank you for your service and for your honesty about your feelings

If only more people in the military would come to this realization.

[HockeyMom]

3. Kid down the street

is at the same boot camp. Little history on him. All his life he wanted to be a policeman. However, in NY it is required to have at least 60 college credits to join the force; OR, 4 years in the MILITARY. The kid tried college but flunked out after just one semester. So, he thought he would enlist in the Army. He didn't pass the physical since he was 15 lbs. underweight. Army recruiter told him to gain at least 10 lbs and come back. Months went by. He only gained 5 lbs. The recruiter contacted him and said he would give him a job as a RECRUITER while he tried to gain the extra weight. HE DIDN'T. To our complete shock, we learned he was accepted by the MARINES, still being 10 lbs underweight by Army requirements. Within a matter of 2 WEEKS, he was sent to boot camp.

OK, so maybe he got a lot of new recruits for them? Is that how they took him being so underweight? BUT just as that drowning indicates, are they putting these poor boys (19 year olds) at risk because they are so desperate for bodies? I worry A LOT about that kid down the street. Nice kid, I hope he makes it through this.

[AndyTiedye]

4. That Is Why The DRAFT Is Such a Bad Idea

and cutting the safety net out from under the poor
to try to force them into the military sucks too.

Not to mention the abundance of false advertising by the recruiters.
They probably told him they'd "make a man out of him".
They made a dead man out of him. :grr: