A new recruit: My sister

[BeTheChange]

I always knew I had a half sister, but my paternal father was a jackass and I hadnt spoken to him since shortly after her birth. I was 12. All I knew was her mother's name and I resolved to find her some day, when I was older.

Fastforward 16 years. I tracked down her mom in El Paso. Her name is very unique and Im so lucky she was listed. The internet is a miracle that way.

So, Ive spent the last couple of months catching up. She is beautiful and funny, and very sweet. Im so glad that she is in imy life.

My little sister is 16 years old and she has already signed up for the national guard. They started coming to her schools in El Paso right after Sept 11th. So when she was twelve she got involved with ROTC. Evidently at 16 you can sign a non binding commitment if your parents will sign the papers too. That means at 17 your parents have basically emancipated you and given you the decision to join the military. I dont know what kind of parent signs something like that. I guess one who had never taken her child more then 100 miles from El Paso and understood why she would want to get out.

I have one year to get through to her. At first, she was supposed to join the Navy and they have told her that she can go to any school she wants to and then come in in a few years as an officer. But now the plan has tweaked just a little. They "helped" her see that it would be good for her to get some National Guard "experience" before the Navy. National Guard means she is going to be deployed to whatever cannon fodder designanted area there is and she will never see the doors of a college until they have sucked her dry, or killed her.

She has a great relationship with her recruiter. What a cruel joke that is. It reminds me of those commercials where the insurance agent goes to your kid's baseball games and crap. Male role models for children with horrible male role models come in and steal children away. It is criminal.

I can't bear to think what it must take to deal in human souls.

[Mythsaje]

1. One of my co-workers,

a Polish immigrant, is strongly considering signing up for the Air Force reserves in the next year or so. I haven't tried to talk her out of it. It's not my place--she knows what she's doing. I limit myself to tiny tidbits of political talk in the group. Nothing terribly overt, but little snarkisms and bits of real information. I'm not out to convert anyone, just make them think things over.

At least in the Air Force she's not likely to be used as cannon fodder. She's unhappy about having to give up her Polish passport.

[noamnety]

2. Have you had her look at an enlistment contract yet?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x990783

[Divernan]

3. Try to persuade her to "defer" signing up for at least a year.

I did this with my kid (also with an absentee Dad) whose male role model was a local youth minister. She was bound and determined to go to theological seminary. I told her she was too young to make that decision because it was so limiting. Pointed out that her whole life she would need a basic college degree to fall back on, or as entry to graduate school, etc. Told her I believed this so strongly, that while I would make every effort to support her for four years of college, I would not provide one penny of support for the theological seminary. I suggested that she could major in psychology or social work or some area which would make her a BETTER minister should she then decide to pursue that occupation.

Can you get your sister up to visit you in Washington for the summer? Once she's with you, you can have much more influence and she'll be away from that lying, manipulating recruiter - may he burn in hell for pushing naive youngsters into the national guard when he knows damn well they'll end up in the hell of Iraq or Afghanistan.

You could send her Michael Moore's movie, but the recruiter would probably tell her not to watch it, and then would alienate her toward you. The same if you send her a lot of articles re that people are being held in the National Guard long past their expected tours/enlistments. That recruiter will turn her against you if it's the last thing he does.

[BeTheChange]

4. Not sure..

I think I could get her up here next summer. Im doubting her mom would be all about sending her all the way up here when we have only been talking for 2 months. That would still be before she signed the final papers.

I also thought about taking her somewhere special.

I asked the kid where she really wants to go, besides to come visit me....
Corpus Christi

I know TX is a big state but, wow. They could sell her anything if they promised to let her see the world.

[JHB]

5. 2 points to try to pry open

1) Keep reminding her this recruiter isn't in charge. If he's got her so charmed that attacking his integrity will bounce off, point out how low on the totem pole he is. When she's a thousand miles from home being ordered to do some things when her recruiter told her she'd be able to do something else, what will she do? No matter how swell she thinks he is, he can't do jack after she signs on.

2) Make sure she talks to other people, ESPECIALLY college ROTC people and real officers. They probably won't point her away from service, but hopefully they will open her eyes to the bait&switch her receuiter is trying to pull.