Would you Encourage or Discourage your Child to Enlist?

[Thalassamania]

I think the military is better by being an all volunteer force. but there is still the question of whether a draft would be better for society & cause them to make better decisions?

Well, we had the draft all the way through Viet Nam. Based on that history, I'd have to conclude that I don't think so. I dunno, I could be wrong about that. I was too young during those years to be able to evaluate it with any competency based on my personal observations & experiences.

Having a draft was the only unifying force to get us out of Vietnam. The lack of a draft today is what permits the bizarre amount of attention to be focused on trivia rather than on the war.

Without a draft the American public has more of a stake in TV shows and fake celebrities than it does in the men and women who are getting maimed and killed on a daily basis. I think about them often each day and I want them home where they belong as soon as possible. The answer to how do we get out of Iraq is the same as the answer was to how do we get out of Vietnam … boats and planes, boats and planes.

 

[Thalassamania]

A rather thought provoking piece in the Washington Post.

 

[H2Andy]

jesus christ, talk about deja vu

 

[almitywife]

andy, are you going for a posting record today????

did i say that before??

 

[H2Andy]

i think you've said that before ...


at least twice

 

[saltydawg]

Yes, even though it could be hellish. Men have a role in society that many do not understand. Only warriors can give us the special bond of our still-tribal society. Many households have lost fathers, we will eventually lose our warriors, they are fewer and fewer with each passing year. To know a man that is willing to die for a belief, is primal.

Men who do not yearn for this should not be forced, but the ones that feel the calling are different, and we are lucky to know them.

Recently, a board member told me his combination of dread and pride for his sons. They heard the calling, and part of him was disappointed and yet he related to the need for these young men to carve out the experience that will test their limits and their beliefs more than most life experiences. I would send my son as mothers have sent thier sons for centuries. It is a right of passage.

couldn't have said it better, prior service U.S. Marine here



dog gonnitt you all got me with a dead thread,,, I should just step away and come back next month...these old ones poping up like this .....

 

[Blitz]

Holy dead thread, Batman!!!!