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MikeyChalupa · 09-19-2004, 06:44 AM

Gotta add this too.

The tone of the quoted artice was obviously anti-draft as well as anti-Bush slanted. Mentioning Bush and Cheney's draft exemptions while completely failing to mention Clinton's was pretty slick but I think most of us noticed his name was missing. The article takes the position that re-instating the draft is bad, but more than that, it leads the reader to conclude that military service is bad too.

The fact of the matter is, the military has always been an unpopular segment of our society. Even after 9/11 when wearing the uniform was all of a sudden "cool" and got you free taxi rides or drinks for about a week. Those who have never served will never really understand what it's like. They just assume it sucks because you could get killed and you have to get a haircut. It's a definite possibility. But you could just as easily get killed as a policeman or firefighter (two other groups that became "cool" overnight) or working the midnight shift at 7-11. And honestly, there are days I wish I had never enlisted. As I'm sure the two Airmen who replied to this thread have too. But for every one of those, there are years of experiences I'd never give up, friends I've made, and skills I've learned that will last a lifetime. And after nine years, I haven't gotten killed once. People die in wars. People die in peace time too. Accidents kill more servicemen than Iraqis do. Anyone who enlists for the college money without that thought in their head shouldn't have enlisted in the first place. You have to understand that you are signing up for a job that you can't quit, will make you follow rules that the rest of America doesn't have to follow, make you leave your family behind for months or years while you go somewhere that people at best, don't like you there, or at worst, are trying to kill you. When you get home, you might find out that there are those whose rights you fought for don't appreciate or even understand why you do it.

The funny part is, as one of my CO's said while watching an anti-war protest, "It's not us that our enemies hate. It's those people."

-Mikey

09-19-2004, 06:44 AM	#54 (permalink)
MikeyChalupa Squid Location: USS George Washington	Gotta add this too. The tone of the quoted artice was obviously anti-draft as well as anti-Bush slanted. Mentioning Bush and Cheney's draft exemptions while completely failing to mention Clinton's was pretty slick but I think most of us noticed his name was missing. The article takes the position that re-instating the draft is bad, but more than that, it leads the reader to conclude that military service is bad too. The fact of the matter is, the military has always been an unpopular segment of our society. Even after 9/11 when wearing the uniform was all of a sudden "cool" and got you free taxi rides or drinks for about a week. Those who have never served will never really understand what it's like. They just assume it sucks because you could get killed and you have to get a haircut. It's a definite possibility. But you could just as easily get killed as a policeman or firefighter (two other groups that became "cool" overnight) or working the midnight shift at 7-11. And honestly, there are days I wish I had never enlisted. As I'm sure the two Airmen who replied to this thread have too. But for every one of those, there are years of experiences I'd never give up, friends I've made, and skills I've learned that will last a lifetime. And after nine years, I haven't gotten killed once. People die in wars. People die in peace time too. Accidents kill more servicemen than Iraqis do. Anyone who enlists for the college money without that thought in their head shouldn't have enlisted in the first place. You have to understand that you are signing up for a job that you can't quit, will make you follow rules that the rest of America doesn't have to follow, make you leave your family behind for months or years while you go somewhere that people at best, don't like you there, or at worst, are trying to kill you. When you get home, you might find out that there are those whose rights you fought for don't appreciate or even understand why you do it. The funny part is, as one of my CO's said while watching an anti-war protest, "It's not us that our enemies hate. It's those people." -Mikey Last edited by MikeyChalupa; 09-19-2004 at 06:48 AM..