Posted: 9/11/2008 8:51:37 PM EDT
|
My last post got locked before I had a chance to clarify. An active duty service member posted on a different website that every college student who is not serving is a coward. The post was not addressed towards me, but as a comment on a college newspaper article on where students were on 9/11 and what memories they had. "Why are you at college and not on the front lines defending our Nation from the terrorists? Are you secretly breathing easier because the slower or poorer kids are facing the fire while you party and lament on why you can't drink underage while you could die for your country? Were is the courage you all claim you have. I am sure you are all glad it was Bush who was President on September 11 2003 rather than Al Gore the inventor of the Internet. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. Courage is not a common virtue with the youth of America." I'll assume he meant 2001. I'm a college student. I was considering enlisting or at least going National Guard before college. My vision is very poor, and I did not understand at that time that it is possible to get a waiver for it, or get surgery, wait a while, and then possibly get a waiver. At least that is my understanding now. I'm about 3/4 through school, and I am thinking about the National Guard after I graduate. I am also considering a civilian job with the Navy after graduation. I am not trolling, I have had a team membership in the past, as well as doing several transactions in the EE. The reason for my post is that sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough for my country. I do some volunteer work, and hope to do more in the future that can have a larger impact. I am very thankful for those who do serve. I believe his comments reflect poorly on himself and the military, who maintain a reputation of professionalism. I know the vast majority of service members do not share his views. I don't put too much thought into what some anonymous guy says, it just made me reflect on what I am doing with my life (not that it is bad, I am doing quite well, just thinking of different options). Again, sorry I did not clarify in the original post. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=756300 |
I think is a mich better way of asking - the back info helps.  As for the guy who originally posted that, he's got to be some form of miswired. I never served. But I can say that the section in red makes me question the ligitamy of the poster - I NEVER considered those who serve as stupid or slow. Many of those who I have known that have served are nice, extreamely intelligent people. I don't think I am a coward for not serving, and I don't think him saying everyone should serve is really justifiable. My brother never served, he is an uncontrollable epileptic - he has 3-4 seizures a month. |
"
This was written by a left-leaning moonbat with no actual experience with the men and women of the armed forces. I've got a bit of experience with them, and they are - from top to bottom - the absolute finest group of people this nation has ever put out. Smart, tough, patriotic, everything. Ain't nothing 'slower' about them. And there sure as fuck is nothing 'poorer' about them. I know service members from projects and I know service members from Ivy League schools and multi-million dollar families. Income has nothing to do with service. Some people want to serve their country. Unlike the dumb fuck you mentioned. Pay him no attention, he knows not of what he speaks. That last line is so retarded it isn't worth comment. |
|
Cowards? No way, no how. Some feel the need to serve, I did, and some don't. The military is not for everyone, and there are many other ways to serve this great nation. I do not look down on anyone who has not served. If everyone did how could we be "The Few, The Proud" 
|
no, those of ya'll not serving aren't cowards, and those of us serving aren't some breed of super brave or special human... some of us joined for lack of direction, some because courts told them to, others joined to try it out for a while, others to serve their country... I was raised a poor kid but that had no impact on me going to the .mil, I had every chance to get scholarships and free money for an education... I tried it a semester and it wasnt for me (meanwhile I have an intermediate algebra book and homework in front of me 8 years later  ). I have the utmost respect for those going to college and going somewhere in life... I want you to keep it up because the country I fight for needs good leaders with integrity and morals that arent something just found in military (like some seem to think).I have served with those who grew up poorer than I and many who have grown up filthy rich and extremely intelligent. I joined to serve my country, pay back the debt I felt I owed to my family who has fought before me, as well as all those who have helped secured my freedom.. I also joined for direction in my life. I stayed in to feed a wife and new son. you guys in the civilian side are no different from me, your work is just as challenging as mine.. you just dont have to run from mean ass spiders or get screamed at by some idiot with a power trip... ETA: this kid is probably a new boot that is still cock hard from basic... he'll grow up or his older co-workers will educate him. tell him SSgt Martz says to STFU |
| I served in the Air Force, but have also been a Police Officer for the past 13 years. I have worked with many officers over the years, whom have had my and others backs in some pretty nasty situations. Alot of these people, both male and female didn't serve in the military, but were there when the crap hit the fan, and in no way would I ever call them cowards! These kinds of questions really annoy me!! |
|
Hook, line, and sinker. Somebody call Bill Dance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=389VS8InoZ4 |
|
I'm in the same boat as you. Except my conditions are permanent, untreatable and non-waiverable in nature. The person who wrote that is most likely not an actual .mil member. In any case, whomever said that is definitely someone who does not know of what they speak. The "every college student is a coward" argument only held water back during the Vietnam era when we had the draft and people would go to college just to avoid service. If you ask me, the real cowards are those who join the military for the benefits but then try to get out of deploying when their name is called. We have an all-volunteer military and pretty much everyone with any knowledge of how the .mil does business wants to keep it that way. Lots of people who go to college would be otherwise unfit for military service. Putting a guy into a uniform who is unfit for service or who just plain doesn't want to be there is a good way to ensure mission failure. |
| I am a coward because when I was in my 20s I thought that my country would be better served if I got a good job, paid my taxes, and help deveop technology that might save or improve lives both civilian and military (mostly at the advice of my father, who had a 25 year military career). I'm sure a lot of ARFCOM folks think that does indeed make me a coward and I'm ok with that. I can also give them the finger. I don't regret my decisions one bit. |
|
Why don't we just make EVERYONE join the Military. We can all wear spiffy gray jumpsuits and berets. And you don't even have to fight in a war, you can plough fields and assemble ipods for victory. We will all cut each other's paychecks through out collective labors. It would be great. |
|
Going to college does not necessarily mean that once you graduate, you won't join up. In basic, about 10% of the enlistees were college graduates and this was for the Infantry. One of the guys I served with had a degree from Yale. Also, IIRC for the most part you had to have a degree to become an officer. A lot of the officers that I knew were not graduates of West Point. |