Posted on 02/25/2007 8:33:03 AM PST by ContraryMary
DEAR ABBY: Our 17-year-old twin son and daughter met with military recruiters who came to their school and made the military sound exciting and glamorous. They are now saying that after they graduate next year, they want to join the military instead of going to college. They have even put up military posters in their rooms that they received from the recruiters.
My husband and I are horrified. We cannot stand the thought of them going off to war, and do not believe that war is the answer to the world's problems. It will be a year, and hopefully the novelty of the idea will wear off by then. However, I don't want to take a chance. How can I counter the idea? -- CLEVELAND MOM
DEAR CLEVELAND MOM: Before your children commit themselves to the idea that the military is all foreign travel, shiny medals and glory, they should see firsthand that there is a more serious side. Contact your nearest veterans hospital and inquire about you and your children paying some visits and volunteering to help wounded vets. It may be a sobering experience, but it should open their eyes in no time flat.
I wonder if Dear Abby would also recommend that girls see videos of abortion procedures and aborted fetuses prior to having an abortion.
I think you should write in and say exactly what you've said here. Horrible response by Dear Abby....but I'm not longer surprised by anything.
LOL! Maybe it was a recessive gene...
--here's the link to protest--
--http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/dearabby_form.html
As soon as I read this I thought, she's gonna catch a ton of flack. Wonder if she'll print it.
I did. Let's see if it gets published.
Give the vets more credit than that - I believe they would welcome the opportunity to present their side of things to youngsters who are looking to follow in their footsteps. Their words of wisdom might not have the impact that mommy would want.
"Contact your nearest veterans hospital and inquire about you and your children paying some visits and volunteering to help wounded vets. It may be a sobering experience"
Yes. I may be a 'sobering experience.'
One in which the kids just might be more inclined to join up when they see and talk to the real heroes of this country.
Dear Abby, I am a veteran of foreign wars and was wondering if it is okay to choke the living $#%% out of ignorant columnists who dispense anti-American nonsense?
Yeah, logic would dictate so. But I doubt it.
"Yes. I may be a 'sobering experience.' "
I = It
You're exactly right. And I said as much in my letter to Dear Abby.
I work on one of the leading military websites, we found a stat that said less then 3% of those enlisted see combat.
Dear Abbey would encourage young girls to "help out" at abortion mills ~ maybe carry the "products of conception" to the disposal or something.
My mom was a 60's liberal. My dad was in the Army. They marched in San Francisco with a black arm band around my arm when I was one. They both volunteered for McGovern. I wanted to be in the Navy since I was 6. Served for 13 years. God has a sense of humor.
It is an appalling response. I was surprised Abby left out "for the oil" and "no WMD". Then on the other hand, the idea might very well backfire big time.
When the son interacts with all these magnificent men and women who have given so much, it might prove inspiring and be the tipping point whether he wants to do something with his life that matters or not. His parents clearly don't want him to do so.
I wonder if Mom and Dad here have ever considered that their kids are smarter than they are; that their kids see that college, at this point in their lives, would be nothing more than a continuation of the lefty claptrap indoctrination they've been getting in high school. My 16 year-old son has told me that he wants to look at the Coast Guard or the Navy after high school graduation. He's very smart, although not much of a student, but smart enough to realize that having "An Inconvenient Truth" shown in class is nonsense. I think a lot of these kids may be turning their backs on the crap they've been being fed and looking for "real stuff".
"Horrible response by Dear Abby..."
I don't know. If those kids talked to some of the wounded at WR, they may learn something. Things like honor, loyalty, sacrifice. They might talk to those soldiers who would go back in a minute to be with their units if they could. That one wounded Sargeant, who had been in Bosnia and Afghanistan, who reupped to go to Iraq. He wanted to be with the younger, less experienced troops. His Humvee gets hit by an IED, his driver killed. He gets to spend a year in WR. He'd go back.
Don't hide these brave heroes because they're injured. Go visit.
I like the advice.
Clever of Abbey to make a suggestion that would seal
her twin's decision to join the military beyond all
doubt. Seeing those wounded vets ... [hearing them
speak about the love they have for their country as
well as their willingness to do it all over again for
the sake of freedom] ... will not help CLEVELAND MOM.
God bless her twins and may God have mercy on
CLEVELAND MOM'S soul.
I know a few women whose sons joined the Marines after about a year of drifting aimlessly after high school. None of these mothers were happy about the sons' decisions. But by the time each kid graduated from boot camp, every one of the moms was gushing about how proud they were of their sons, how grown up they had become, were these even the same kids, etc. The military can be a positive experience and general society tends to lose sight of that.
I see nothing inherently wrong with Abby's recommendation.
Those considering such a serious decision should look at all sides of the issue.
Recruiters are essentially salesmen. Like all salesmen, they don't often stress the negatives of their "product." Before buying, one should consider other sources of information.
I would go Abby one better. Recommend the kids also volunteer to work with anti-war groups. The contrast between the wounded veterans and the anti-war groupies should result in both enlisting on their 18th birthday.
[... Don't hide these brave heroes because they're injured. Go visit. I like the advice...]
I like Abbey's advice as well. Brilliant advice, in fact.
I agree with what you're saying, but those certainly weren't Dear Abby's motives in writing her response.
We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever
faced mankind, and if we lose that war, and in doing so
lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with
the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose
did the least to prevent its happening.
- Ronald Reagan, 1964
The authors of the letter are the worst kind of liberal scum. They use and abuse the very freedoms they would refuse to defend .
I like the advice but not the reason given for the advice.
Why are you offended?
Military is not for everyone; so a "lady" in Cleveland disagrees...more power to her....
Sounds like an College student's send-up letter to "Abby"...
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Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
If the kids wanna be firemen do ya send em to the burn ward?
It's brilliant only if Dear Abby recognized that the effects of volunteering with the vets could have the opposite effect on the kids. And I doubt from her response that what she intended.
Do yall think these are real people? Not something I would do but hey...it's still a free country. I like her advise though. Who better than, our military to talk with them.
Military is not for everyone; so a "lady" in Cleveland disagrees...more power to her....
Sounds like an College student's send-up letter to "Abby"...
I never said the military was or should be for everyone. However, our veterans should not be gawked at in an attempt by a mother to dissuade her kids from signing up.
write her a letter
I did.
I should have said ironic instead of brilliant.
But then I believe that God is sovereign and He
never says "oops". This advice no coincidence
and it is more proof that God is in control.
What a crock!
When my middle son graduated from college and enlisted in the Army Reserve 2 years ago I know it was disturbing for some in my family. But my impression is ; Why should I be selfish and only expect the sons and daughters of others to defend and protect our freedoms and the freedom of others who choose to live in peace, and spare my three sons from that sacrifice? My son set foot in Kuwait Saturday Morning for his year plus deployment. Please pray with us for his safe return!
Those parents are wrong to steer their children away from what the, the children, believe is a just cause.
No wonder some schools are banning Military Recruiters from the school campus. Their vision of utopia does not include sacrifice.
God bless you and your son. I will pray for his safety.
Interesting discussion here. I have trouble with what seems to be Ms. Abby's intent.
On the other hand, anyone preparing to sign up for military duty should fully realize they are volunteering for WAR. Some nowadays see it as simply a way to pay for education, get some discipline, play with weapons, etc. Then war hits and they or their parents claim it's not fair.
So no problem with seeing all sides of an important decision. I'm sure most wounded vets will tell those younguns that they are proud of their service and sacrifice.
I never knew until today that Dear Abby's REAL twin was Cindy Sheehan!
I read this in my local paper this morning and it go my blood boiling.
I hope both these kids enlist as soon as they turn 18 and stay in until they retire!
As the wife of a Navy veteran and a mother, I see both sides. However, Dear Abby certainly didn't present both sides in her response.
Maybe she was just thinking of Jon Carey.
You don't understand. Those vets won't be allowed to speak to the kids. They'll just be visual aids (props, you know), there to have their wounds gawked at.
LOL!
I disagree with Abby.
My son went into military service from college knowing full well the risks associated with combat. He is not one of those uneducated idiots who John Kerry so described as destined to be in our military.
In this day and age, how can anyone NOT KNOW what potential consequences military service can bring?
It is naive of anyone to think the recruiters are misleading potential enlistees. Patriotism and service to America is still appealing to many, dispite what the left tries to portray.
Dear Father in heaven, please watch over O_zarkman44's
beloved son. Cover him and all the military who serve
with Your banner of supernatural protection. In Jesus
Mighty name!
(Thank you for raising a selfless patriot. May God
bless you and pour His favor upon you)
My response to Dear Abby:
In reference to your response to the letter from Cleveland Mom regarding her children's desire to enter the military. Your answer may very well backfire for her. My husband was one of those veterans in the the Veteran's Hospital. He was wounded in Iraq in 2003, and like many other wounded Marines and Soldiers, has a very strong sense of honor and duty to their job, the military, and their country. These men and women exude a commitment to what they have sworn to do and the men and women they sworn to protect, and they believe in what they are doing. There is so much optimism in the midst of human pain, and a desire to go forward, and move on to the next challenge. This is what these young adults will see and may very well inspire them to go on and commit to the military. It is an honorable profession just as being a fireman, police officer, or teacher. And thanks to my Marine, we are able to live in a country where we have a choice to choose our profession, not be told. These men and women deserve the utmost respect. They are the best and the brightest. Your response offended me as I'm sure it did many people.
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