[Warren]

Yes, it is a terrible loss. But what I don't understand is why he felt it necessary to join at this time. I heard he just returned from his honeymoon. Everyone doesn't need to serve. Wonder how his widow feels now. When I joined the Army in 64 I don't believe married men were drafted. I can certainly understand his call to duty as I wound up in nam, but I wouldn't have joined if I had been married. Doesn't his wife deserves some consideration?

[cynicom]

Marriage should get anyone a free pass??? I don't think so.

[Kate of Spice Island]

He and his brother decided that it was "the thing to do" for our country. His wife may have supported him 100% on the decidion.

It has been a while but I had read about it in the local paper when he and his brother joined.

[harbinger of doom]

He enlisted after 9/11. His brother is also a Ranger and was a former minor leaguer. Good family, good athletes and good men.

If I was called upon (not brave enough to enlist, like Tillman), I would go. I'm 38, married with two kids, but I would go. Duty outweighs preference and comfort. I guess I should remember that...

Martz and others need not say "He died for what he believed in". It seems to marginalize 'beliefs'. I know what he meant, but everybody has beliefs. Some beliefs are hardly worth dying for.
Perhaps it could be said (and I know FR knows this),"He died for freedom's sake. He died for what this country believes in (or used to believe in)."

What is true and good is more important than what I believe (or anyone else believes for that matter).

[Bobber58]

"WHO ARE THESE MEN ?"

Who are these men who march so proud,
Who quietly weep, eyes closed, head bowed?
These are the men who once were boys,
Who missed out on youth and all it's joys.

Who are these men with aged faces,
Who silently count the empty spaces?
These are the men who gave their all,
Who fought for their country for freedom for all.

Who are these men with sorrowful look
Who can still remember the lives that were took?
These are the men who saw young men die,
The price of peace is always high.

Who are these men who in the midst of pain,
Whispered comfort to those they would not see again?
These are the men whose hands held tomorrow,
Who brought back our future with blood tears and sorrow.

Who are these men who promise to keep
Alive in their hearts the ones God holds asleep?
These are the men to whom I promise again:
'Veterans',my friends-I will remember them !.

(Written by: an 'unknown'-12 year old girl-1966.)

[Bobber58]

I don't understand

exactly

[FReepaholic]

>>...Doesn't his wife deserves some consideration?...<<

He was fighting for her as well as the rest of us.

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

[txrangerette]

We are in WW III, even though a
"different kind of war". Some do
not realize it; some-like Pat-do
understand. In WW II, they drafted
men with no dependents first, then
later drafted men with dependents.

Many men enlisted, of both types
of circumstance.

Vietnam/Korea weren't = to WW II.

As an aside, since Nixon created
the volunteer forces, and since
now we're in WW III, this is a
new situation for America.

First time for the two things
to coincide...

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Yes, it is a terrible loss. But what I don't understand is why he felt it necessary to join at this time. I heard he just returned from his honeymoon. Everyone doesn't need to serve. Wonder how his widow feels now. When I joined the Army in 64 I don't believe married men were drafted. I can certainly understand his call to duty as I wound up in nam, but I wouldn't have joined if I had been married. Doesn't his wife deserves some consideration?

Could it be, perhaps, that the call is very strong, as you sir have found?