Posted on 09/19/2004 5:03:04 PM PDT by pollwatcher
An Interview with Sue Niederer Her Son Was Told by the Recruiter He Wouldn't See Combat; Now He's Dead
By ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG
Seth, 24, was in debt after he graduated from Rutgers University in 2002. He joined the army for money and skills that, he was told, would help land him a job with the CIA or FBI -- his dream jobs. "Not for patriotism," said his mother, Sue Niederer, who is now an anti-war activist. She advised her son to get the recruiter's promises in writing. When Seth asked, the recruiter told him, "Your mother wears your pants for you?"
Seth, who had no training with explosives, was assigned to find enemy remote-controlled bombs. He would then call in experts to deactivate them.
He was killed by a bomb in February 2004, after five months in Iraq. Below is a conversation with Seth's mother, Sue Niederer:...
Colonel | Come in, what do you want? |
Private Watkins enters and salutes. | |
Watkins | I'd like to leave the army please, sir. |
Colonel | Good heavens man, why? |
Watkins | It's dangerous. |
Colonel | What? |
Watkins | There are people with guns out there, sir. |
Colonel | What? |
Watkins | Real guns, sir. Not toy ones, sir. Proper ones, sir. They've all got 'em. All of 'em, sir. And some of 'em have got tanks. |
Colonel | Watkins, they are on our side. |
Watkins | And grenades, sir. And machine guns, sir. So I'd like to leave, sir, before I get killed, please. |
Colonel | Watkins, you've only been in the army a day. |
Watkins | I know sir but people get killed, properly dead, sir, no barley cross fingers, sir. A bloke was telling me, if you're in the army and there's a war you have to go and fight. |
Colonel | That's true. |
Watkins | Well I mean, blimey, I mean if it was a big war somebody could be hurt. |
Colonel | Watkins why did you join the army? |
Watkins | For the water-skiing and for the travel, sir. And not for the killing, sir. I asked them to put it on my form, sir - no killing. |
Colonel | Watkins are you a pacifist? |
Watkins | No sir, I'm not a pacifist, sir. I'm a coward. |
Colonel | That's a very silly line. Sit down. |
Good point. To say explicitly that he "didn't join for patriotism" is to seriously question his motives. The purpose of the military isn't to subsidize education, despite what the liberals would have us believe.
If you want skills and money for college without the risk - get a job.
I wonder if she will be willing to recognize, 5, 10, 20 years from now that we live in a freer, safer world because of what President Bush "did to us", or if she will go on psychotically hating the man for taking the only real option open to us.
However, if the son's recruiter really did tell him that he would never see combat, that recruiter should lose his job, and be stuck off in a corner somewhere where he will never see a civilian again until he's discharged. Fraud is fraud, no matter where it comes from or why it's practiced.
Sure. But is she willing to accept the consequences of her misplaced hatred?
she should never be proud of him or exerience any other uplifting emotion again in her evil life.
Aren't you a bit off in saying the son wasn't willing to work for his education? Don't young men like him joining the service get promised college money as part of their contract? Wouldn't that be "working?"
He got a job to pay for it and died while doing it. The kid is beyond reproach.
When you threaten to harm the President, expect a visit from the Secret Service.
"STOP IT!! It's getting very silly, Private Parts."
Last I checked, serving in the military qualified as gainful employment.
I wonder if there's a father anywhere in the picture.
This all really sounds like the whole family were a bunch of delusional TV casualties with very little grasp of reality.
The kid manages to escape the cesspool, and is making something of his life - even if by accident - and then he gets killed. It just figures.
Now, the borderline-psycho "Mom" has gotten a dose of reality, and it's caused her to go completely loony-tunes.
Where's the father in all this? Slamming them down at the local watering hole? Hiding under the couch? Anaesthetized in front of the TV?
Over 1,000 killed in Iraq, and this one, single psycho mom gets the Left's full dog n' pony show treatment as being representative. I think the truth about her mental health and private agendas will come out soon enough.
Chalk it up to the entitlement mindset that seems to pervade the mindset of so many members of my generation. I'm almost embarrassed to be a twenty-something sometimes.
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