Posted on 07/17/2006 6:57:17 AM PDT by seasoned traditionalist
What does it say about America that the killed and wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to hail from Prattville, Alabama, Lincoln, Nebraska, Mansfield, Ohio, or Klamath Falls, Oregon, than New York City, Beverly Hills or Cambridge, Massachusetts? These statistics paint a bleak portrait of an entire class that has eschewed military service, which is problematic in itself, but particularly since this class comprises America’s opinion makers and cultural leaders. Undeniably, the most noticeable location where this military desertion and the cultural forces that inspire it can be seen is on college campuses, especially in the Ivy League
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
churchillbuff's gonna be mad.
He'she/it likes to post all the articles talking down the military and rich people.
If their offspring don't... they do.
A very intesting read, IMO.
Not a class divide. Rather a conservative/liberal divide.
I'd also note that - on both sides of the aisle - we seem to have a bumper crop would-be wartime leaders who "had other priorities" when the call came, or found ways to serve that kept then well clear of combat.
We have a voluntary military. That's a good thing.
"Voluntary" means that you don't have to volunteer if you don't want to.
I guess some people prefer a draft so they can protest the draft and relive their LSD utes.
The answer is that we have an all volunteer military. I don't see it as a problem myself. The military needs people who are malleable and can be formed into fighting men and women. It doesn't need a bunch of spoiled children. It's better, in my mind, that we don't set about requiring the sorts of quotas that would require the "elite" to serve. We're doing pretty well at present, attempts of the MSM to villify the military notwithstanding.
ping
The liberal schools keep them from the option and it continues into University.
Many moons ago I was one of five young Reagan conservatives in a whole department. I remember the "C's" on really great work that did'nt fit the Sandino mold. All served and 3 of the five still do.
We are at war unless you ask a liberal them we are playing some republican oil game. Like 1939 it will take ships being sunk off the coast of NY/NJ or 5 dollar gas to wake them up and for a while they will continue to blame the President.
Then it will be "Why didnt anyone tell us"
I heard recently on Rush that the percentage of children of elected representatives in the military was greater than their numbers in the general population.
Also that every zip code in this country was represented in the military - 90210 was specifically mentioned.
ping
The other issue here is the relative size of the military compared to the general population. As the WWII and Korean vets pass on, we will have only 10-15 million veterans out of a population of 250-300 million.
The West cannot win the conflict it is facing (with Islam, of course) so long as military service remains "voluntary".
It will be all-out war, and nations do not will all-out wars with volunteer armies.
You will retort that we have nuclear weapons, superior firepower, etc.
They will matter little in the War with Islam.
All of the Islam nations of the earth - ALL of them - must be individually invaded, their governments overthrown, their militaries disbanded, their theocracies discredited, and Western religion imposed. (Ann Coulter was absolutely correct).
This will take many, many millions of Western soldiers. Tens of millions.
Are we going to do this with the reserves? (hearty laughter)
- John
I'm one of those who dislikes the current attitudes towards military service by many. I don't know if it's the monied set or a class distinction or something else, but I, like lots of people can see that most young people in college today have not even considered the possibility of military service.
This is troubling to me, since I believe that military service is an excellent way for any American to learn what this country is really about.
Our first patriots were military men. They fought a bloody war to create this nation. They felt strongly that the values of America were worth fighting for.
I'll skip the Civil war period, because it was an internal war, although young men from wealthy families did serve.
World War I and World War II had good participation of men from all classes of our society. Korea and Vietnam, less so.
Today, there are all sorts of excuses given for not serving. Too bad for the excuse-givers. Military service is an honorable thing, and gives any person who serves something that will never be forgotten.
While it's certainly possible for a patriotic American to skip military service, those who do serve can claim patriotism with a little more strength.
"he/she/it?" LOL
It is a volunteer army.
It depends on how we're defining elite. It would have been noble for someone with a PhD in particle physics to go sign up and fight in Iraq, it would tragic, if that individual were shot and society was deprived of that level of intellectual ability.
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