Senator, like many parents, waits and worries about deployed son

Army Times ^ | March 27, 2003 | Rick Maze

[Promark]

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., knows how many parents around the country are feeling right now — he’s the only member of Congress with a child serving as an enlisted member in the military.

[Billy_bob_bob]

I personally find it interesting that there are 535 members of congress, and exactly ONE of them has a child currently serving in Iraq. What percentage of our congress had children fighting in WWII? What percentage of our congress had children fighting in Vietnam? Because the current percentage works out to something like .2%, which strikes me as being pretty tiny.

[jude24]

The fact that Johnson is the only member of Congress to have a son serving as an enlisted member of the military — there are a few with children who are officers — has been highlighted by proponents of returning to a military draft who would like the burden of military service shared more equitably across American society

Uhhh.... that's a far cry from your state ment that "exactly ONE of them has a child currently serving in Iraq."

[cubreporter]

Prayers for the Senator's son as well as prayes for our nephew with the 101st. May they all come home safe and sound.

[Billy_bob_bob]

Fair enough, how many are officers currently serving in Iraq? Is the total number of congressional offspring currently serving in Iraq somewhere around 5? Because that would work out to around 1% of the total membership of congress having children currently in harms way, which still strikes me as being a rather small percentage.

I don't know what the historical norm is, which is why I am asking what percentage of our congress had children serving in WWII and in Vietnam, because I believe it would be illustrative.

[NavyCaptain]

How many of your children are servinbg in Iraq? I'll bet it is no more than 10% of all American familes who can claim they have a son or daughter in the conflict. Congree is only a microcosm of the rest of the USA. Service before self is not an Ameriacn virtue these days!

[jude24]

Because that would work out to around 1% of the total membership of congress having children currently in harms way, which still strikes me as being a rather small percentage.

Actually, that would sound rather high.

Considering how many families there are in the United States, and the relative size of the armed services, I'd be suprised if more than about 5% of all people had a close relative in the military (defining a close relative as a parent, child, or sibling).

[Billy_bob_bob]

I don't have any children.

[Billy_bob_bob]

This is why I'm asking what percentage of the membership if congress had children serving in WWII and during Vietnam. This will allow me to have a better understanding of what the historical norm is. For all I know you are right, and 1% is on the high side. I just don't know, but it still seems rather small.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Well, we have a population of around 280 million and IIRC about 250,000 people serving with the armed forces in and around Iraq. I'm not convinced Congress is far from the average.

[Eva]

My husband met the son of a congressman in Vietnam, he was part of the crew of one of those small boats that did the river patrols like in Apocalypse Now. My husband asked him why he was there because he knew that his father could have gotten him out of it, and the guy said that was precisely the reason that he was there, because his father didn't want him to be and was against the war. My husband doesn't think that the guy made it back, one of the two crews that manned the boat was lost and he can't remember the name.