I hope I didn't offend you terminally with my comment elsewhere. You seem like a good guy to me, and I enjoy the camaraderie here. I do however think it morally imperative that adult people speak out, when they see our youth being encouraged with idealistic propaganda. Young folks who are thinking of joining the military - because they think it'd be "cool" or fun, after watching a lot of propaganda, including playing training "games" they don't realize were produced by The Pentagon (that Navy Seals game, in the late 90's, early 2000's) - need to be alerted. I think it a responsibility that reality be offered as a counter-point, when a discussion is all "pro-tanks & bombs". The thing is...we haven't had a legitimate need to go to war since WWII. We just do it for profit and imperialistic aims. Or that is the government does it, and the people largely get fooled into being "patriotically" supportive. And then the whole world hates us. And maybe they should. Didn't we blame Germans themselves for what Germany did in the Nazi era? Because we held them responsible for not acting to stop it, being as it was THEIR government, THEIR country? Mmm.. ----- Shifting a gear here: most kids who enlist in peacetime (I'll just speak of the US, because it's where I live), do so because they aren't born into sufficient wealth, and the army offers them the "chance" to *shakes head* "see the world", "go to college", and "save up and buy a brand new car with cash, during their 4 year term" (Oh I cant count how many kids I personally knew who joined thinking just those things, the recruiters actually tell them this stuff. And in fact, at 18 I went to the recruiting office myself, and almost joined the Air Force (they told ME I'd get to be an astronaut!) ...jesus. And I believed them too! The only thing that stopped me from taking that final step of signing was that I noticed boot camp is about stripping kids identities away, to make them blindly obedient, and unapologetically aggressive on demand. And I wasn't going to trade my identity for a small amount of cash. That's my soul, isnt it? . So I got a guitar instead and started writing music, which was my real passion. ..But, like every other working class kid at 18, I knew I had no real money to get started in life...and the military had tempted me with an offer of just that. But...as the years went on, I saw that not one who joined ever came back with that "brand new car bought with cash". And NONE of them went to college. They did "see the world", I guess (if you can call the WAY they saw, actually only SOME of it, seeing it). But then they all had to come back, and feel they no longer fit like they did, and go to the factory for a job like maybe they should have just done in the first place, because the military it turned out payed LESS than a factory job, so boy were we getting schnooked! 90 million Americans used to be the "middle (or 'working") class...and its those peoples' kids the military targets with lies and come-ons, using ads that say, for instance, "The Navy: It's not just a job, it's an adventure!" (famous ad from the 70's). Meanwhile the rich - who ultimately are the ones who benefit from the use of our military - NEVER want THEIR kids to have to go into the military! Oh no, their kids get deferred, when there's a draft. And when there isn't, well, a family with normal money wouldn't think of encouraging junior to do less than go to college. Rich people view military service as something lowly and way below their dignity. ..... Anyway, I suppose this all could be just the view I got. But... I didn't want to join just because my family didn't have enough money to fund me into life. They prey on kids for that, and I wasn't willing to let them take my individuality away in return for...in the end, false promises. A trick for the children of poor people, who will be used as an "expendable resource" of their government, in pursuit of economic control of the world (for a few). ...and if you come back hurt, they ignore you like they don't owe you a thing, right? That sucks. I couldn't be more anti-military, but if someone went, and got hurt, the damn government ouhgta' take care of them!

I joined The Navy to be able to care for myself and my son and remove us from an abusive situation. I had no family within 100 miles, no vehicle (I thought it was his since it was in his name) and no more than a high school education, so it seemed like a good option at the time. People will judge, but they don't know, and often don't bother to ask, or listen for that matter if you try to explain. They don't want to lose their wrong assumptions by learning THE TRUTH.

Join the Army and Navy if you want to see the world. Join the Air Force if you want job skills. Join the Marines to go to war.