Thread: I Don't Think Magnets Support Our Troops

I have been told by dear friends from Israel that every Isreali goes into the military for two years when they reach 18 years old. I think in a country that seems to be always involved in some turmoil that mandatory service is a necessary evil. In the United States of America we have a completely volunteer military. I know that alot of people join because they are given a choice by a judge of enlist or go to jail. I know alot of people get hustled by recruiters who promise the enlistee all sorts of things they can't deliver. When I was in basic training there was a kid in my company who was completely illiterate. His recruiter took the entrance exam for him. There are alot of examples of folks who enlist because their options are severely limited. Hey, I can admit that if my parents had the money to send me to college I certainly would not have joined the Navy. But I am glad I did enlist. I recognize that most people in the service would rather be doing something else and for whatever reason(s) they are serving in the defence of their country. And yes, that choice, that willingness to die for the same knuckleheads that call them baby killers or protest at their fallen buddy's funeral makes them more special than someone who rode the smooth ride on Daddy's ticket and went to school to become a doctor or lawyer. Personally I believe that a four year enlistment in the military before college would make for a better student.

There has been much great input to this thread (and some idiotic trash). I see to some it is hard to believe that there are many Support Our Troops magnets on the cars of people who do indeed feel that the very act of displaying that magnet has somehow done something positive for the individual soldier. The week after the 9/11 attacks I was getting out of my car in the parking lot at work in Stamford, Connecticut. The manager of Drafting Department was getting out of his SUV right next to me when he said, "Hey Brad, where's your flag?"

As I looked at the four or five flags and flag stickers with which his car was festooned I replied, "If you think covering your car with plastic flags somehow makes you patriotic congratulations, you are a hero in your own mind. I gave up four years of my life defending your country and that flag. Don't you ever question my patriotism."