The Class of '05

[whatever4]

My first post here. I thought this piece was good. As a parent of a boy high school, it gets to me. And, I was active duty for over ten years. I've had many conversations with my kids about this war.

I especially like the point he makes about DU - meaning depleated uranium. It horrifies me. I think no one should be there. Not our soldiers. No one.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062405H.shtml"> The Class of '05
By Kirk Stapp[br /> t r u t h o u t | perspective

Friday 24 June 2005

After a marine or army recruiter visits Mammoth High School, students frequently ask me questions about my military experience in Vietnam. Eventually, these conversations lead to a single question: Should I enlist?

Advice can carry a heavy burden in shaping a seventeen-year-old's future: employment, culinary school, a community college, a UC, a tour in Iraq, an amputated leg, a lifetime full of nightmares, cancer from the hundreds of tons of depleted uranium used in US and British munitions, a flag-draped coffin.

Ryan (not the student's real name): "The recruiter said that my ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) scores were so high that I could become a helicopter mechanic or even go to officer's candidate school."

"You know, if you enlist, you're going to end up serving a tour or two in Iraq or Afghanistan." There is an awkward moment of silence. "If you're smart enough to have options in the military, why don't you go to college?"

Ryan hesitates: "My folks said they could help me pay for books, but that's about it. They can't afford to ..." There is a pause - then a glimmer of hope: "The recruiter said that if I enlisted I would receive ten thousand dollars, an enlistment bonus, and thousands more in college tuition assistance when I get out." If you get out. He's looking for an opening. It's not "Should I enlist?" He wants to know why he shouldn't enlist.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062405H.shtml">read the rest