Our 22 year old son is a US Marine, SpOps. His Btn just returned from the al Anbar region of Iraq. They have the unfortunate distinction of having taken the most casualties of any Coalition unit in Iraq (33 KIA 200+ WIA, sent home). However, they - in the proud tradition of US Marines, and specifically the 7th Marine Regiment - killed over 3,000 of the enemy bringing peace to the region to which they were assigned. They took on an area where there was murderous terrorist activity on a daily basis and today, it's as safe as most of Philly.
I can guarantee you, because I had this conversation with Josh and with his comrades-in-arms, they DO NOT WANT conscripted kids with them. At home, they are the finest men this country has to offer. Polite, generous and even lightly patriotic. At work they are the worst enemy of people who attack the US. They are committed to what they do. They don't need whining, snotty children clinging to mommy's apron who they would have to babysit.
So, please contact Rep. Rangel and the other Democrats who put forth this legislation. Tell them to withdraw it - not that it has a snowball's chance in Baghdad of passing anyway. And please, don't fear for your sons. My son and his friends, WILLINGLY sleeping in holes in the sand and eating MRE's will make sure you and your sons can all sleep well in your soft beds after a quiet dinner.
Michael Becker
Phoenix, AZ
very proud father of LCpl Josh. The best man we know...
Thursday, September 30, 2004
How Servicemen View this 'Draft Talk'
Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit has a good round up on this. Included is this e-mail he received [I've cleaned up some typos in the e-mail]:
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2 comments:
I understand and agree with the sentiment. However, a military draft has several benefits....
1. The sons of rich senators serve along side the sons of welfare moms. This is good for both. It should make Sentators very careful about voting for war. (Even when war is good it is bad. In this it is the opposite of pizza.)
2. It would relieve the need for women in the military.
3. It forces 17 year olds to grow up and might put an end to this strange extension of adolescence (into mid 20's!!!) that our society is experienceing.
4. Gives the entire country a common experience in service to others.
But what about the problems of REAL oldiers having to "babysit" the whiners? That has a simple solution: Only let the Army take conscripts, and only into Combat Service and Support units and non-elite infantry units, such as the 1st Infantry Division. Of course, in these units the NCOs would not be conscripts, and we might want to have a couple of extra NCOs per company just to keep things under control. Other units such as the entire 18th Airborne Corps, the 75th Infantry.
I meant tosay that elite units such as the 18th Airborne Corps, the 75th Infantry would be off limits for conscripts.
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