The army got another 18 yr old..

My friend told me tonight, that her 18 yr old son joined the Army.. He's just a goofy 18 yr old who did not have good enough grades for a scholarship to college, didn't want to flip burgers, and his girlfriend had just broken up with him, so... he did what lots of young silly boys his age do.. He went and signed up for the Army.. They told him that his aptitude scores would probably mean he would be stateside and studying computers..

He liked that..

He got his orders.. They are going to Iraq in January..

She and her husband are devastated.. they cancelled their family vacation to make sure they had extra money in case he does not get the "protective armor" he might need..

His 22 year old sister is a basket case.

I told her about the care package program we had here, and she was happy to hear that.. When he gets an address over there, I will start this up for him and his friends there..

......

I also talked to Mary tonight (Jimmy's Mom).. Some of his original unit are headed for Afghanistan, after all, so she's working on addresses for them as well..

:cry:.

What a waste.

my husband was a tanker, after more than 7 years in the military (and just months before the Iraq invasion) he switched to working with computers. He is in his 30's, has bad knees and other problems from 7 years of the army. So much for it being a "safe" job... 2 months after finishing the training he was sent to Iraq.

Right now they will say anything to get people to join. They just threatened my husband with a whole laundry list of things if he didn't reenlist and he still had a full 2 years left. He ended up reenlisting.

and studying computers . . .

bet they say that to all the recruits . . .

I was 18 at the time.

I literally laughed in her face.

I was in Air Cadets (I dunno if you Americans have anything like taht down there) in 6th and 7th grade and I hated every minute of it. Every week I would spend at least an hour before I went to drill practice begging mom to let me stay home. When she finally let me quit, I was ecstatic. When I mentioned that to her, sh realized how dumb of a suggestion it was.

Me + authority I don't view as legitimate (ie. most authority) = not a good combination.

*really* like.

Sure put a crimp in his ability to trust.

Y'know, I really hope that all those disaffected military people coming back sure start preaching the truth to high school kids. I suspect they're the only ones the younger ones will hear.

Kanary

My ten year old son had a pamphlet in HIS NAME come to my home from the US Army. I brought it down to the local recruiter and threw it on the guys desk told him to back off! Unreal!! Sick Fucks leave us alone we are not war mongers, jingoistic ass hats.

Have you writen his school with a request not to share your child's info with recruiters? Unless you do so they legally have to share it (part of the NCLB thing.) I'd submit a request, make a point of sharing that info with other parents and consider raising a huge media stink.

I'm (1) assuming that your child is in school (2) assuming that's likely where they got his info. Sorry in advance if I'm assuming incorrectly.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

It reminds me of Moore's 9/11 movie in which the recruiters were promising some kid he could play basketball for the Marines. Ha ha!

It's amazing to me how recruiters can basically lie through their teeth to recruit people.

People joke about Used car salesmen. Lawyers. etc.

But honestly! If I ripped someone off on a used car.. or sued some insurance company with a fivarlous (sp?) lawsuit I'd still be able to sleep at night.

If I lied to some child (cause lets face it at 18 we're still children) in order to get him to sign his life away.. I don't know what I would do. I don't think I could live with myself.

ALWAYS get what they promise to you written in your contract. Never go by "their word"

I'm so sorry that he has been lied to. My prayers are with you all for his safe return.

working on computers. Every enlistment contract and officer's commission makes it clear that "needs of the Navy" or "needs of the Army/Air Force" can supercede any other agreement. If they can even break the fundamental agreement about when your service obligation is through (stop loss), the rest is small potatoes.

they can claim you broke your contract, and then can do whatever they want with you. They fill these kids heads full of I'm going to be such and such, but they need riflemen, tank drivers, basic combat bodies.

if they are going to join the military, what better place to have them than hundreds of miles away from the battle, eating 3 hot meals a day and sleeping in a real bed. guess what...you even get the same medals. dress blues and the summer white uniforms are two of the sharpest uniforms of any service. boot camp is only 8 weeks long, then off to the "a" schools. you actually get to travel and enjoy the countries you stop in......

the coast guard is an even better option.....no extended deployments for the most part....

really...my son talked non stop about the marines..i corrected him super fast....just like this...."son...where do you want to be ...in the desert with bullets flying over your head, eating MRE's and sleeping with sand fleas...or on that nice air conditioned ship, with 3 hot meals a day and a nice comfortable bed to sleep in?"

navy parents worry less about their kids...i'd bet money on it...

just my .02

As long as you aren't a pilot.

My fiancee did 6 years...as a computer programmer.

:shrug:

Society seems to be working against me and I don't want to do shitty retail jobs when I used to have a good job, so I'm joining the Navy. In fact, I can't really understand why anyone would join the army right now. Coast Guard I generally place as 3rd most dangerous at the moment, since last I heard they had the Coast guard patrolling the Coast of Iraq.

Hope he makes it back in one piece.

I can understand an 18 year old being taken in by smooth talking recruiters and reconciling it with his apparent desire to do something meaningful with his life. The kid's intentions were on the right track, but he fell victim to something most 18 year olds do: naivete.

That's one of the reasons we have parents...so they can help guide us through some of the more crucial decisions we are faced with as young adults. What were this kids parents THINKING? Where were their heads? Granted, the kid is 18 and can make his own decisions, but at 18 most parents still have influence in their childrens' lives.

When I was 18, I had planned to spend the summer after graduation working and living on a Kibbutz in norhtern Israel. Five days after graduation and 5 days before I was scheduled to leave, Israel started its major skirmish in Lebanon. The norther border region of Israel, where I was headed, was recieving daily incoming kaytusha rocket attacks. I still wanted to go, and my parents said "OVER OUR DEAD BODIES." The ensuing battle between me and my parents was pretty intense. It culminated with my father taking my passport and locking it in their safe deposit box at the bank. Today, 22 years later I'm glad they did.

He may not have been scholarship material for a university, but if the kid is interested in computers there are lots of jobs he could qualify for with an Associates degree from a community or junior college. Community colleges are pretty affordable and easy to get into, unless you are living in abject poverty and/or you flunked out of HS.

For the sake of this poor kid and his stupid parents, I pray that he comes home in one piece, both physically and mentally.

even offered to have him go stay with an aunt & uncle in another state, so he could have a "change of scenery"..

The parents are DEVASTATED by his choice. It was more of the girlfriend thing, we think..

The law of averages says he will be ok, and we have our fingers crossed, that he will make it back safely..

My greenwaste pickup guy is going to Iraq in January also.

I am sure when kerry is elected as President the Army will return to a normal status and will not be used for War Profiteering Thugs such as what is happening now. Don't despair, we need soldiers just not war.

they must have known there were other options. HE must have known, but maybe in this lousy world we live in, young kids out of high school feel like there is not much of a future for them. THANKS BUSH, for tearing apart another family.

My old outfit. Talk about bad Karma and discovering how really stupid you can be at 17.

More grist for the mill, and another bonus check for them, what do recruiters care?