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| Age Requirement For War Zone Service. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 26 2004, 11:32 PM (543 Views) | |
| Justine | Oct 26 2004, 11:32 PM Post #1 |
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I was ranting on another post when this occurred to me. I think that sending 18, 19 and 20 yr old children over to war zones to die is sick. I believe in your country that the drinking age is 21? If you believe ( as a nation) that a young person is too immature to drink at age 20, then what makes you think they are more capable of handling a weapon in a combat situation( not talking about hunting with dad here) ????? BTW,, I am not talking about lowering the drinking age. I hate seeing the little death roll call that is on the news. there is no right age to die overseas, but an 18 yr olds should NOT be sent into a war zone period. That is sick. They were in high school mere months before, and now they are put in life or death situations that grown men would find stressful and difficult. And don't give me that " they are trained" crap. some of them had only boot camp, just months , not years of training. Rant number two done tonight, interested in hearing the justification for sending the young uns to war. |
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| jrf | Oct 27 2004, 12:16 AM Post #2 |
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The voting age used to be 21. It was lowered to 18 during the Vietnam war. I heard on a news show the other day that most of the new youngsters voting, voted for Nixon. |
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| TexasShadow | Oct 27 2004, 01:01 AM Post #3 |
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Jane
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purely practical....most youngsters under 20 aren't married with children, so their death, if they die, doesn't leave behind a family in need. another reason is that most youngsters can be trained to follow orders blindly and their inclination to embrace team loyalty is high. and then there is always the macho thing, for both boys and girls....bravery and heroism take precedence over cooler reason and prudence. |
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| pentax | Oct 27 2004, 01:23 AM Post #4 |
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Kamloops - BC Interior
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Justine - I dont know your age, but I sense you are younger than me.... you would have fit in very well with us - back in '68, '69, and '70...... I said the same things myself, back then....... you inspire me. :thumbup: |
![]() (thumbnail) ![]() "Kirk to Enterprise - Very funny, Scotty.... now beam down my clothes!" | |
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| cmoehle | Oct 27 2004, 04:53 AM Post #5 |
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Chris - San Antonio TX
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As long as an 18 year old has the right to vote it is OK imo. That I recall was a major beef back then--you want to draft me you'd better give me the vote. Called I'd've gone. My friends and I had discussed it at length and each made our decisions, some to volunteer, some to go if called, one to conscientiously object. We respected each others decisions as mature. Of course we voted for Nixon. Back then LBJ was the big government "establishment" intruding on our lives, just as now Bush is. Some people call that change. I look at my 17 year old son and think service might be the best thing for him at this point. Something to jolt him out of selfishness and into reality. |
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Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order. --Barry Goldwater | |
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| Peralko | Oct 27 2004, 08:22 AM Post #6 |
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Actually a young age is the best time to send someone to war. At that age they think they are invulnerable, and for the most part they have not yet started a family. Besides, just what makes death worse for a young person than an old person? Why is it worse for a person to die in a war than it is to die in a car accident? Drunk drivers kill more than wars ever did in this country! |
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| Justine | Oct 27 2004, 10:57 AM Post #7 |
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I think TexasShadows post hit many nails on the head. It is a shame that " bravery and heroism take precedence over cooler reason and prudence" ... Pentex, I was 6 yrs old in 68, Barbies were my thing back then LOL! Peralko , people who think they are invunrable make stupid mistakes, and it is sad to die because of a stupid mistake, ...especially when you haven't even lived yet because you are so young. |
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| Peralko | Oct 27 2004, 11:07 AM Post #8 |
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That's why they are trained before they are sent into battle--so they won't make stupid mistakes. Consider training lasts anywhere from a couple of days in some societies--we train our military up to a year or more. |
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| Justine | Oct 27 2004, 11:17 AM Post #9 |
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Jessica Lynch did not have a year of training, plus the training given is not all intence combat training , that is just a component, the first year in service is just learning how to accept discipline,and how to self dicipline! For goodness sake they are still learning how to make beds in basic!! Sorry they are just kids, and they are sent off to do what grown men don't want to( and are smart einough to avoid.) Alot of them enroll to get an education, they are not thinking of the consquences of committing. BTW Does anyone know how enrollment numbers are now that there is a possiblilty of being sent to fight over seas? Just wondering, I am sure some will enroll just to get a gun in thier hands and think it would be " an adventure" to go over there and kill . They never figure they might be the ones in the body bags. |
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| Peralko | Oct 27 2004, 11:39 AM Post #10 |
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I said "up to a year". Some don't get training for that long. Jessica Lynch was a supply specialist, not a combat soldier. This may surprise you, but most in the military are not in combat specialties, but various support specialities. You have a dim view of our youth, and their capability to perform. In my career I have seen literally thousands of AF young people with attitudes and skills that would water your eyes! While there are exceptions, the young people in our armed forces are well-prepared, well-equipped, and well motivated. Yes, some will die, that is just the fact of war. And make no mistake; we are in a war right now that we did not start, and that we did not want! P.S. The AF has had no particular probblem getting volunteers. Haven't looked at the stats for the other services, but hav heard of no problems there either. |
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| Justine | Oct 27 2004, 12:04 PM Post #11 |
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I DO NOT have a dim view of your youth, I have respect for life. For their lives in particular. Yes , I realize that Jessica was not a combat specialist. She and her type should NOT be sent over there. I know that it is not just " combat specialists " that get killed in war. I merely pointed out that kids with 6 months of training on how to drive a supply truck, or operate a gun shooting at targets, have no business being sent ot a place where the people train their kids form birth to embrace a martyrs death. I respect your youth and hope that you all do too, they are not expendable because they have no " families" ( which some posts implied, tell that to their mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings) . Send your men and women if you must but leave the kids at home to get an education, to start "families" and to just plain grow up and make mistakes that are not going to kill them or others( yes I know drunk driving etc,,,,,,) |
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| sylley2000 | Oct 27 2004, 12:09 PM Post #12 |
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Sylvia, Grand Bend ON
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Justine, The whole danged thing is unjust--not just boys, but 'really' young men in their twenties, thirties, forties, you name it … what is a good age to die? It's also girls now! Betcha lots of boys signed up for WWII at a much younger age than 18 and many died too. If they weren't killing each other with guns, they would do it with bows and arrows, and before that they used spears, before that rocks, before that fists. Man just insists on not settling disputes 'til they reach they stage that they will kill. That goes for women too BTW--have met some very formidable women in my time. Don't think this universe is ever going to be able to do without wars and guns. If you have a gun, then you have to have a bigger gun than your neighbour, then he gets a cannon, then a missile, then a nuclear weapon .. and on and on it goes. It's the craziest thing man does. There is no logic to it. Sylvia |
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| Justine | Oct 27 2004, 12:59 PM Post #13 |
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Sylvia, You have said it all( very well ) , mans inhumanity to man is not something we will ever get a handle on, still it is the voices that cry out against it that at least hold the insanity at bay. |
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| sylley2000 | Oct 27 2004, 01:33 PM Post #14 |
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Sylvia, Grand Bend ON
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Justine, Are you old enough to have been a kid during the cold war? In retrospect, I'm so proud that they had the sense to stop telling us to duck under our desks. It scared the Bejusus out of us at tender ages. There was no point to hiding under a desk if an atom bomb fell--they only did it once at my school--but that one time was enough for it to be indelibly etched. Not giving those warnings was the kindest thing they ever did. The few who built bomb shelters soon gave that up too and realized it was futile. I'm sure there were many inventions that advanced civilization that came from the atom bomb, but the bomb itself didn't shed a ray of hope to mankind. Will it mark the end? Don't know, but civilization is just stupid enough to kill every living thing on this planet. There will be no voices left to cry. Sylvia |
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| Sea Hound | Oct 27 2004, 01:43 PM Post #15 |
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I look at my 17 year old son and think service might be the best thing for him at this point. Something to jolt him out of selfishness and into reality. I cannot believe that any parent would consider sending a child to war to "jolt him into reality" Some times my head just goes "Boggle" |
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