Here here. My daughter (who is currently a Jr. in HS) recently announced to me that she wants to join the National Guard. There are many reasons for her decision - being raised by a currently serving soldier, desire to serve her country, college money, chance to get her shit together, learn a new skill, etc... Her mother and I support her 100%. In fact, I plan to be at her basic training graduation when she graduates. And how many kids can say that they became a soldier during summer vacation? And no, I did NOT brainwash her into joining 'to be like her old man' or any such thing. What I have done was be completely honest about what it means to serve, the sacrifices that you must make, how life altering serving can be. I talked to her about what basic training is like. I talked to her about the ups and downs of military life. I talked to her about the fact that if she joins, she will eventually sent into combat. I talked to her about that fact that there is no battle line, that Iraq and Afghanistan are battlefields. I talked to her about the fact that when she is sent over there, regardless of what her job might be in the states, she will get shot at and could be killed. She understands all of this and is willing to join anyway. So I guess you could say that I was sort of trying to talk her out of it, but she wants to do this and I am perfectly fine with this.
And when (not if) she gets sent overseas, I will support her 100%. If she dies while serving, like Hatton I will NOT feel her life was wasted. I will take pride in the fact that my daughter paid the ultimate price for doing what she feels is right. And I have told her the same thing if I were to die in battle. C. Hatton Humphrey wrote: > It was worth my life and well worth the life of any who volunteers to > serve. If my wife or child decided to volunteer to go, I would > support them 100%... and if they fell while serving I would not look > at their lives as wasted. To do so would dishonor their name and > their mission. Think of that as you enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner. > > While you're enjoying that dinner, realize that there are those who > have served that are now sitting homeless on the streets who will only > enjoy Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen. If you want to do something > more than just talk about how badly our governemnt has screwed up, go > serve them dinner. > > Alas, you are right, this isn't just an intellectual conversation, > it's one we've had time and time and time and time again and you're > not moving on your point and I'm not moving on mine. I know on an > intellectual and physical level the cost of war is broken bodies and > hearts. However, those that are there volunteered for this action and > they and their families know the cost of it. > > I spent two Thanksgivings and one Christmas overseas during my 4 > years, it's REALLY tough but it is a part of commitment and duty. You > can't thow an emotional, "what about your child" argument at me and > not push a button... but if either my son or daughter felt that it was > his or her duty to serve our country and fight for our freedom, > security and safety, I would support them regarldess of the theater of > operations. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Check out the new features and enhancements in the latest product release - download the "What's New PDF" now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:246756 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
