@Duchess64
Military is a good leg up for kids with no better options, 50 years ago I was one of them.
I enlisted in the Army right out of high school, served in Vietnam, then went to college on the GI Bill. After that I went into Air Force OTS, was admitted to flight school, and was a B-52 Navigator, after which I got out as a Captain and had a million dollar resume.
Don't condemn the military, it has been the springboard to a better life for a lot of people and it's straightened out a lot of kids that would have ended up in prison otherwise..
@dood111 saidGood stuff. You may like the book My True Course by Dutch Van Kirk , navigator on the Enola Gay, died about 3 years ago.
@Duchess64
Military is a good leg up for kids with no better options, 50 years ago I was one of them.
I enlisted in the Army right out of high school, served in Vietnam, then went to college on the GI Bill. After that I went into Air Force OTS, was admitted to flight school, and was a B-52 Navigator, after which I got out as a Captain and had a million dollar resume.
Don't ...[text shortened]... lot of people and it's straightened out a lot of kids that would have ended up in prison otherwise..
When I read, I will often google an item of interest in a non-fiction book. The boyhood home of Dutch has street address, I looked it up, and there it sits on google map. Really cool.
@dood111 saidagree...but the OPs point was an attempt at racism?classism
@Duchess64
Military is a good leg up for kids with no better options, 50 years ago I was one of them.
I enlisted in the Army right out of high school, served in Vietnam, then went to college on the GI Bill. After that I went into Air Force OTS, was admitted to flight school, and was a B-52 Navigator, after which I got out as a Captain and had a million dollar resume.
Don't ...[text shortened]... lot of people and it's straightened out a lot of kids that would have ended up in prison otherwise..
@mott-the-hoople saidYes, I get the class thing.
agree...but the OPs point was an attempt at racism?classism
My lower middle class childhood was something I was acutely aware of after becoming an officer. Most other officers came from families that were better off .
It was the military that allowed me to rise above my humble background.
@dood111 saidThank you for your service.
Yes, I get the class thing.
My lower middle class childhood was something I was acutely aware of after becoming an officer. Most other officers came from families that were better off .
It was the military that allowed me to rise above my humble background.
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@Duchess64/////////////Those who choose to serve in THE MILITAEILY are, more and more or less, rural, poorer, enlistees who have had parents and/or sibiings in the services. When we had a draft, there was a better cross section of the population. Now, with an all volunteer army, soldiers are apt to be less educated, poorer and, if one looks at this honestly, less employable except for menial jobs offered in smaller communities/ Here is an opportunity for a young man, or woman, to travel the world and escape the limited opportunities offered in rural areas. The proble0m seems to be, that these same areas of the country are getting more, and more recruits from these areas and losing more potential soldiers, from , perhaps, better educated, more urban populace..The Military is becoming less and, less diversified.
There is little doubt that a volunteer army gets enlistees who have less chances of doing better in the civilian life. It only makes sense. Hence, poor people will come to the forefront.
I do allow for some to be adventurists, of course. Especially the Navy where they promise you will see the world! And the Airforce has its aviation buffs, too, but by and large, the Army and Marines have no such lure.