Reply #38: Not necessarily.

[Cabcere]

I don't claim to know everyone's reasons for joining the military/fighting in Iraq, but I do know that my friend, who was killed in Iraq last month, went to war so that somebody's father or husband wouldn't have to be put in harm's way. He was neither a gang member nor a white supremacist; he was an honorable person who wanted to serve and protect his country and his countrymen, even though it cost him his life. He was 19 when he died - buried seven months to the day before his twentieth birthday, and I miss him every day. I wish to God he hadn't been killed, but I can sort of understand his reasons for going over there, and I think it's safe to say he is not alone in having such motives. People join the service for different reasons - some for money, some to serve, and some to kill, I'm sure - but that does not mean that they are all thugs or mercenaries. My friend certainly wasn't.