New Orleans: Navy and Marines Recruiting from Homeless Shelter

[funkybutt]

A member of my family works down the block from the Ozanam Inn, a downtown homeless shelter. Two days last week vans from the Navy and the Marines were loading up people from this Inn that caters to transients. Maybe this is a common practice but at this particular location, it's the first time in 4 years that such a thing has happened.

[slappypan]

1. They will bring back Press Gangs any day now.

http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside7.html

[Dhalgren]

2. Not surprising.

Caligula will kill off as many "undesirables" as he can before he starts drafting his base's children. The draft will come, but first some "house cleaning". "Iraq needs bullet catchers" - who better than the homeless?

[John Q. Citizen]

3. You should alert your local press to this story

This is pretty irregular.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Devil's Advocate!

Were they "recruting" or taking them to NSA NOLA for a hot meal and a little break from the shelter? Sailors and Marines in New Orleans do a lot of community service, especially around Christmas and Thanksgiving. Been there, done that. Sailors and Marines don't "load up" people in vans unless they volunteer to go.

[funkybutt]

5. good point

since i didn't personally witness this and nobody interviewed those involved, that's definitely a possibility

However "the Oz" provides meals onsight, so it'd doubtful that they were taking them elsewhere to eat.

[KansDem]

6. That's true...I believe the Marines' "Toys for Tots"...

is strictly a charitable venture, and a good one at that! I remember once when I was a little tyke, I went to the circus. The only entrance fee was a new toy to put in the Marines' "Toys for Tots" bin.

This was the early 1960s and I don't remember a sales pitch to enlist...

[shrike]

7. Toys for tots is a good program

I know the ex-marine who runs it locally, and it seems to be on the up and up.