Geez, I don't know, guys.
I've got friends in the Army who joined long before 9/11—mostly reservists, but one of them may end up making a career out of it if he lives long enough. Only reason why he joined is that, after going into the Marines because there were no career options in the bumf*ck Western PA town where he grew up (and never getting the job training the Marines promised him: surprise, surprise), he married his high school sweetheart, knocked her up and went back to PA when he cashiered out to bring up their family. Sure enough, even in the biggest economic boom in memory, there were no jobs in their area (this is near where Trent Reznor grew up, btw—helps explain some of his music, I think). So he joined the Army for an income and medical benefits.
The others went into the reserves to pay for college. Again, this was before 9/11, but they haven't managed to get out, even though they're in their late 20s. They've done numerous tours in the Middle East, even before the war began.
All of these guys supported the Democratic candidate since they were able to vote, as well. My buddy in PA blames the Reagan administration for his grandparents losing their farm, so he'd be damned if he ever voted for a Republican, and he thinks what Bush has done to veterans' benefits is a crime. The others were leftie college students when they joined.
The travesty is that so many military recruiters go into depressed areas and sell a bill of goods to kids who want to get ahead but have no options. It's considered admirable that they look to a "clean" way to make a living instead of going into the underground criminal economy, yet we anti-Bush types are ready to send them to the depths of Hell because they were just trying to make something of themselves.
To me, that's the real tragedy. If it were a couple of Halliburton executives with gold-plated estates back in Texas being tortured to death instead of some poor brainwashed kids, I wouldn't lose a moment of sleep.
