Would you volunteer to go to war?

[jkm2500 0]

I thought this could be an interesting topic.

How many are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of their country? how many are willing to sit back and have someone else defend their country? and finally who is willing to concede so no-one gets hurt?

If my choices hurt your feelings, by all means come up with some other reasons.

The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Had I been around for WWII, then the answer is easy ... yes. Plus I understand why some people signed up after 9/11. But the Iraq War and 9/11 are two seperate can of worms.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[ViperPilot 0]

I think people should answer this w/ an open mind and not base it on whether they agree w/ Iraq or not. Take all politics out, if the US went to war (do not assume war means the same situation as Iraq now), would you vollunteer to go?

[SudsyFist 0]

I walked the walk once. I'd do it again if the need was there.

[Erroll 80]

Quote

I thought this could be an interesting topic.

How many are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of their country? how many are willing to sit back and have someone else defend their country? and finally who is willing to concede so no-one gets hurt?

If my choices hurt your feelings, by all means come up with some other reasons.

If your country does not have a draft or conscription system, then it has a volunteer defense force. Surely that means that by simply joining/enlisting, one is by implication volunteering to go to war.

For the record, I have volunteered. I am probably too old to do it again.

[1969912 0]

I was 14 when Viet Nam ended and even if I could go, I would not have wanted to unless as a pilot. Now, if I were young enough to, I would volunteer to go to Iraq, even as a grunt. So, I guess the answer (at my present age) is yes.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[nacmacfeegle 0]

No, I'm too old for that sort of caper.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[mnealtx 0]

"The Unknown Soldier" anonymous author

Quote

There's a grave right near the White House
Where the Unknown Soldier lies
And the flowers there are sprinkled
With the tears of mothers' eyes.

I stood there not so long ao
With roses for the grave
When suddenly I thought I heard
A voice speak from the grave.

"I am the Unknown Soldier"
The spirit voice began,
"And I think I've got a right
To ask some questions, man to man.

Are my buddies taken care of?
Was their victory so sweet?
Is that big reward you promised,
Selling pencils in the street?

Did they really win the freedom
That they battled to achieve?
Do you still respect the Croix de Guerre
Above that empty sleeve?

Does the gold star in the window
Now mean anything t all?
I wonder how my old gal feels
When she hears the bugle call?

And that baby that sang
'Hello Central, give me to No Man's Land;'
Can they replace her daddy
With a military band?

I wonder if the profiteers
Have satisfied their greed?
I wonder if the soldier's mother
Ever is in need?

I wonder if the kings
Who planned it all are satisfied?
They played their game of checkers
And eleven million died!

Oh, I'd like to see their faces
When they reach the Devil's door,
But even down in Hell
There is no torture such as war.

I am the Unknown Solder
And maybe I died in vain,
But if I were alive and my country called
I'd do it all over again."

Circa 1926

I volunteered 21 years ago, knowing that I could be called to war - I'd do it again if needed.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Scoop 0]

If there was an immediate threat on my country from someone else. Be it the 'reds' or even you yanks - yeah Id sign up to defend my island.
I always thought it was funny how years ago people would sign up and do there bit and even lie about there age and now they cant find enough people! I might be the training shoe generation but Id still whack on my boots and go into service

[artistcalledian 0]

i'd sign up, not out of some kind of loyalty to my country... just so i could have a laugh and kill people

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[kallend 2,150]

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.


Wilfred Owen, 1918.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[skycop 0]

Same here bro. 23 years and counting.
Many have done it before me, many will do it after me.
I've been called up 3 times in 6 years under two presidents.
Politics isn't a factor for me, when called I go and consider it an honor.

I go so hopefully others won't have to. When you sign on the dotted line, war can come along with all the bennies. Many people sometimes forget that.

I get a kick out of people who claim to have been fooled by a recruiter. The purpose of the military is to fight friggin' wars, that is the bottom line.........DUH........

.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[jenfly00 0]

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I think people should answer this w/ an open mind and not base it on whether they agree w/ Iraq or not. Take all politics out, if the US went to war (do not assume war means the same situation as Iraq now), would you vollunteer to go?

I think people should answer any way they damn well choose ...and yes, I would volunteer if I felt my country needed me to fight.

-----------------------
"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[miked10270 0]

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No, I'm too old for that sort of caper.

Same as NacMac - maybe a bit old, achy, and short-winded to run around in a uniform.

BUT...

Were we to be invaded then I'd actively resist. Anyway, nowadays my mindset leans more toward bomb-making, assassination, and mixing rat poison in bread...

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[livendive 8]

Yes, if it was a war I thought needed fighting. Unfortunately they don't let you sign up for just one.

Re-upping after 9/11 would have kept me till at least now.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[rehmwa 2]

I'm proud of my service.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[freethefly 6]

Enlisted during the Iranian crap back in 79. If I could had I would had happily gone to fight the Taliban. Iraq, ain't no freaking way would I go invade a country just because an inadequate president has a personal grudge against someone. Sure...Saddam is an asshole, one of many. This crap will still be going on when Bush leaves the whitehouse.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[bch7773 0]

I would volunteer if there was a valid reason to.

I would not volunteer at the present time however.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[billvon 3,120]

I'd volunteer in a second if I was really needed. The question I would ask myself would be - would I better serve my country designing weapons (which I spent five years doing) or using them on a battlefield?

[pajarito 0]

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I'd volunteer in a second if I was really needed. The question I would ask myself would be - would I better serve my country designing weapons (which I spent five years doing) or using them on a battlefield?

As in skydiving, there are multitudes of coulda, shoulda, woulda types. Others step up to the plate and do their duty. Talk is cheap and professionals who make a bunch of money are not exempt. I'm friends with several physicians who, in their careers following medical school, volunteered their service in the military first before going into private practice.

[SudsyFist 0]

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Others step up to the plate and do their duty.

If there were uniformed positions that could put a skill set like Bill's to *as effective use* as he could doing what he's done in the private sector for DOD, then I'm right there with you.

For physicians, that's a no-brainer. For other professions, however, there's a distinct, unquestionable loss of efficacy in making a high-value individual an 11-bang-bang.

[pajarito 0]

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Others step up to the plate and do their duty.

If there were uniformed positions that could put a skill set like Bill's to *as effective use* as he could doing what he's done in the private sector for DOD, then I'm right there with you.

For physicians, that's a no-brainer. For other professions, however, there's a distinct, unquestionable loss of efficacy in making a high-value individual an 11-bang-bang.

True. I just see a whole lot of whiners and bullshitters out there on a regular basis. Bill's obviously not one of them and I should have picked another to respond to. Not really directed at him. Besides, I wouldn't make them all 11B. I was an 18C.

[billvon 3,120]

> I'm friends with several physicians who, in their careers following
>medical school, volunteered their service in the military first before
>going into private practice.

I have a friend who went to medical school and afterwards developed a foam field dressing for battlefield usage. His work saved US soldiers. I think his contribution to his country is as valid as any soldier's.

[SudsyFist 0]

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Besides, I wouldn't make them all 11B. I was an 18C.

Well, SFAS isn't for everybody. It's "special."

[Amazon 7]

I signed on the dotted line and gave them 8 years of my life.
I wish more of the uber patriots in this country would actually serve their country.