RomeoMike wrote:
Probably not. These are young kids who enlist for a variety of reasons
other than out of disregard for life. Most of them have no better
place to be. Being young, they don't even think of dying or killing
when they enlist. If they do think about it later they figure it
won't happen to them. Isn't that a typical attitude for teenagers?
Plus they can hope that they are not assigned to combat units. Plus
they are naive about how bad it really can be when you get shot. etc.


You hit the nail on the head (too bad it wasn't some other head, but I
digress!!! I for one enlisted because in flatlands Nebraska in the late
50's there wasn't much to offer a high school dropout (or dropin!). Thanks
to the US Navy I ended up with an excellent start for a lifelong career in
electronics, saw much of the world, was aboard the USS Kearsarge when we
picked up astronauts Shirra & Cooper in the south Pacific (62/63), luckily
exited just before Viet Nam totally went nuts, and had vets benefits for
college and PPL. Didn't get shot at (at hit!) until being mugged in Kansas
City 10 years later...........

Cheers'n Beers... [_])
Don