I was in the military and was well trained and gung-ho for the training. Morality was never an issue, nor was it an option. In fact, it just never was.

Stop to think why 18yr olds make the perfect recruit. An 18 yr old has enthusiasm not morality--just as he has a dick instead of moral once he get far enough from home.

Morality comes with having the wisdom to examine events in the light of experience. This creates a value system and a heirarchy of values. When one does "good" because it is the right thing to do, this is morality. When one does the same "good" because he fears the wrath of God, or the censure of his peers this is not morality it is coercion in the first instance and conformity in the second. When I was in the 18-25 age bracket, I could learn to fly a plane, drop a bomb, fire a cannon, and launch a missile. Tactics and strategy were viable---morality wasn't on the horizon.

When you say, <"I really respect those that fight in my name-they go through hell I cannot imagine, but I dont always agree with those leaders that send them to war."> These kids deserve our respect because they have earned it by the expertise they gained in training. Keep in mind, however, this expertise is in killing and destroying. Arts I hoped my kids would never have to learn.

As for those leaders that send them to war, it is always because those leaders have failed in their job for find a political solution to the problems. In this regrads, I can never agree with them for their failure, I might be able to understand their frustration and need to vent, but not with the lives of our young men unless we are the victims of attack. Then the options are gone.

Publius