...Because some people seem to have lost track - or never had it - of who they are and what they do.
The U. S. Armed Forces have a literacy rate of 100%. Not 97%, not 99%, 100%. If you cannot read, you are not eligible for service.
The U. S. Armed Forces are the most highly-educated military in the world.
-- 49.2 percent of officers have advanced or professional degrees; 39.4 percent have master's degrees, 8.5 percent have professional degrees and 1.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 22.8 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees; 16.5 percent have master's degrees, 5.9 percent have professional degrees and 0.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 85.4 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees; 70.7 percent have master's degrees, 12.1 percent have professional degrees and 2.5 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 99.9 percent of the enlisted force have at least a high school education; 73.3 percent have some semester hours toward a college degree; 16.2 percent have an associate's degree or equivalent semester hours; 4.7 percent have a bachelor's degree; 0.7 percent have a master's degree and .01 percent have a professional or doctorate degree.
99.9 percent of the enlisted force - the "dumb grunts," are high school graduates. The same cannot be said of civilians. By comparison with the military, only 80% of the civilian population in the age group (18-24) that enlists graduate high school; that goes up to 86% if you go to the 25-34 age group, but by that time the military personnel who enlisted for the education benefits are in college.
Our military, unlike most of those in the rest of the world, is an all-volunteer force. That means that nobody gets forced to go; if you want to sit at home and bitch about the state of things without ever contributing, you can.
But yet an unending stream of our young men and women find within themselves a sense of duty, honor, and patriotism that says to them "Your country needs you." And they serve.
THESE are our true civil servants. Not the politicians from either group who claim repeatedly that they do so much for the public good; these kids, often still teenagers, who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect people that they mostly don't even know, are the greatest product and export of our country.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, anyone in the world can choose a different supplier for tobacco, cars, and computer software. The American G.I. is something that comes from only one place.
All too often, people see the media in other countries screaming about American "imperialism," and they believe it.
I would reply that no-one floats across hundreds of miles of shark-infested, hurricane prone water in a tire to go TO Cuba.
This country is the greatest place in the world. It's not perfect; but it's the best there is. And our military is why.
The people of Kurdistan are no longer being slaughtered. And our troops are why. South Korea still exists. And our troops are why. Haiti has not dissolved into civil war. And our troops are why. People can walk the streets in Albania and Bosnia now without being dragged off by secret police to be "ethnically cleansed," and our troops are why. Iraq has running water, power, schools, and hospitals, for the first time in years. And our troops are why.
And yet, according to A SENATOR, our troops are in Iraq because they are too stupid to hold a real job.
Oh, sure, after he got called on it he tried to claim that he was making a joke about the President. But what he really said was:
\r\nSo, let's be clear about this. Not only was that not funny; it was highly inappropriate, insulting, and frankly, as a veteran, offends the living shit out of me.
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\r\nFor the record, Mr. Kerry, the President you're attempting to joke about had better grades in college than you did. You both went to Yale. Hmmmmm. Interestingly enough, I outscored both of them on the SAT, with a 1350. I'm not a genius, but clearly if its testing you want, I can smoke our elected leadership. My brother REALLY made them look bad, with a 1490. Maybe we ought to elect my brother, since some people clearly think being smart automatically = good governance.
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\r\nFor the record, Mr. Kerry, only 12% of the military consists of what they term "Category 4" recruits; that's (simplifying slightly, the AFQT does not EXACTLY translate into IQ) basically folks with less-than-100 IQ. NONE of them are Category 5 - 87 or below - they are, and have always been, ineligible for military service. There's no such thing anymore as a stupid soldier.
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\r\nFor the record, Mr. Kerry, our troops don't think you're funny either.
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