DC, As for Kerry apologizing to the troops, I already said that in my original post, so we are in 100% agreement there.

However, I stand by what I said regarding the makeup of the military forces. Is the military TRYING to recruit from college campuses? Of course they are! As their electronic equipment gets more and more sophisticated, so will their recruits need to be.

However, my nephew joined the military after flunking out of college. Fortunately, he finished his three years in 2002. The recruiters were merciless. The brochures and films show pictures of soldiers training in Hawaii, they promise all sorts of things, and they push, push, push. Now, I'm not saying that's not their job, but this was a confused kid who was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Needless to say, he found Fort Hood and Fort Benning to be quite a bit different than Hawaii. Also, he was promised skills that he could take with him when he left the army. You know where they put him? Armament repair (fixing tanks). THERE'S a skill that transitions well to civilian life.

And who were the folks that he went to basic with? The young guys were mostly like him, drifting and looking for a place to land. The older ones were mostly from small, depressed towns who had been downsized out of employement. Does that make up the entire military? Doubtful, but I think it makes up a lot.