War Liberal

I feel sorry for the man's family but when you sign up for the military you are pledging to give your life for your country if that's what's required.

You're not pledging to give up your life. He asked to retire when his time was up and they made him stay. You try treating the military as slaves and see how long you have a decent military.

No... you're pledging to give up your life... Anyone who thinks otherwise when they sign the dotted line is a fool.

NOW we get to hear about what a hero he was. He was a hero when he signed up and did his duty. Death didn't make him one. And his wife is an even bigger hero.

But our military recruitment is in dire straits. Draft? in an election year? Not unless Iran attacks us...

I signed the papers in '99 and there was no "pledge to die for country" clause involved in the contract or the oath of enlistment.


If you're implying that he signed the enlistment papers expecting to die, then you're just oversimplifying the issue. The issue here is really that his contract was expired, which is what I think you were arguing against.


Basically, the sergeant probably signed his last enlistment contract for something like 3 years and 2 months so he could serve a full 20 years. When he had completed that obligation, the military broke the contract with a so-called "stop-loss." Now he's dead instead of enjoying his well-deserved half-pay (you get 50% pay for 20 years honorable service). It's a disgusting practice, a violation of Constitutional powers reserved for Congress, and a clear breach of contract. Unlike Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, nothing in the contract allows for the military to extend the obligation of service indefinitely. This wouldn't be tolerated in any other area of law. But as Mac suggested, the military is increasingly treated like slaves or indentured servants with "whatever rights we give you."

I agree with Dan. DH was in for the first Gulf War and they were talking about a stop loss right as his time was about to be up. Of course his life wasn't at risk or anything like that (we were in Hawaii, I guess he could have died scuba diving) but it was still infuriating to think that the "contract" he'd signed was completely meaningless. And my mom, member of the Greatest Generation, kept unsympathetically trotting out that same bit about "when you sign on the dotted line..." Which is the whole point--he signed, and they signed, what was supposed to be a legally binding agreement. The logical extension being, well buddy, if you didn't want to be in for the rest of your life, you shouldn't have joined in the first place.