my brother is graduating from highschool this year and decided to enlist in the marines.

people always ask me what i think about it and then criticize his decision :squint: wtf is up with that? is it going to be like vietnam where the vet's get treated like second class citizens?

i cant even tell them that i'm proud of him because then they are quick to jump on my back about it, too. total shit.

 

I have friends serving there right now and they know where I stand as to the reasoning behind the war, but they also know I support the troops 100% because they are doing their job.

Personally I would just be honest with these people as they go into their schpeel and stop them mid sentence and simply say, "He's my brother and I support his decision, if you are going to degrade my brother, his choice, and my support of it then you can just go away now before this gets ugly".

You don't have to get rude or anything but just plainly state it as point blank fact and I bet you never have to listen to that shit again.

 

damn hippies

 

he knows what he's getting into and i cant do anything but respect his decision. i think it's honorable that he would enlist in a time like this, with a war that has no real end in sight.

im gonna have to step it up a little and tell them how i feel about it, if for no other reason than because he deserves my support. but, a lot of times that can be easier said than done, esp considering some of the people that have confronted me about it...

 

Not in my book they won't. Not ever.
The debt we owe as citizens for their sacrifice cannot be repaid.

Obviously I don't know the whole story, but it sounds to me like you're dealing with people that cannot differentiate between supporting the military and supporting the war.


John is right.
Call them out on their ignorance.

 

I don't think it makes a difference who it is that confronts you about it. It is a personal decision with no real right or wrong involved. If they are insulting your family then it is a personal matter.

When we sit around and the war comes up in convo I will rip on the war all day long, but the second someone starts talking shit about the troops themselves I am the first one to tell them to STFU.

 

People look down on it because it isn't seen as what smart people do.

 

Werd. The military actually has a lot of intelligent people enlisted, like myself.

 

:lmao:

Yesssssssss

 

i think there is something to that... like "oh he wont make it in college so he is enlisting" no who is really the ignorant one?

my only negative feeling toward him enlisting is that he wants to go into frame construction/contracting but the marines dont have any carpenter related positions. i'd rather see him do something that will help his career in the long term. i know the army and navy both have enlisted construction workers, i think that would be a better route for him to take.