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Nevada, Missouri ~ Sunday, September 7, 2008
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Attacks on recruiters - Updated
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 12:19 PM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
Michelle Malkin has documented a long list of attacks against recruiters at: http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/07/spe... Well, I have had my own dealings with recruiters and I have not found them to be the ogres and child-destroyers that the left likes to think they are. Back in the early '70s I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after school so I went and talked to an Army recruiter. I took the tests and passed them all and I was just about to sign on the dotted line but there was one hitch - Barbara Bloomquist. Five foot two, eyes of blue and my girlfriend at the time. Vietnam was winding down at the time but it was still enough of a concern to Barbara that she didn't want me to join. I talked it over with the recruiter and he said "Is this a decision you will be proud of 20 years from now?" At the time I couldn't answer that question. Today I can say I'm neither proud nor ashamed of it. I was a teenager, with a teenager's hormones and the object of my affection wanted me to stick around. It was a no-brainer. In hindsight I can still say it was a no-brainer because no thought went into it whatsoever, the decision wasn't made with the little gray cells it was made in a different location altogether. As it turned out Barbara and I broke up within six months and I was left with no girlfriend and no uniform. I thought about going back and signing up but I was too embarrassed to enter the recruiting station after turning my back on it the first time. The thing is the recruiter didn't put any undue pressure on me or try to get me to sign up by lying to me or any of the other charges I've heard against them. I wonder to this day what my life would have been like if I had made a different decision back then. Recruiters have a difficult job, they not only have to deal with the potential service member but they also have to deal with their family as well. They are placed in positions that would try the ability of a veteran statesman and for the most part they do it, not just well but exceptionally well. After hearing about the insulting behavior of the Berkley city council I was upset. After reading about the ongoing and escalating attacks on recruiting centers I decided that the time had come to do something. I had heard about a group that sends pizzas to members of the Israeli Defense Force at http://pizzaidf.org/ and I decided it's time to do something similar for the recruiters here. I want to get together with some people and have a gathering honoring our recruiters and the work they do. I'm not sure what all is involved but I will be letting you know what's up and how you can help, and I will be asking for that help.
UPDATE I'll be speaking at the Nevada City Council meeting Tuesday asking them to make a proclamation that the city supports the efforts of military recruiters and condemning attacks on them. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and I'd appreciate the presence of as many as would care to support this.
Update II
I spoke at the council meeting and Mayor Edmunds said the proclamation sounded like a good idea to him. I look forward to seeing a copy of it when it's signed.
I've talked to Steve Highlander about getting a Web site up and it sounds doable. I sent an email to the public relations department at Pizza Hut about working out an arrangement to deliver the pizzas and am waiting for a response. I haven't had much luck finding information on getting a list of recruiters. I've looked on the Department of Defense site and I must be overlooking something obvious, I'll keep looking. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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Good idea. Keep info posted.
Come on Mr. Moyer you can come up with a better story than that. It makes me sick to see people like you and others who want to ride the glory train without buying a ticket. If you would have wanted to joined you would not have been too embarrassed to enter the recruiting station six months later. Also if she would have been worth anything she would have supported you to begin with. The recuiters would not have cared and did everything help you join. I now I was a recuiter. I know I joined when I 17 years old. So save BS story for your grandkids on how grandpa didnt serve. Not for the ones who gave sun and those who gave all!
While yo are at the City Council meeting found out how many have served. If I am correct only one, Mr Gillette has. But corect me if I am wrong. While you are at it find out how many of our fine elected county officals have served. Only two that I know of, Judge Bickel and Sheriff Peckman, what were the others doing?
The point of the story was that in my dealing with Army recruiters they performed their jobs well and did not use any of the tactics they have been accused of. It was not about city or county officials, whether they served or not.
While service to the country is honorable it is not the only criteria for determining whether someone may speak to issues relating to the military. Your logic is flawed.
According to your logic a low-life rapist or murderer who waited until discharge to perform his depredations and who managed to serve in the armed forces would be allowed to comment on the military but a person who had never served would not, no matter how exemplary their life had been.
For another thing the military is under the control of civil authority. A requirement that someone had to serve to exert that control would effectively negate civil authority. It would be spitting in the face of the framers of the Constitution.
No, I don't agree with your logic at all, and I'll continue to comment on the issues I find to be compelling, whether they touch on the military or not.
NO, I didnt say if you didnt serve you had no right to speak about the military or even our govenment. Did you read what I wrote?
You don't have to serve in the military to be a Patriot, but driving around with a yellow ribbon on a car or belonging to a military chat-room or waving a flag during the a parade doesn't make a person a Patriot.
Remember serving in the military doesn't automatically make a person a good person or a good citizen. As being a President, Governor, County Commissioner, City Councilperson or Journalist for example doesn't mean you're a good person with out fault.
What I was saying there is no need to make up a story on why you didnt want to serve in the armed forces. Do you know how many guys said I was dating some hooker or I was in college or what ever? In this county now its not mandatory to serve in the armed forces.
Some proclamation sign by some city council persons probably wont mean much to recruiters and it's not worth the paper its writing on. Getting time off to spend with dependents is what means something to them. As for Berkley, that place is a freak show, but that is how they choose to live which is protected by the very freedom all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
So if you want to do a service? Why don't you do some investigative reporting in all of the underhanded, misuse of funds and corruption of our local governments and elected officials? Use what you have, put the power of the pen to good use and stop wasting time on issues that are a waste of time.
You are the one who brought up serving in the military. Why did you bring it up if it wasn't of relevance to my original post? It seems to me you are just spoiling for a fight.
Why don't you take your issues to the appropriate agencies. It isn't the job of the newspaper to investigate every complaint a dissatisfied citizen has. There has to be credible, verifiable information to investigate. Vague, unsupported accusations aren't worth the time it takes to throw them away.
Some proclamation sign by some city council persons probably wont mean much to recruiters and it's not worth the paper its writing on.
It isn't merely to thank the recruiters. As I said at the council meeting people who perform these acts are emboldened when no one speaks against them. Condemning the acts and praising those they are targeted at sends a strong message to the perpetrators that they will get no sympathy from a jury if they are caught. Considerations such as that do weigh on a criminals mind, the more uncomfortable they feel doing something the less likely they are to do it.
As for your contention that I made up a story about starting to join and then backing out you are barking up the wrong tree. I told what happened more than three decades ago with as much accuracy as human memory can supply at that remove. If I were going to lie about it I would have come up with a much more colorful story, one where I would come off looking much better than the truth shows me to be.
It seems that making unsupported accusations against people is a habit with you, one I suggest you stop before crossing a line that will result in legal recourse. City and county officials have rights too, and some of the officials can be pretty litigious.
Did you not learn in Journalism 101 about Freedom of Speech? That is one of the first items in our Bill of Rights.
Now do you really think the City of Nevada signing some proclamation is going to frighten the perpetrators in Berkley, CA or the individual who bombed the recruiting station in NY City? Wait a minute you are correct, those perpetrators will probably come running to turn themselves in to the authorities. I don't know when the last time a report of recruiter being insulted in Nevada was? Wait, I wouldn't know because the paper is too busy reporting on Easter Egg hunts.
Have you ever read the Joplin Globe, KC Star, New Times or the Washington Post, they do investigative reporting. As you wrote " It isn't the job of the newspaper to investigate every complaint a dissatisfied citizen has. There has to be credible, verifiable information to investigate. Vague, unsupported accusations aren't worth the time it takes to throw them away." That is how you do investigations, you get a lead from a source and you INVESTIGATE to see where it leads. Like following a trail of breadcrumbs. It's understandable that the Nevada Daily Mail would be too busy to do any real reporting, because the paper is too overworked reporting on Easter Egg hunts or reporting on what is being shown at the movies. Not reporting on the out of control drug problem, the out of control DWI problem, the out of control crimes against child problem and all of the sex offenders that live in this county. Maybe reporting on how the economy in this area is in the toilet, with the price of fuel, price of milk, pages and pages of homes for sale and the lack of employment is not worth the time fool with?
What has the Bill of Rights to do with this? You are just flailing away. Nothing in my post has to do with that. Stick to the point.
Not reporting on the out of control drug problem, the out of control DWI problem, the out of control crimes against child problem and all of the sex offenders that live in this county.
We have reported on all of those things, repeatedly. We have also done articles on the price of fuel, the overall economic picture and the job situation. We have done more, we have sponsored a job fair where people and employers can get together and find each other, and we will do so again. The newspaper is a vital part of this community and provides a valuable source of information to people all over the county. However we cannot be all things to all people and it is unreasonable to expect it. Again none of this has to do with my post. Keep to the point.
Now to the only relevant part of your post.
Now do you really think the City of Nevada signing some proclamation is going to frighten the perpetrators in Berkley, CA or the individual who bombed the recruiting station in NY City?
No I do not think the actions of one small Missouri city will affect all of that and it was never intended to. However, the effects of many cities doing so would, public pressure works. I have seen what happens when a neighborhood joins together and works to clean up an area and I've seen what happens when people turn a blind eye to bad behavior. Berkley has already backed down some on their rhetoric and if the public keeps up pressure they will come around more.
In your response stick to the point. This isn't about the newspaper and what articles you would like to see, it isn't about city or county officials and it isn't about the Bill of Rights. Stop abusing the system.
I also think you are wasting your time, but for a different reason.
Bodybag appears to be a non-repentent ultra liberal left wing smart ass.
He likes to quote the Constitution defending his right to state his own opinions, but apparently begrudges you and others from expressing other views.
Since I am a veteran, I am happy to have served to protect his right to be a smart ass, but I don't have to like him or his left wing rantings.
You also have the right to ignore such people.
Remember this, you cannot argue with a fool, because he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Boy i think i have heard it all, getting pizza's sent to recruiter's!!!!!!!!! If you think a recruiter won't LIE to you you are full of it to your eyebrows, I know first hand when I joined in 1965 with two of my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boy i think i have heard it all, getting pizza's sent to recruiter's!!!!!!!!! If you think a recruiter won't LIE to you you are full of it to your eyebrows, I know first hand when I joined in 1965 with two of my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't want to support the idea, don't. I didn't come to your place of business and twist your arm.
Getting qualified recruits for the military is an essential job, someone has to do it. Unlike in the sixties we now have an all volunteer force so their job is even more essential today than it was then.
lol. i like that last one. every enlisted member i have met laughs at the word recruiter. it is a cushion job that is lie based. don't get me wrong, not one of us regrets the decision to join. but we laugh at how much bs we believed.
I cant believe how many people in the reading area throw a fit when someone wants to do something to show some appreciation. I have served in the Air Force now for 18 years and have spent time as a recruiter in the past. It seems to me that most people writing in and complaining have never spent the endless hours in the office, behind the wheel of a car going from school to school or home visit to home visit, or trying to fix the lies that those who havent served or werent qualified to serve and are still upset about it like to put together. I will admit there are some recruiters out there that give the rest of them a bad name, but I can't see everyone of you that has written in having one of those recruiters. One thing that I don't understand is if a persons recruiter lied to them and their time serving was that bad, why did they stay more than one enlistment. When I was a recruiter most young people wanted to know about money and college. If married you could add housing to that. If a recruiter showed these young people about these or the benfits they were inquiring about, and now that they have arrived at their first duty station and found out that hey didn't like something about another topic, their recruiter was a liar. If you beat up everone trying to do good, you are no better than those we try to keep our kids/families away from. Another little note for blueeyedsoldier, have you ever been a recruiter? If you haven't how did you and your enlisted freinds become the experts?
Steve,
I like what you are trying to do. Whether you are trying to say thanks to the recruiters or the people greeters at Wal-Mart you are doing something good for someone and don't seem to be stuck on yourself and dwellinig on the times you were wronged.
bc while being stuck here the past couple of yrs we have done volunteer hrs in the recruiter offices. I am not saying anything bad. I love some of these ppl bc they are awesome. We have just observed that to hook ppl requires twisting things a bit. My supervisor did his special duty assignment as a recruiter and says the same thing. Dont get huffy just put up our opinions as enlisted for some perspective.