This is a blatant attempt at military recruitment in Florida at a high school football game. I think my Democratic senator should step aside.
I read this while I was eating my breakfast this morning, and I just could not finish. It literally knotted my stomach that this is actually being lauded in a local paper by the political editor. Also, my Democratic congressman is the featured speaker, Senator Bill Nelson. They are going so far as to swear in the latest group of recruits.
It is being presented in the article so casually, almost as a good and natural thing. There has been no time to hear reaction to this, but I hope there most certainly is one. This does not have to be going on at a high school football game. I hope there is reaction to it. The article has a sense of presumption that everyone will be impressed by this. Frankly I hope others not from this area will react. This may be going on everywhere for all I know. It does not make it right.
Salute to Freedom by Special Operations at high school football game
The pregame ceremonies will begin at 6:45 p.m. with a parachute jump by a United States Special Operations Command jump team based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The game will start at 7:30 p.m.
Not only is Bill Nelson speaking and giving this type of thing an endorsement, but the Polk County school superintendent and the Polk County sheriff are part of the ceremony as well.
Ceremonies also will include the swearing-in of George Jenkins and Lakeland High students who are entering the military’s delayed entrance program. These students have committed to serve in branches of the military following graduation.
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and to arrive early.
Vehicles, equipment, aircraft and vessels used by law enforcement, public safety agencies and branches of the armed forces will be available for public viewing on the campus beginning at 3 p.m.
Among the displays will be a Harrier jet fighter, armored tank, helicopter, Humvee, airboat, firefighting vehicle and a Coast Guard boat.
For more information call Diane Werrick, George Jenkins High director of student activities and athletics at 863-648-3566, ext. 2870.
Bill Rufty can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or 863802-7523.
Stunning.
I’m sure Senator Bill Nelson is just supporting the troops, not the war. Any recruiting of teens and young adults will be purely incidental, of course.
And Superintendent of Recruitment, er Schools Gail McKinzie is just there for the welfare of the children. Or to see the game. Yeah, that must be it.
Ugh.
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson should meet up with Democratic Saint Paul Mayor Randy Kelly (the one who campaigned for Bush in 04). Or maybe you can find an opponent for Bill in the primaries, and ask John Kerry to come campaign for that person, like he just did for Randy’s primary opponent…
My husband’s 18 year old son has 5 pending B&E charges, as well as an earlier conviction for the same offense. He is a classic sociopath.
Not good enough for the Army? Guess again. They gave him a letter of acceptance to give to the judge when his trial opens, and if the judge agrees, he can join the US Army instead of doing time.
Maybe they’ll make him an officer. There is always a need in Iraq for men with experience kicking in doors.
Hehe ‘hiatus’, I love it! College too tough for you? Join the army, go to Iraq and relax amid the palm trees and car bombs. It’s more exciting than backpacking through Europe!
That should produce some hilarious confrontations, as homeschooling parents (more proactive and protective than most) tear into the recruiters. How the heck are they going to get to the kids except by coming to the, “school”?
Might this have anything to do with the selection of Lakeland as the site for this display?:
Lakeland Florida US
Median household income 33,119 38,819 41,994
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=8659
what you mean?
The only thing I could find at the link is:
Performing arts: Imperial Symphony Orchestra
Aha! The IMPERIAL Symphony Orchestra 😉
Horrific. But now that they are desperate. It is the perfect time to squeeze back into the military for someone like me. A middle-aged pudgy dude. When am I ever going to get another chance to go to strange lands and, well, you know the old cliche.
It is the perfect time to squeeze back into the military for someone like me.
Don’t do it man! If it’s strange lands you want, load up some Doors Greatest Hits and just take a trip to Florida.
We have a volunteer military and they need to recruit. What’s wrong with putting on a show at a high school football game where likely recruits will be. Heck, it’s even a pre-game show so no one has to show up for it if they don’t want to.
Despite being currently engaged in an illegal war, the fact remains that we do need a military and a volunteer force beats the hell out of a draft. They have to advertise in some way and this is quite straight-forward and certainly better than harrassing phone calls or trolling around shopping malls. I also don’t see a problem with recruiters being at high school job fairs.
The military is an honorable option for many lower income people in back-water towns. Or as my husband said when he joined the Marines back in ’66, “I’d rather die than spend the rest of my life in Macon, GA.”
And, let’s not forget that there are non-combat opportunities in the military like nursing, installing radar, IT and sitting in silos hoping no one ever tells you to turn the key.
<sjct now puts on flameproof suit>
Because it is a good old-fashioned exciting football game…which should not be turned into a military recruiting event.
It is a freaking football game,for goodness sake. It is not supposed to be turned in an advocacy for the military.
I almost think you did not read what I posted, because I did not criticize the military. I am criticizing the glorifying of it at a football game.
All the flag waving, and all bible thumping going on in this country now looks dangerous to me. Sorry, but that is how I feel. I am a Christian and a patriot, and I live in a very religious area….the churches actually support the war and tie it into patriotism.
Dangerous dangerous concept.
I can’t speak for the diarist, of course, but I can tell you that I oppose this sort of thing exactly because of your husband’s limited options back in ’66 in Macon.
As a liberal, I think we should be creating an America where the armed forces are indeed an honorable option, but not the sort of option that children need to be manipulated into choosing. And I think when you run recruitment the same way you run a Friday Night Truck Pull, that’s just too manipulative for young people who are still learning how to shave. A career in the armed services isn’t being presented to them as an option, it’s being peddled to their subconscious fears, patriotism, and kiddie dreams of glory by people with all the scruples of your average crack dealer.