Advertise Rights in Army Recruitment

“Army’s New Message to Attract Recruits: Uncle ‘Sim’ Wants You” (May 22) states that “although interest in military careers rose after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, enlistments have changed little in recent years. And it’s getting tougher to attract and retain soldiers, in part because there are fewer veterans to regale potential recruits with tales of their military exploits.” That is an extraordinarily naive statement.

As one man who served in the 1960s said to me: “We should declare the Army a subversive organization because it has made so many men hate their own country.” Thanks to the elimination of conscription, the armed forces have had to reform, and recruits now seem to be spared the emasculating abuse that was too common when an unlimited supply of bodies could be enslaved. However, there are millions of men who are determined their children will never have to endure what they did, and for a considerable percentage of the population the military is simply out of the question.

The best recruiting tool would be for the government to openly acknowledge the mistakes of the past, apologize to the men who paid the price for them and make it clear that today’s recruits are allowed to keep their dignity and self-respect. The necessary challenges and rigors should be presented as a means of enhancing self-esteem, absent the brutal hazing that destroyed it.

Every recruit needs to understand that he or she maintains essential rights as a citizen of this nation and that the military, in fact, enforces rules designed to maintain those rights.

David Johnson

Chula Vista