Forget freebies -- just be all that you can be

RE “Camouflage Cool,” by Carina Chocano, Nov. 28: What has this country come to when youngsters have to be offered a cheap sports watch or hat to enlist in the Army Reserve? The Army isn’t a joke, but America makes it out to be one. Having lost a friend in the war in Afghanistan, I find it offensive that the Army is sending out DVDs with nice, picture-perfect lives of soldiers and free items.

PRIYA ARORA

Sherman Oaks

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GIVEN her objections to “selling” the all-volunteer Army as a career choice, what exactly does Carina Chocano offer as an alternative? Although she may be too young to remember, the alternative is called universal conscription. Perhaps instead of the Army paying $350 million to Leo Burnett USA for the advertising she finds objectionable, that money could be better applied toward reinstating some version of the draft, with no exceptions save those for demonstrable physical disability. A commitment of two or three years for a lifetime of freedom isn’t such a bad deal.

The deeper underlying problem, however, is that while young America greedily embraces all the benefits America has to offer, few are willing to sacrifice in order to protect it. Given the unprovoked attacks of 9/11 and the bombings of Madrid and London, there is no question that open societies are and will continue to be vulnerable to acts of terrorism by repressive forces, religious and otherwise.

As the father of a college graduate who volunteered prior to 9/11 and now serves as an Arabic analyst with the 3rd Infantry north of Baghdad, I suggest the real need is not to bar military ad campaigns but to teach our children that freedom is never free.

GARNER SIMMONS

Woodland Hills