Sgt Grit Marine Forums

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/90023.html

What an imbecile.

Talk about putting down the military. Basically those protecting his rights to make a fool of himself are illiterates.

Man, he is going to be kickin himself in the @$$ for that remark.

 I don't know--I think in general (not everyone & not necessarily in war-time) a lot of people enlist because they don't have other options. That's why recruiters have it easy in small, blue collar towns and really hard in wealthy areas near a big city & lots of colleges. I don't think he's saying service members are stupid, I think he's saying that if you are illiterate that you will end up in a job you have to have instead of one you want to have. Notice he said "The Army, Iraq..soemthing like that". Not "If you can't read you're just as dumb as the soldiers".

Wow, it's like he took the words right out of John Kerry's mouth.

Wonder if he has three Purple Hearts, too. 

"That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt. Noel Sheppard says, “Nice sentiment when the nation is at war, Stephen.” I guess he feels ignorance and illiteracy are OK when the country needs cannon-fodder. I guess he also feels that the war in Iraq has nationwide approval. Well, it doesn’t have mine. It is a waste of national resources. . . and that includes the youth and blood of the 4,000 American troops who have lost their lives there and for the tens of thousands who have been wounded. I live in a national guard town, and I support our troops, but I don’t support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career—military or otherwise."

Umm... okay? I enjoy how he tried to justify his remarks by saying that he doesn't think we should be in Iraq. What does that have to do with implying that the military is made up of illiterate people?

It is inappropriate to draw that connection, IMO. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the military had a higher literacy rate than the US as a whole, since you need to have a HS diploma/GED to enlist or a college degree to commission -- and I don't know anyone who can do that without being able to read and write.

aka1982:

 In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the military had a higher literacy rate than the US as a whole, since you need to have a HS diploma/GED to enlist or a college degree to commission -- and I don't know anyone who can do that without being able to read and write.

My step-grandfather had a high school diploma but was functionally illiterate. He also retired from the military. Did King really mean people cannot read or write, or was he trying to say people are under-educated? Uneducated doesn't always mean stupid or never went to school. A lot of times in the press uneducated is used to describe those who haven't been to college. I've seen statistics stating the majority of the military and military community has not attended college, is very young (obviously), and have low incomes (again kinda obvious). I agree with Renee- the military draws most of their recruits from small blue collar towns, who subsequently don't have as good of a high school education as larger towns and have little opportunity in their hometowns. I know- I live in one of these towns. If you can't afford college, there are quite literally NO jobs here. Even if you have a degree there are NO jobs. At my graduation they said 20% of our class was joining the military. That's probably not the case in larger areas. I guess my point is YES people in the military can read, but they generally probably aren't as educated as the general population probably is. Obviously I love and support our military, but you can't deny a statistical truth.   

wondergirl:

My step-grandfather had a high school diploma but was functionally illiterate

And I didn't say educated, I said literate. (So did King, for that matter. He talked about being able to read, not being college educated.) There are obviously plenty of jobs in this country that do not require the ability to read and write English -- I do not believe the military is one of them.

I just wanted to say for the record that I come from a town of 8000 in Wyoming and live around towns that are only a few hundred or less and it is NOT easier for the recruiters to make their quotas and get people into the military. I  feel that the whole big town/little town thing shouldn't be said for everyone cause it doesn't hold true where I grew up. Just wanted to put that out there.

SarBeth486:

Wow, it's like he took the words right out of John Kerry's mouth.

Wonder if he has three Purple Hearts, too. 

Isn't it funny how John Kerry and John McCain are such good friends? I mean would McCain really have such a close friendship with someone who supposedly shares the same sentiment? It doesn't make sense to me.

My husband is a recruiter and honestly A LOT of people join because they do not have a lot of options, they aren't 'smart enough' to go to college or dont have the money to or hold down a career that will pay enough for them to live on right now.  So I dont think what he said entirely was that bad because I think all he meant was don't limit your options and he just used the Army and Iraq as an example, he could have said a janitor and another whole group of people would have been offended.  So what that he is against the war in Iraq?  He has the right to be against it...more than half the country is against it....but most everyone supports the troops and we've had this arguement on here before if you can still support the troops without supporting the war. 

And about John Kerry, I never liked John Kerry as presidential candidate, but those of you bashing him for his 'purple hearts' and his military service...at least he went to war and thats more than any of you can say...you should never put down anyones military service that served and did their duty....he could have draft dodged, he could have went AWOL, anything...but he went.  Did he come back and speak against the war...yes he did...and he had every right to, just like every one of your husbands that come back from multiple deployments doing their duty in Iraq, completing their committment and coming out and saying "you know what, I didnt like what I saw over there, it wasn't a good situation and so on and so forth" you would never bash your husband for saying that.  Did he deserve the purple hearts that he received?  Thats for none of us to decide because we weren't there, heck most of us weren't even born.

SassyAmes:

Isn't it funny how John Kerry and John McCain are such good friends? I mean would McCain really have such a close friendship with someone who supposedly shares the same sentiment? It doesn't make sense to me.

Do YOU agree with everything your good friends say and think? I certainly don't.

I agree with what Maggie said....they are free to say exactly how they feel, I don't like John Kerry for anything but he went there and did what he did so he has every right to come back and say whatever he feels. And as far as him being good friends with McCain...ummm so McCain is good friends with Romney, Guilani and he ran againest them, he is also good friends with many Dems but he doesn't share there same sentiment, isn't that Obama's explanation when they ask him about Rev. Wright, that he baptized his children and he went to his church but he doesn't share his same veiws and the other questionable people he had ties with. 

Stephen i

I don't think Stephen King is not talking about the military in general, he was just using them as one of a few  examples in the world. I mean let's be real, not everyone is the military WANTS to be in. But its one of those opition that is "easy" to do. I don't think he was speaking out against the war, just giving his views about literacy.

He could have easily have said something about being raised in a small town and being a waitress all your life because you are not well educated to move on to bigger and better things. I wonder if people would have gotten so defensive and made a post about what an imbecile he was then.

Like some have already said, he has a right to say what he wants. After all this is America!

Ajax_Girl:

 I don't know--I think in general (not everyone & not necessarily in war-time) a lot of people enlist because they don't have other options. That's why recruiters have it easy in small, blue collar towns and really hard in wealthy areas near a big city & lots of colleges. I don't think he's saying service members are stupid, I think he's saying that if you are illiterate that you will end up in a job you have to have instead of one you want to have. Notice he said "The Army, Iraq..soemthing like that". Not "If you can't read you're just as dumb as the soldiers".

I agree with you!  Very well said.

Lacy6601:

I just wanted to say for the record that I come from a town of 8000 in Wyoming and live around towns that are only a few hundred or less and it is NOT easier for the recruiters to make their quotas and get people into the military. I  feel that the whole big town/little town thing shouldn't be said for everyone cause it doesn't hold true where I grew up. Just wanted to put that out there.

This is true for a lot of rural towns with farms or ranches because kids are hesitant to leave the 'family business' but in small towns without those and its blue color middle class families (minus farmers/ranchers) it does tend (not guarenteed but tend) to be the case.

Maggie, I don't think anyone here bashed King for being against the war in Iraq.  I don't think his position on the war (along with 70% of the country...) has anything to do with saying that if you can't read, you can always join the military.

Although I agree with you about John Kerry. I think it's telling that nearly all of his surviving former crewmates disagree with the criticism he got on his military service. And the Navy IG investigated and found nothing wrong with the way that any of his medals were awarded to him. There are plenty of other reasons to dislike Kerry, jumping on his naval service seems kind of lame when he actually served and went to Vietnam in an era where thousands of people dodged the draft, went to Canada, etc. 

aka1982:

wondergirl:

My step-grandfather had a high school diploma but was functionally illiterate

Your step-grandfather was also educated in a totally different era (as well as serving in a military of a different era). I would posit that literacy is more of a necessity now in the 21st century than it was when your step-grandfather was a young man.

And I didn't say educated, I said literate. (So did King, for that matter. He talked about being able to read, not being college educated.) There are obviously plenty of jobs in this country that do not require the ability to read and write English -- I do not believe the military is one of them.

This is sort of off on a tangent, but unfoprtunately that statement is not true. In my hometown the Army actively recruited non-English speaking people. They literally had bumper stickers printed up in Spainish. A Marine in my unit spoke absolutely NO English when he got to bootcamp and other recruits had to teach him enough to get him through bootcamp, even today, 4 years later, his English is so bad that he almost got kicked off the rifle range because he misunderstood the commands and let off rouds when he wasn't supposed to. A sergeant in my unit has such broken and heavily accented English that most people rarely know what he is saying and things become nearly impossible to get done because of this.

 One would THINK that the ability to give and recieve orders in ENglish would be important in the US Military, but the facti s, the recruiters get who they can get, as long as they fit within the standards, which sadly, even in the USMC,non-pEnglish speaking people DO slip through the cracks.

Ajax_Girl:

This is sort of off on a tangent, but unfoprtunately that statement is not true. In my hometown the Army actively recruited non-English speaking people. They literally had bumper stickers printed up in Spainish. A Marine in my unit spoke absolutely NO English when he got to bootcamp and other recruits had to teach him enough to get him through bootcamp, even today, 4 years later, his English is so bad that he almost got kicked off the rifle range because he misunderstood the commands and let off rouds when he wasn't supposed to. A sergeant in my unit has such broken and heavily accented English that most people rarely know what he is saying and things become nearly impossible to get done because of this.

That's disgusting. I'm all for recruiting immigrants who have become citizens, etc. But, not speaking English? That recruiter should be ashamed of himself and kicked off recruiting duty. (ok, I know that's not how things work, but you get the idea).

That isn't to say people who are bilingual shouldn't be recruited, but to speak NO English at all speaks incredibly poorly of our military and the lengths it will go to to recruit new men and women. Shame on them. 

 I agree--as a Marine I have to say it is frightening to think of how difficult it is to work in garrison with Marines who speak little to no English, compared to if we ever ended up deployed with those same Marines. 

They do not have to speak english to be recruited as long as they have the proper paperwork and can read and pass the ASVAB.  There have been several non-english speaking guys come into my husbands office and like I said if they have the right paperwork and can read english then he has to give them the opportunity to join.

And yes, our Army recruiting office here gives out the Army bumper stickers that are in Spanish.

Ajax_Girl:

 I don't know--I think in general (not everyone & not necessarily in war-time) a lot of people enlist because they don't have other options. That's why recruiters have it easy in small, blue collar towns and really hard in wealthy areas near a big city & lots of colleges. I don't think he's saying service members are stupid, I think he's saying that if you are illiterate that you will end up in a job you have to have instead of one you want to have. Notice he said "The Army, Iraq..soemthing like that". Not "If you can't read you're just as dumb as the soldiers".

Agreed, and very well said.

Maggie:

They do not have to speak english to be recruited as long as they have the proper paperwork and can read and pass the ASVAB.  There have been several non-english speaking guys come into my husbands office and like I said if they have the right paperwork and can read english then he has to give them the opportunity to join.

That's pretty dang disturbing. If you cant speak English, how can you read it and understand it? I can read Spanish but have no idea what it means. This seems like the most idiotic and unsafe thing ever.  I dont know much but one would assume that verbal commands are pretty effing important when you're out fighting in a war. Why do recruiters want them in the Marine Corps? Just to meet their quota? I'm so not getting this.