Monday, April 28, 2008
PBS Program
Last night as I was channel surfing I came across a PBS special called "Carrier". It's a mini series about the lives of sailors living on an aircraft carrier (Nimitz) which at the time of filming was headed for the Persian Gulf. It reminded me of our class discussion last week about reporting from the enlisted person's perspective, what they do in their down time, the stress they are under, their personal struggles, etc. It was really interesting to hear from these (mostly young) people about how, when, and why they decided to join the Navy. They were really from all backgrounds, races, etc. but many joined because they felt it was something good for their country following 9/11, others saw it as a way to escape a really negative situation at home, others just wanted to see the world, get money for college, many reasons. It is shown on our local tv station KQED (Comcast Channel 9) and I think it comes on just about every night if you are interested in taking a look.
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2 comments:
I looked up the demographics of the armed forces and the majority of our military is made up of white middle class boys. Thr minority segment pretty much mirrors the US demograhics. THere are more middle class representedin th emilitary than in the population. My son wanted to enlist as did most of the guys he knew, they were not coerced. I think if we want to be fair about ilitary service and stop recruiting then we should require all Americans to serve their country. How do you protect freedom? As John F. Kennedy said,"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Of course that would not matter either in a borderless world. Can anyone imagine what that would look like? I just think it is the key to true social justice.
In response to Blogdog's comment: Your data fits with what I saw on the episodes I watched, which is one of the reasons I suggested people take a look. It is pretty inspiring to see so many young people who are really learning not only future job skills, but responsibility and leadership they may not have gotten elsewhere.
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