Sunday, May 28, 2006
MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE
Dear Readers in the United States,
As we get a day off from school for Memorial Day, I'd like to stop and be grateful for a number of things.
Since our country went to war in Iraq in 2003, the role of the military has taken on a whole new meaning. Having been a high school guidance counselor since 1992, I've advised thousands of students about different career options. Before September 11, 2001 I recommended the military as a great career choice for young adults who were ready for a military lifestyle.
The military has always been a fantastic way to get great career skills, as well as grow up quickly, see the world and get paid well. It is still all of those things.
But before 2001 many of us lost sight of the fact that the Army, Navy Air Force, Marines, National Guard and Coast Guard were also the lines of defense that kept us safe in a dangerous world. After September 11th, the meaning of being in the armed services changed.
For a long time after the Viet Nam War ended, many people looked at the military as a way to carve out a career. Although people always realized there was a potential danger in joining, it seemed like a good way to begin a career. Of course, those days are gone.
Today when people join the armed forces they still do so for the career advancement and other benefits that come with it. But the potential danger is greater than it has been in the past. More than 2400 U.S. military personnel have killed in Iraq, with many more injured. One of my former students was badly injured last year. Is it worth joining up under today's conditions.
Many people join the military for much more than career opportunities. They join out of a sense of duty to their country. They are grateful for the opportunities they have because they live in a land of choices. They join out of gratitude. They join to protect their homes and their way of life.
Many of us have opinions about whether or not we should be in this war in the first place. That's not what this is about. Whatever your feelings are about Iraq and our role in it, please realize that this war is being fought by people who chose to serve - for many reasons.
On Monday May 29 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force and Coast Guard personnel will salute those who came before them. They will honor those who gave their lives in past wars so that we have the freedom to live the way we choose. We are free to go to school, enter careers, build families, even crticize our teachers on sites like Rate My Teachers.
Without the sacrifices of these people, you and I wouldn't have any of this. The things we take for granted are here because of the people we honor on Memorial Day.
Please take May 29 as a chance to honor those who sacrificed so much so that we can have so much.
Happy Memorial Day,
Larry Hochman
The Guidance Guy
As we get a day off from school for Memorial Day, I'd like to stop and be grateful for a number of things.
Since our country went to war in Iraq in 2003, the role of the military has taken on a whole new meaning. Having been a high school guidance counselor since 1992, I've advised thousands of students about different career options. Before September 11, 2001 I recommended the military as a great career choice for young adults who were ready for a military lifestyle.
The military has always been a fantastic way to get great career skills, as well as grow up quickly, see the world and get paid well. It is still all of those things.
But before 2001 many of us lost sight of the fact that the Army, Navy Air Force, Marines, National Guard and Coast Guard were also the lines of defense that kept us safe in a dangerous world. After September 11th, the meaning of being in the armed services changed.
For a long time after the Viet Nam War ended, many people looked at the military as a way to carve out a career. Although people always realized there was a potential danger in joining, it seemed like a good way to begin a career. Of course, those days are gone.
Today when people join the armed forces they still do so for the career advancement and other benefits that come with it. But the potential danger is greater than it has been in the past. More than 2400 U.S. military personnel have killed in Iraq, with many more injured. One of my former students was badly injured last year. Is it worth joining up under today's conditions.
Many people join the military for much more than career opportunities. They join out of a sense of duty to their country. They are grateful for the opportunities they have because they live in a land of choices. They join out of gratitude. They join to protect their homes and their way of life.
Many of us have opinions about whether or not we should be in this war in the first place. That's not what this is about. Whatever your feelings are about Iraq and our role in it, please realize that this war is being fought by people who chose to serve - for many reasons.
On Monday May 29 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force and Coast Guard personnel will salute those who came before them. They will honor those who gave their lives in past wars so that we have the freedom to live the way we choose. We are free to go to school, enter careers, build families, even crticize our teachers on sites like Rate My Teachers.
Without the sacrifices of these people, you and I wouldn't have any of this. The things we take for granted are here because of the people we honor on Memorial Day.
Please take May 29 as a chance to honor those who sacrificed so much so that we can have so much.
Happy Memorial Day,
Larry Hochman
The Guidance Guy
