I'd like to explain about last week's column.
I attached an announcement about a military forum at our school to the end of a personal celebration of my prospective grandfatherhood. Some people have remarked that they did not belong in the same space. I agree.
But I needed to get the message out that the public forum on military recruiting at Hoover High School had been called off.
A good number of people had planned to attend and since everyone reads the Glendale News-Press, it seemed like a good way to spread the word.
The students who had communicated with recruiters made it very clear that the forum was about recruitment policy and that any effort to turn it into an indictment about the war in Iraq would be cut off. Responses from the Army and Marines were initially favorable to the forum until they checked with superiors.
For reasons that I do not understand, they all declined, or ignored altogether, our invitation.
The National Guard and the Air Force did not respond to repeated phone calls and e-mails. The Marine representative expressed reluctance from the outset and the Army withdrew at the last minute.
The Navy, to its credit, expressed an interest in coming, although with some reservation.
Our Debate Club had little choice but to call the whole thing off.
The picture is pretty complete but I am left with questions.
Our Defense Department spends more than a billion dollars a year promoting service in the military.
Why, then, the avoidance of a public opportunity to present their case at a place where they hope to draw recruits?
Why, especially in the face of high recruiting needs, the reluctance to engage in a public dialogue about military service?
Over the years I've talked with many young men and women in uniform who have been fixtures on our campus.
They are outstanding representatives of our military branches and have offered, to many who seek it, a straighter and narrower path in their immediate future.
They offer, as well, a chance to serve one's country and, when the occasion arises, to protect it.
I salute all the young men and women who answer that call and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
But I do not support this war ? so how do I answer a student who asks for my advice about enlistment? Some would have me rendered mute in deference to my professional ethics. Mustn't use my sensitive position to influence a young person on such a personal matter. Mustn't act in any way to impede our government's manpower needs in its war on terrorism.
