There are so many options out there for our young men and women, why limit them to just the obvious? Not everyone is ready for college right out of high school, and not everyone can afford it.

If you have to screen your 17-year-old's calls from recruiters, you may want to consider rooming with your child at college. There are many other temptations out there, from underage drinking to drugs and sex.

It must seem horrible to those parents who try to keep the recruiters away. Recruiters know there are students out there who want to contribute to their future and that of our great country. Remember, 17-year-olds can't enlist without parental consent, but 18-year-olds can!

What's the beef? Do you not have the intelligence to throw away the mailings or hang up on the calls? A person wearing the uniform of the U.S. military is not the enemy, as portrayed in the media or halls of government.

I know what it is like to wait and wonder about a loved one on the battlefield. My dad served two tours in Vietnam and three years in Korea. I would watch the blood drain from my mother's face with each knock on our door while he was gone. Dad is an honorable man who signed with the Army for 21 years. In return, he got a part-time job that paid more than his Army pay, a small pension and the self-respect that only comes from integrity.

I have said my piece. Anyone outraged can spit their hatred toward me. I experienced it before with fellow sailors as we marched from the San Diego Padres' baseball stadium in 1979 after a special trip "to honor the military."

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