"Hell No, They Won't Go -- Yet"

By Janelle Brown and King Kaufman

Sep 19, 2001 | Read the story.

I cannot conceive of what sort of college students your writers chose to interview that they received the responses in this article, but I represent a group of students whose opinions you seem to have (intentionally?) missed. Your portrayal of the, apparently, few students who were in support of decisive military action indicated that such students were both unwilling to fight themselves, and unable to articulate the purpose of such military action.

I am a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Were I interviewed I would have been able to tell you that America needs to respond to these terrorist actions as exactly what they are, a threat to our ability to practice those freedoms set forth in the Declaration of Independence. The threat to our freedom is equally as much a threat to our lives, and deserves to be treated as no less. We must defend ourselves, and unlike your supposedly representative college students, I am perfectly willing to do whatever!

It is necessary to see that I and all future generations of Americans can enjoy the freedoms we have now. Even at the expense of my life, because like Patrick Henry I say, "Give me liberty or give me death." What would we be now if the founding fathers of our country had retreated in cowardice, had fled their duty? I pose that question to your liberal college students. Where would they be and how might they expect to be free to practice their brand of cowardice? As for Noam Chomsky, he can rot in hell.

--Nathan Hoskinson

It disgusts me to see how weak the youth of America have become. Those people want to flee the very country that affords them the freedom to make that choice in the first place. Do you know why Saddam's soldiers surrendered to CNN? I'm sure if those soldiers had been given half the freedoms we have as Americans, they would have fought to the bitter end. I am 28 years old, and I work for the FAA. Believe me, if those college students could comprehend the scope and magnitude of Tuesday's attacks, they would understand that our only option is to defeat the enemy that attacked our homeland. I am too old to be drafted, but if I were facing that possibility, a familiar quote would come to mind: I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. God bless America.

--Tony

There's nothing surprising about the fact that young adults don't want to go to war. First of all, war isn't especially fun. Second, it's dangerous. Third, being a veteran earns you no respect in many quarters of our society. Add to that the fact that our military mission and goals are still being crafted.

Beyond all of that, when a generation is raised to believe that they live in the most immoral society in human history, that patriotism is for suckers and that peace is the logical consequence of happy thoughts, of course that's what they'll say.

Still, despite everything, one can observe nascent patriotic tendencies. It's amusing to watch young adults looking nervously over to the VFW seniors in order to figure out how to treat the flag and how to sing old patriotic standards. Many of them sense that there really is a need to think of something bigger than themselves, but their education has given them precious little preparation for that realization.

--Michael Booker

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