Hey Kid! Wanna Die for Your Country?

"When talking to potential recruits, [Sgt. Valderrama], who grew up in Forest Hills and was piling up debt at St. John's University when he left to join the Marines, emphasizes the educational benefits of the Corps, not the chances of going to Iraq. Still, Valderrama and his two fellow recruiters frequently have to push to 'make mission,' to reach their monthly recruiting quota. In December, they made their quota of five total recruits by a hair, with two?both recruited by Valderrama 'signing up the day before deadline. Of the 14 substations in New York City and on Long Island, Hess's was the only one to make mission for the month." Misguided ideas about the nature of manhood, enlightened self-interest, and simple-minded notions of patriotism, don't work as well as they used to. Now, they gotta promise recruits college money and employment training. What the hell exactly it is you're supposed to learn from kicking in doors or doing foot patrols in foreign neighborhoods, (while being shot at), that makes you more ?employable,? Sgt. Valderrama never says though.