4 ms·

A brave young teenager leaving his safe space to go to war. Respect.

gambiting 11y ago
The same sentence can be said about a young man from Syria going to war for Isis. Except that you probably wouldn't put "respect" at the end of your sentence. No young people should go to war anywhere.
- lujim 11y ago
  Truly just wars may be few and far between but the Pacific war was one of them. I get annoyed by flag waving and chest thumping as much as the next guy but very few people alive today would try to justify Japans actions in WW2. I think it's ok to use the word "respect" in this case. Comparing a Marine or Sailor who broke the rules to fight in the Pacific to a kid fighting with ISIS is a real stretch.
  - gambiting 11y ago
    I don't think it is, really. A 13 year old child is not going to understand what they are fighting for, doesn't matter if they are from Syria or from US. We don't let 13 year olds have sex because they don't understand what they are doing, we don't let them drink alcohol, smoke or drive for the same reason - but going to war is somehow laudable? The only reason why there's "respect" in here is that he fought for the "good" side. If he fought for the "bad" side we would all be saying how horrible it was that they used children soldiers.
    - lujim 11y ago
      I would respect a "Bad side in ww2" Japanese or German boy who decided to lie about his age to enlist and AFTER seeing the horrors of combat still acted more heroic than most grown men. I think this guy was a complete bad ass.
KC8ZKF 11y ago
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. --Wilfred Owen
cbhl 11y ago
Hard to believe an "abusive stepfather" could be called a "safe space".
- lujim 11y ago
  Safer than the deck of the South Dakota.

The same sentence can be said about a young man from Syria going to war for Isis. Except that you probably wouldn't put "respect" at the end of your sentence. No young people should go to war anywhere.

lujim 11y ago
Truly just wars may be few and far between but the Pacific war was one of them. I get annoyed by flag waving and chest thumping as much as the next guy but very few people alive today would try to justify Japans actions in WW2. I think it's ok to use the word "respect" in this case. Comparing a Marine or Sailor who broke the rules to fight in the Pacific to a kid fighting with ISIS is a real stretch.
- gambiting 11y ago
  I don't think it is, really. A 13 year old child is not going to understand what they are fighting for, doesn't matter if they are from Syria or from US. We don't let 13 year olds have sex because they don't understand what they are doing, we don't let them drink alcohol, smoke or drive for the same reason - but going to war is somehow laudable? The only reason why there's "respect" in here is that he fought for the "good" side. If he fought for the "bad" side we would all be saying how horrible it was that they used children soldiers.
  - lujim 11y ago
    I would respect a "Bad side in ww2" Japanese or German boy who decided to lie about his age to enlist and AFTER seeing the horrors of combat still acted more heroic than most grown men. I think this guy was a complete bad ass.

KC8ZKF 11y ago

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. --Wilfred Owen

cbhl 11y ago

Hard to believe an "abusive stepfather" could be called a "safe space".

lujim 11y ago
Safer than the deck of the South Dakota.