Reconciling

The conversation then turned to how the Army recruiters had "lured" her now enlisted son thru his stomach--pizza, subs, etc.

I think this is insulting to her son's intelligence! Does she really think he could be lured into a big decision like enlisting because they fed him pizza and subs? :thumbdown: Obviously he wanted to serve his country no matter what his mother said.

I'll get off my soapbox now.
 
I have heard this before..... I wonder if Mom's reaction isn't a defensive one to save her from guilt. Mom's are never supposed to be happy to send their son's (daughter's ?) off to war.
Nevertheless, many enlisted sign up and don't tell their parents. My sister-in-law joined the reserve's while a junior in high school 20 years ago. She was only 17 and got her Dad to sign. Afterwards, they both broke the news to her mother. Incidentally, she was a drill sergeant who spent a lot of her drill summers at Camp Buckner and Ft Lewis - taught cadets how to shoot!
My brother's step son dropped out of college after a semester - that winter (of 2001) he went to a recruiting station and joined the Army. 82nd Airborne division. He had not confided in either parent or his siblings and was 18 years old. His mother was shocked and not pleased. A badly sprained ankle kept him from boot camp until late fall of 2001. He went from boot camp to airborne school and the day after graduating from Airborne school he shipped out to Afghanistan. He also ended up in Fallujah in the early days of the war. For the 3 years he was Active Duty - he was in the US for about 6 months. He is home, in the reserves and back in college paid for by Uncle Sam and his mother is the first to tell anyone how proud she is of the man he has become.
 
In my opinion she should not feel guilty about her son enlisting, she should be proud he has grown into an adult and is making his own decisions. I don’t expect her to be happy about sending him off to war but to say he was lured by food is just ignorant. I hope she comes to her senses eventually.

I know many people enlist without telling their parents and I don’t blame them. My husband enlisted at age 20 and then told his parents. When my father-in-law found out which MOS my husband wanted he gave him hell for it and bullied him into enlisting for a different MOS. To this day he regrets it. He told me that, at the time, it was easier to change his MOS than to put his foot down with his father. I can understand this because my father-in-law is a very difficult person (one reason we live 3,000 miles away from him). My husband has always said he will give our sons his opinion if asked but will not dictate to them what career they should pick or interfere in their lives like his father did.
 
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