07/05/05

When military recruiters came to Marshfield [MA] High School last year, Joe Satterthwaite and Luke Auen were intrigued. The 16-year-olds both needed money to pay for college. Both had relatives who had served their country and who were urging them on, for Satterthwaite his father and for Auen his grandfather. But sitting in the food court of a shopping mall eating McDonald's fries this week, near a store selling T-shirts with American flag decals, the teens said the bloom was off the idea. 'It doesn't seem fun or interesting to be going over to Iraq to fight people and kill them,' Satterthwaite said. 'And the whole thought of dying when you're 18 sounds pretty bad.' Auen nodded and added: 'My grandpa says all our generation cares about is ourselves. I guess it's kind of true.' While some wars have spurred men and women to sign up in ever-higher numbers, this one has not...

http://tinyurl.com/axkb3

from Boston Globe


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp