Make-a-Wish gets the Army to accept 7yr old solider.....

[Axiomatization]

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=6400

I used to donate to the Make-a-Wish whenever I had the spare change since they have done some amazing things but this?????? :wtf:


I'm not sure which is up and which is down anymore.......:(

[sr_pacifica]

1. Good story although sickening

How about this excerpt from http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story id key=6400:

"I think it's wonderful that he looks up to Soldiers as role models and wanted to spend time with them," he said. "I think my Soldiers were more inspired by Phillip than he was with my Soldiers. He touched everyone's heart."

Savitski said being in the military for more than 26 years, he has seen a lot of things but nothing affects a Soldier more than a child in need.

"No matter how macho a Soldier is, there is something about kids that finds the goodness in all people," said Savitski. "Its usually a child's smile."

Does this go for Iraqi children too?

[Axiomatization]

2. Let us not forget....

about letting the child play with a real life "war simulator" that uses an M-16 and a 9mm Beretta?

[sr_pacifica]

3. "It's just like a video game!"

I believe one of the grown-up army guys said. What a f*up thing to put into a child's brain.

[Axiomatization]

4. How about this quote???

"Are you ready to fire a tank?" asked retired Sgt. Maj. Jim Sands, Shriver's escort at the facility. "This is going to be fun," he said as he and Shriver climbed into the trainer.


I'm going to be sick................

[ComerPerro]

5. I gotta say, I don't really have a problem with this

It's the make-a-Wish foundation, ok? The kid has lukemia!

It's not like they are brainwashing him!

Hell, at least he wants to be a soldier.

What I consider "disgusting" is people who are over 18 that support this bullshit war but still will not sign up to fight in something that they believe is protecting our freedoms.

Flame away, but perhaps you should lighten up.

Think about what this might mean for the kid.

[Axiomatization]

6. So when is it ok to.....

train a kid to use an assault rifle and a handgun. Doesn't matter that they can't fire bullets. Last I checked, that isn't normal....imo

[ComerPerro]

9. Training him????

Give me a break!

Come on. This is pathetic.

They are trying to give a kid a thrill. Its not like they are teaching him to take the gun apart and put it together blindfolded. They aren't training him to kill people.

He's just a kid, this is charity work.

[951]

7. Lay off! They don't call it the make-a-wish foundation for nothing

Its disgusting to read what some of these socalled "democrats" are posting he's just a little kid who wants to see what the army is about whats wrong with that?

[Axiomatization]

8. While we are at it......

Lets show him what a MASH unit does too....

I don't mind the kid being shown the base but having him "train for a day" as a real solider? Come on....

When he shot at the simulator, was he shooting at targets or at simulated people? Why won't they say???

[NervousRex]

10. Sick...

This kid is sick with leukemia and so is the culture he was raised in....this is tragic...This little boy may die, and the best thing he(or his parents)can come up with is for him to covet the profession of anonymous violence and death...fucking great!

[ComerPerro]

17. He is seven, so bear with me here:

He was 3 when Bush was selected. When he was born, we were not a country that was about unjust wars. We were honorable, we were respected.

He was 4 when 9/11 happened, which means he doesn't remember it, but he has probably been influenced by the nationalism that is runing rampant in this country.

Besides, maybe his parents were in the military. It seems likely, since this is is dream. And when you are a seven year old boy, you want to be a soldier, an astronaut, or a professional athlete.

Why ruin his dreams just because the person residing in the White House is a sick, lying, murderous sociopath?

Lets instead hope that this boy survives his illness, and grows up to become a soldier in a US Military that is headed by a Commander in Chief who will actually respect the military and will use them for just purposes.

[sr_pacifica]

11. It's not so much that the kid wanted to see what the army was about

It's what the grown-ups were saying that was documented in the article that is disturbing---so disconnected from the real world or war.

[Radius]

22. I agree

If I was 7 and got to ride around in a tank and take a helicopter ride it would be pretty cool.

Don't read to much into this one.

I wish the kid well with his illness.

[Vickers]

12. I got no problem with it...the kid wanted it, he's dying

Let him have his wish.

[ComerPerro]

13. Exactly

[sr_pacifica]

14. That was my initial response too, but I read the article

Responsible adults should not be teaching kids that weapons and war are just games.

[Axiomatization]

15. Thank you......

As I have stated before, I have given money to them BUT letting kids idolize war and destruction because it was a wish???? No thank you...

[ComerPerro]

16. Yeah, I read it too

"It's like a huge video game," said Richard Eyestone, Combat Arms Simulations Training instructor, as he assisted Shriver with loading a clip in his simulated 9mm pistol. "Targets will appear on the big screen, and you just have to shoot them."

At one point, Shriver's dad got down on the ground with his son and helped him aim the realistic weapon more accurately.

"That is about as real as you can get without actually firing a 9mm gun with real bullets," said Chris. "The gun kicks, and it sound like a gun firing. You just can't get more realistic than that."

Sounds like a video game to me...



And, I saw this:

"Are you ready to fire a tank?" asked retired Sgt. Maj. Jim Sands, Shriver's escort at the facility. "This is going to be fun," he said as he and Shriver climbed into the trainer.

Sands told the honorary private, "If you need anything, I know what it's like to be sick. You just call me."

Sands is recovering from a liver transplant after liver failure and said he feels close to Shriver because of his life threatening illness.

"It doesn't matter what, just call," he said.

Yeah, these people are real sickos, aren't they :crazy:


For eight hours, 7-year-old Phillip Shriver pursued a dream that has kept him fortified throughout his battle with leukemia. He said he has always wanted to be a Soldier. And for that day, with the help from his newly found band of brothers and sisters, he was.

What's wrong with that? Honestly?

What are you going to do, tell a seven year old with cancer that his dream is a complete sham, because ultimately the Bush Administration doesn't give a shit about the troops that they send to die needlessly or the innocents that they kill in a war based on lies?

Of course not.

Can't that harsh reality wait until he is older? Why tear down his dream? No one should be a cynic at 7.

[Vickers]

19. ComerPerro, give it up, man. Folks are gonna be indignant about this

no matter what.

These are the kinds of stupid fucking battles that our party is famous for, that are divisive in nature, unwinnable, and shit, did I say stupid already?

If one of my OWN kids wanted to do this, I'd let 'em. Would I agree with it? No (and I am a veteran!), but goddam, folks should pick their battles more wisely than this.

There is plenty more in this world to be pissed about.

[ComerPerro]

20. Yeah, but its just sick

Oh well.

Glad to see that there are other reasonable people (who are established posters) in this thread :)

[Axiomatization]

24. And.....

What is that suppose to mean? Until I reach a certain number of posts I should keep my mouth shut???

As I have said, I have given money to them in the past HOWEVER, you would think that Make-A-Wish would and should use a bit more discretion in these times????

[sr_pacifica]

26. Thank you, devisive Comerperro

You call yourself a Democrat? Do you really eat dogs?

[mitchum]

18. Well, he's not the only soldier who is dying

[Berserker]

21. He is 7 years old

What did you want to be when you were 7? He does not know what war is and what killing other humans mean. He is looking at the world through a 7 year olds eye's and when I was 7 I wanted to be and Army man but as I aged I changed my mind and now I want to be a porno star.

[cosmicvortex20]

23. Relax - all boys play soldier at some point.

Its not the end of the world - just as all girls play with dolls at some point, yet some might grow up to be CEOs.

Its called being hypersensitive.

[sr_pacifica]

25. Generalizations n/t

[TahitiNut]

27. The kid is a victim TWICE over.

Rather than excoriate the kid, I condemn a society that cannot distinguish between honoring the sacrifices of those who serve and celebrating their acts.

There is no "glory" in war nor in war machines. It is an evil, dirty, insane condition. I take no pride in any deaths I caused, aided, or abetted. It has never left my mind. I take take no more pride in "serving" than if I were to donate a kidney to a brother or sister. It's what a decent person does. Serving in the military is a sacrifice of a part of one's soul - a surrender to the will of one's community and nation, an act of faith in the true spirit of a democracy. How that community and nation elects and allows such service to be deployed is every citizen's responsibility.

The buck stops there - at We the People.

It appalls me to see citizens on this board attempting to shift the moral burden of such service to the troops. Along with inalienable rights come inalienable responsibilities. A willingness to abdicate such responsibility easily becomes a willingness to let democracy die - and just "let George do it." That's how it happens.