Last month, the incredibly commercially successful author Stephen King pulled a John Kerry and opined that if you don’t learn how to read that “then you’ve got, the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that. It’s, it’s not as bright.”
But how true is this insulting statement from the mega successful author? Let’s take a look at the official requirements for entrance from the US Military:
Success in any branch of the Military depends on a good education, and a high school diploma is most desirable. Candidates with a GED (General Education Development certificate) can enlist, but some Services may limit opportunities. It is very difficult to be considered a serious candidate without either a high school diploma or accepted alternative credential. In any case, staying in school is important for entering the Military.
He also fails to appreciate the technical training and discipline that many benefit from within the military. Perhaps King should read “Demilitarizing What the Pentagon Knows About Developing Young People: A New Paradigm for Educating Students Who Are Struggling in School and in Life” from The Brookings Institution.
He also insults young men and women who feel compelled to serve our country out a love for it’s ideals, freedoms, and institutions. How many of these young patriotic men and women read King’s fiction as a teenager? How much money has King made off of these brave young men and women? I remember enjoying King’s fiction as a teenager. It was entertaining and incredibly accessible for a middle school student.
I was listening to Jamie Allman and Crane Durham this morning on 97.1 on their show when I learned of King’s insult. For Jamie this is understandably personal. His son is about to graduate school this spring and he has decided to serve his country as a reservist. But here is the thing that King probably can’t understand. Allman’s son is a fine student who achieved excellent scores on his college entrance exams. His son wants to serve his great country out of love and not out of need.
Jamie and Crane also had a caller who was personally and understandably offended by King’s absurd and elitist statement. The caller is the father of a brave soldier stationed in Afghanistan. He relayed the latest request from his son. What did his son request? It wasn’t anything for him. The soldier requested coloring books and a bunch of crayons for Afghani children. He also requested ink for his printer. The ink was needed to print of coloring pages for the children. The kicker was that this soldier is a loyal fan of Stephen King. He had praised King for his skill at scaring him in writing to his father.
Stephen King has benefited greatly from fans like this extremely literate soldier, but I’d argue that this soldiers work with these Afghani children is vastly more valuable. I’m not sure how much that registers with King as he preaches to the choir or enjoys the comfort of his lifestyle while American troops help these children.
Every day I seem to be struck over the head by the careless remarks of some leftist I-know-what’s-best-for-humanity “scholar”. My son was KIA in Iraq, and what I see and hear in this country lately sickens me - because more and more I come to believe that there is much more appreciation in Iraq for my son’s sacrifice then in this country. Over there they appreciate our soldiers, for what they have and are doing for them. It seems most here have become so self serving that they consider those who serve our country as either stupid or barbaric, probably because they can not relate to the concept of selfless giving. They believe everyone has a selfish motive for everything they do, unless, of course, they give humanitarian speeches in tuxedos at some Hollywood benefit. My son was enrolled in college when he joined the military. He did not join because he was stupid, or because his family was too poor to educate him, or because he likes the idea of killing children. He joined because when the planes hit the towers he was angry. He saw it as an attack on America – the America which is the most giving nation in the history of mankind, not the America that is so wicked that She brought it on Herself. He saw a need to defend his homeland, with his life if necessary, and that he did. He did not die for a “misguided policy”; he died keeping international terrorist tied down defending their holy land from “infidels” rather than leaving them with the time and availability to attack the “infidels” again where they live. Do people like Stephen King actually think the terrorists have just gone away and THAT is why we have not been attacked again? Now THAT is stupid. Do they think our nations border “security” is the reason? THAT is a joke. Our soldiers in Iraq are the reason!!! Perhaps one day Mr. King will write a story that “offends” some extreme Islamic cleric and a bounty will be placed on him. Perhaps if all our “stupid” soldiers are not brought home before Iraq is secure and this stupid, misguided US policy is not ended too soon these “highly tolerant” clerics will have difficulty finding recruits to carry out their orders.