Believe it or not, a thought struck me & I actually started crying about halfway through this videeo

[MiddleFingerMom]

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I realized/remembered that most armies (and more to the point... their
casualties), no matter WHERE they're from, are comprised mostly of
18-, 19- & 20-year old boys & girls... who care not a whit for economic
systems or world domination... but their dreams and goals are often
centered around someday finding someone they consider "beautiful"
who will also consider THEM "beautiful".
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Children, really. Just children.
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(Sorry, soldiers -- when it comes to death, I'm claiming chronological
perspective here.)
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Aren't these YOUR girls, AsahinaKimi?
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&feature=player_embedded
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[Tobin S.]

1. I don't know much about militaries in other countries

But I do know a little about our own military. I never served, but several of my family members have.

It seems to me that the military represents a path to a better life for a lot of young people, especially poor kids, as long as they can avoid that war stuff. I have a cousin who recently retired from the Navy. He went in when he was 19 and served 20 years. He initially did it because he could not otherwise afford a college education. He decided to stay in when he was offered a cushy teaching position stateside and that's what he did for the remainder of his career there.

My dad served in the Army and I was born while he and my mom were stationed in Germany. I know you were stationed over there so you might know about where he was. I was born in Landstuhl in 1972. He went in because of a lack of opportunity at home and a promise that he would not have to serve in Vietnam because of his marital status.

My step-dad served in the Navy during Vietnam, but not because he wanted to. He was from a poor family of 6 kids and had three brothers. He knew he was on the short list to get drafted and serve in Vietnam, but he beat them to the punch by joining the Navy. He never set foot in Vietnam.

Yeah, I think it's mostly kids from poor and working class families. The military just looks like a way out and it is for many people as long as you can avoid that war stuff.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. That's EXACTLY what it was for me... although we had attained a lower middle-class status.

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I had long hair and a smartass "doesn't do well with authority" attitude (not
exactly right for the military, eh?) -- but I was living in a conservative
Michigan town with a crumbling economy (best job out there was in a car
wash -- not a lotta future in that).
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Excelled in the early military aspects -- ironically, it was my anti-authoritarian
attitude that got me through. "YOU can not beat me down -- only I can allow
you to win."
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Ended up doing 6 years on an initial 3-year tour -- was a terrible soldier (though
I made sergeant) but what saved me was that I was an exceptional medic.
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For quite a while, I would encourage otherwise hopeless parents to consider
the military for their children if it would help them in the same way that it
helped me.
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I haven't done that for many, MANY years because of the way our "leaders" --
ON BOTH GODDAM SIDES OF THE FLOOR -- have treated the lives and welfare
of our young troops in such a cavalier fucking fashion.
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[HopeHoops]

2. She doesn't look old enough to have girls that old.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. It's probably the most popular "band" in Korea right now...

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... "Girls Generation" or "SNSD", they're known as.
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I think Kimi hosts a fanclub interactive chatroom/website that follows them.
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[HopeHoops]

6. I know. I watched the "Bring the Boys Out" video she posted earlier.

[hunter]

5. My father-in-law joined the military in circumstances similar to your own, MiddleFingerMom.

He got to witness an atomic bomb explosion up close and personal, so close that he could see the flash of it with his eyes closed, through the back of his head, butt facing the explosion, in a trench.

These kids were guinea pigs marching across ground zero as soon as it cooled off. They later took showers to scrub the radioactivity off.

My kids are that age. I'll do what I can to protect them from the war machines.

Kids, they are all our kids...