>http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/16ENLI.html
>New York Times
>September 16, 2001
>THE SERVICES
>
>Despite National Emotion, There's No Rush to Enlist
>By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON and AMY WALDMAN
>
>Workers at the collapse site in Lower Manhattan greeted President Bush by
>chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A.!" At memorial sites, there have been spontaneous
>outbreaks of "God Bless America." American flags sprout from window boxes
>and moving trucks, on the helmets of rescue workers and the electronic
>marquees of Times Square.
>
>Yet while the armed services report a spike in the number of people
>inquiring about enlistment and a near-doubling in the visitors to the
Army's
>online recruiter chat room, they also report no rise in actual enlistments
>since the attack.
>
>In contrast to the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when thousands of
>young men got in line to sign up for combat, this time, with the apparent
>loss of life much greater, there are no such lines. And many of the
>expressions of interest have come from men too old to serve, according to
>spokesmen for the national headquarters of all four recruiting commands.
>
>"These people in their 40's, these old guys, wanted to serve their country,
>but the younger people just don't have any patriotism," said Staff Sgt.
>Donald Wilson, a Marine Corps recruiter. The maximum age for Marine
recruits
>in most cases is 29.
>
>Patriotism is not always the driving force behind military enlistment.
>Still, some argue that these days may represent a test for a generation
>largely detached from the military.
>
>On Friday, James Young, 18, a high school senior from Rochester, joined the
>Marines, the only person in the state's third-largest city to do so since
>Tuesday. He said he had tried to persuade friends to sign up on Thursday
and
>was mocked.
>
>"They are all cowards, self-centered and afraid," said Mr. Young, a senior
>at an alternative high school. "They just wanted to get an education, get
>women and get drunk."
>
>Charles Moskos, a professor of military sociology at Northwestern
>University, said the lack of enlistment reflected a trend of increasing
>estrangement between the military and society. Baby boomers at least
>grappled with whether to serve, even if many eventually did not. But since
>the draft's repeal in 1972, only a small percentage of Americans have
served
>in the military, and even events like the Persian Gulf war failed to drive
>many more to do so.
>
>"Flag-waving is not patriotism," Professor Moskos said.
>
>The flag wavers, of course, would say differently. On Wednesday, with the
>sun shining, Midtown Manhattan looked as if it were gearing up for a Fourth
>of July parade. Robert Negron was selling flags at the corner of 34th
Street
>and Seventh Avenue for $1 apiece, and selling out.
>
>"The Palestinians are waving theirs," he boomed out. "You should be waving
>yours."
>
>His goal, he said, was to create a "snowball effect," and by Thursday, the
>snowball was rolling. It was hard to go almost anywhere without seeing an
>American flag.
>
>Evaluating enlistment last week by comparing it with Pearl Harbor may be
>unfair, given that this time around, the nation's leaders have yet to
decide
>whom to fight or how. Also, most of those joining the military these days
>are driven less by patriotism than the desire for educational benefits and
>skills training.
>
>Still, last week's events seem certain to recalibrate the emotions even of
>those already committed to serve.
>
>Joshua Sanders, 18, lives in New City, N.Y., and had been recruited, as he
>put it last week, after weighing a military career for two years. On
Friday,
>picking up some forms at the Times Square recruiting station, he talked
>about how the attack had strengthened his commitment.
>
>"After what I saw on the news," he said, "my blood started to boil."
>
>In the days since the attack, many people have called in to the country's
>thousands of service recruiting centers to find out how to help.
>
>Maj. David C. Andersen of the Marine Corps said the corps' public affairs
>office at 50th Street and Third Avenue had been getting 20 calls a day from
>people saying they wanted to enlist. (For those interested: that office
does
>not process enlistments.)
>
>In many communities, the recruiting centers are the military's most visible
>presence, a fact that also has military officials worried. Spokesmen for
the
>recruiting commands said they were taking increased precautions to ensure
>the safety of their recruiters and the facilities.
>
>There are no such worries on the recruitment Web site for the Army,
>goarmy.com, where the recruiter chat room was packed last week. The site is
>logging about 743 visitors during a four-hour chat, up from 400 before the
>attack, according to Mr. Smith. There have been 500 e-mail messages a day
to
>the Web site recently, up from 200.
>
>The postings Friday afternoon were fervent: "I want to help my country all
I
>can even if I have to die doing it!"
>
>"If I enlist now will I get a shot at those responsible for the terrorist
>act?"
>
>"How do I become a sniper?"
>
>Many chat-room visitors said they lacked high school diplomas or had
>criminal records, that they were over age or overweight, flat of foot or
>pierced of tongue. They had questions: Would they be qualified? Could
>standards be waived?
>
>Recruiters struggled to answer the flood of queries, generally saying that
>each applicant would be judged individually.
>
>Still, many of the questions on the site were about re-enlistment, by men
>older than the Army's customary age maximum of 34.
>
>"Veterans, God bless them, want to know what they can do," Mr. Smith said.
>"But it's not for them to be a soldier again."
>[end]
>