Kids These Days:

Just over a week after I praised high school senior Christopher Amoroso for choosing to serve our country by enlisting in the Air Force, the Marines made their presence known on a local high school campus through a classroom visit by a recruiter.

When I was in high school, the Vietnam War was raging, and the U.S. military was seen as the enemy. The closest we got to the military on our liberal high school campus was the presence of the high school members of the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Back then, the acronym ROTC also stood for “Rotten Old Tin Cans.” Back then, we protested against war and anything military.

That was then, this is now.

As an adult who appreciates the role of the American soldier more and more each day, I no longer have a problem with military recruiters on campus, as long as they are part of a broader program to expose high school seniors to career options, which they were.

The lack of concern over their presence stems not only from a more mature outlook, but also because I know that for many high school seniors, the military option is a good one.

But despite the multiple efforts in this space over the years, some adults see the armed forces only as an option for the desperate; for those with no college potential and no job prospects.

Try telling that to Christopher’s parents. Or try telling that to the parents of any of the good Newport-Mesa high school seniors who have chosen to serve their country over the years.

By making these honorable young men and women seem stupid for choosing the armed forces, those who protest the military presence on campus are denigrating the character of these brave, honorable seniors.

One of the reasons that the military image is still suffering among many Americans is that major motion pictures portray our soldiers as bloodthirsty degenerates. The Hollywood disconnect was recently pointed out on the Daily Pilot website by “Dr. Mike,” who wrote, “These courageous young men and women who serve us are my heroes — not the drug and alcohol using entertainers and Hollywood celebrities that the media slobbers over.”

Dr. Mike is correct. It’s one thing for an influential media to constantly show the military in a bad light, but it’s quite another to honor those whose morality falls far below the bar any of us would set for ourselves.

Unfortunately, the hottest movie in many years plays right into that old military stereotype. In “Avatar,” military might is out of control, saved only by a couple of soldiers who rebel against their authority.

There is a problem for those who protest the military presence. Those folks want an America that is free; an America that protects their right to civil protest. (If you have been tracking the crackdown on dissent in Iran, you may understand this point a bit better.)

But those same people want this protection without having to work to keep it — without anyone anywhere serving in the armed forces. We all want peace in the world, but most of us understand that peace comes at a price. President Obama said as much as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize, while he was making plans to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The next time you see soldiers, remember that these are someone’s sons and daughters, people who are fighting to maintain your right to do as you please. And if you feel fortunate that it’s not your son or daughter in that uniform, the least you can do is say, “thank you.”

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to [email protected] .