Steve says, """Lennie has a twisted sense of what "service" means."""

I'm not so sure about that.

"""In his mind, one brief tour in the Army was all the "service" one
need do."""

To be fair, it is far, far, far more than what the vast majority give.
They don't mind taking Pell Grants, guaranteed student loans, etc, and
complaining about the rising costs of education, but to put someone
else before themselves, "Forget it!" Then want their degree, their
401k, and to hell with anyone else or delaying their education for 4
years.

I actually heard an NPR reporter laugh yesterday when he opened a story
about Rumsfeld and the problem the Army is having with recruiting.
Your tax dollars at work.

"""The facts are that there are THOUSANDS of ways one may be of
"service" to this
Nation, not all of which include donning the uniform of the Armed
Forces.
Indeed, not every person should or could be a capable member of the
Armed
Forces, yet they can "serve" in any of those other capacities in grand
style."""

That's debatable. And don't get me started on the "Americorps"
program.