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FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, IRAQ IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT
By Bobby Hastry
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Oct 11 --- Four years ago when most high school students were searching for what college or university would be the perfect fit for them, Brian Ojalehto decided that college might not be what he wanted, at least not at this point.
A 22 year old, Brian Ojalehto a native of Maynard, Massachusetts, college wasn’t the right choice out of high school. Instead he decided to enroll at a different type of academy, the United States Marine Corps.
“I think if I would have gone to college when I was 18 I wouldn’t have taken it serious,” said Ojalehto who also mentioned that he won the yearbooks “class clown” his senior year in high school. “It was kind of something that I wanted to prove to myself that I could do and be proud of it. My grandfather, uncle and cousin were also in the Marines so I guess it’s in my genes.”
For Ojalehto school wasn’t for him at the time even though he did think about college before deciding on the Marines. College is a time when a child is away from their parent’s home cooking for the first time. It is a time when kids go off and experience the first feeling of what is described as “homesick”. That is probably one of the few similarities between becoming a Marine and becoming a freshman at college.
“I doubted my decision for about a week after boot camp ended. I was shipped out to San Diego, California by myself not knowing anyone. I became pretty homesick for the first time since I can remember.”
Ojalehto continued to train in California as the war continued in Iraq. The day came that Ojalehto knew was bound to come, and even sooner than expected for his mother Mary Ojalehto.
“I can’t explain the feelings and thoughts that I had when he was sent over to Iraq, It’s on your mind throughout the entire day,” said Mary Ojalehto. “You read the newspaper everyday and you hear about how bad it is over there and you hear of troop members that have died at war.”
The experiences in Iraq can only be explained by those who have been over to a foreign country fighting for something they believe so deeply in. “One of the reasons why I decided to become a Marine was because of the terrorist attacks that struck us in our homeland. I wanted to do something about it, I wanted to help a cause,” said Ojalehto.
However, Congressman Hinchey’s press representative via telephone that Hinchey feels that this would be detrimental to the war in Iraq.
“Bush seems to be completely out of touch with the whole Iraq situation,” they said. “The proposed increase would only be furthering the occupation of Iraq, which is going against what most Americans want. [It would be] doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done in Iraq”
In terms of the morale of the soldiers, Marist’s James Kent stated that this increase could help troops that are in Iraq and Afghanistan feel safer, and perhaps, more American.
“If there are more troops, then they [the troops] are going to feel safer about being there,” he said. “And for those who think serving in the armed forces makes them feel more American, this will boost that effect.”
Conversely, student Lindeborg felt that this increase could demoralize the troops.
“The idea of the war was supposed to be like a light, quick machine that got the job done efficiently and quickly,” he said. “This proposed increase is demoralizing in that it says that these troops couldn’t get the job done.”
Also, as to why the proposal won’t pass, Kent said, “Every time Congress passes a bill for the Iraq war, they put in a deadline that the President vetoes.”
“Either the President will have to accept the deadline attached to the bill or veto it,” said Kent. “And because the President is very stubborn, he will likely veto it.”