Readers of Tom Philpott’s Military Update column sound off.

I have to agree with the guy interviewed for the piece on the decline in black enlistees since the start of the Iraq war.

I joined the Army to find focus, distance myself from my Brooklyn neighborhood and maybe even further my education. I was one of those guys in high school who said the Army would never get me. But while working in King's Plaza in Brooklyn, I realized I wasn't happy doing the things I was doing. I was in a dead-end job, had family issues and was about to become a father. Recruiters walked in one day and, before they could say anything, I said "I'll be in your office tomorrow."

Everything was cool in the Army until my unit got called up for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. It was the most stressful thing my family and I have ever gone through. In Iraq I didn't understand why we were there. I still don't. It all just feels wrong.

Being Black in today's Army isn't as hard as it was in earlier wars. Buffalo Soldiers, for instance. But we have different challenges. Being a person of color and around what we were taught is part of our history – the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, pyramids and such – I really felt some connection. I've seen my own people in the states living as bad as folks in Iraq. I know what it is to be hungry, to be forced out of my home, to not know how my family will survive until the next day. My kids still don't understand how lucky they are or that some kids' parents don't make it home. They don't know what it's like to live in Iraq and to go through the things they do.

My attitude towards this war is highly influenced by the time I spent
there. Before that tour, I couldn’t have care less. Now I just want it to be over. How do you tell a child who's hungry to get away from your vehicle, pointing a weapon at them? We were told not to give them anything. But we were there to help them. How’s that supposed to work?

Most Iraqis just want to work and feed their families. When we took away their military we took away the only jobs most of them have ever known. They felt safer before we got there to “help.” Now they just want us to go home.

I will support our troops for as long as they are there. But I totally disagree with how this thing is being run. If my child was able to join the military at this moment I'd tell him not to do it. I’d say do some research, find out what's really going on in the world, before making such a big commitment. I jumped in without knowing anything. I don't want them to make that same mistake.

T. C.
Via e-mail

All that this article tells me is that, apparently, most Blacks enlist for the money while Caucasians enlist to defend our country. My thanks, appreciation and prayers go out to the men and women, both black and white, who are joining for the right reason, to keep this nation safe.

E. ROPER
Via e-mail

In your article on the drop in black enlistees, Army veteran Danny Edwards was quoted as saying Americans don't care about the Iraq war unless they are “a victim or family of a victim.”

I don't have any family in Iraq, and I don't personally know anyone who has been wounded or lost their life. But I am very proud of the men and women who serve or have served there, regardless of the color of their skin.

Not all people care, sure. But a majority of us do. A lot of people feel self-conscious about walking up to a soldier and saying “Thank You,” but we're thinking it when we see you. If I'm talking to someone and find they've been to Iraq, I express my gratitude for their sacrifice.

It's my prayer that what they’ve done there ultimately will bear fruit, and that what they’ve endured there will not be in vain. I have to believe most Iraqis are like us in that they want a peaceful place to raise their family in safety. If we can help bring that about then we've done something worthwhile, despite what the naysayers think.

So here's my grateful appreciation to you! I have teenagers who may enlist when they’re old enough. They'll have my blessings if they do.

JOHN R. BRUNI
Via e-mail

Regarding the decline in black enlistments, let’s put the blame where it belongs -- with the Far Left who have created a Bogie Man of President Bush and done a grave disservice to the American people who own all of our wars.

I’m a very proud veteran of both Korea and Vietnam though I never experienced battlefield action. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve, starting at age 14 with the Alameda County 719th AAA Gun Battalion of the California National Guard, the only west coast all black battalion, and later in the Air Force from 1954 to 1966, including Reserve time.

I was willing to serve my country at a time when it didn’t afford me all of my American rights due to state and local Jim Crow laws. I served just as my forefathers did in the Civil War to gain our freedom. I’m a very active member of the National Association of Black Veterans, the American Legion (Post 245) and the Bremerton-Olympic Navy League. They give me continuing opportunities to serve my country by serving the veterans. However, the Far Left Tokyo Roses have managed to convince some of our veterans along with many Americans that the Iraq war is illegal and is not theirs.

I say to the Far Left, the minute you cry out against the 3000+ young men of color being murdered in our cities each year, I might listen to you.’

Young people of color, don’t let the Tokyo Roses and America haters deny you your right to serve your country, possibly earn a college education, and gain real knowledge on what it means to be an American.

WILLIS PAPILLION
Silverdale, Wash.

The writer appears to be blaming Bush for the drop of black soldiers in the military. Who cares? Is there a reason we need x number of black people in uniform? I thought this was a volunteer military.

If an individual chooses to become a soldier then he or she is a soldier, no matter their race or religion. No one should be pushing to make an ethnic quota for p.r. purposes.

R. SMITH
Specialist, U.S. Army
Via e-mail  

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