This past Saturday afternoon, I took the liberty of attending the small antiwar demonstration held near Library Mall at the end of State Street. My sole purpose was to observe and take notes on the situation. What I observed was appalling.

My initial expectations were to hear the same old rhetoric: "Bush-bashing" chants of "No blood for oil!" and the like. While there was still plenty of that, what I found unnerving was the lack of support for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. The general attitude was one of scorn toward the troops.

I am by no means trying to claim that everyone at the demonstration shared the same sentiments, but a few speakers, who each received warm ovations upon concluding, were harshly critical of the brave men and women in uniform, and, in particular, recruiters.

A major theme that the speakers hammered home was of their disdain for military recruitment in high schools. Central to their argument was the idea that military service should not be considered a legitimate career option for American youth. At one point in the demonstration, a speaker went as far as saying that recruiters were more or less brainwashing American high school students into the military by promising them payment for college education after serving.

I found it ironic that these same people who were criticizing the military for brainwashing our youth were the same people who had their children wandering about carrying "Toddlers for Peace" signs. Brainwashing goes both ways.

Demonstrators also questioned whether the benefits that were promised to service members upon enlistment were even honored. The military actually offers several avenues that allow soldiers a college education. One way to get college paid for is to go to a U.S. service academy. The military actually pays all fees as well as a monthly stipend.

Another option is to join through the ROTC program. This is a program that allows cadets to train and take classes on their college campuses while also offering full and partial scholarships in addition to a monthly stipend to pay for college.

College students have the option to enlist in the National Guard as well. The National Guard provides tuition reimbursement as well as an enlistment bonus and a monthly stipend to students to aid in paying for college.

Finally, soldiers can also take advantage of college benefits provided by the military by exercising the GI Bill. After World War II, thousands of soldiers returned home to take advantage of this opportunity, spawning a highly educated generation that led to the baby boom generation. This college-educated population generated more prosperity than any other country had ever known in the history of the world. Therefore, to say that the military is not a legitimate career option to offer the nation's high school students is absurd.

Under the "No Child Left Behind Act," high schools must provide military recruiters with contact information for their students upon request. There is no reason that military recruitment should not be considered a viable career option as some at the demonstration suggested, citing that the military's soul purpose, as one speaker put it, was to "kill and control."

Not only does the military teach lifelong leadership lessons, people skills, integrity, honor and a sense of service to this country, it also offers students the opportunity to receive funding for college, which of course will set them up for further success. Taking this privilege away would only cripple the military and destroy an honorable pathway either to a career in the military or a future college education and a lifetime of prosperity.

No matter what your position on the war is, people need to be, at the very least, supportive of the troops. Claiming that the military's aim was to "kill and control" doesn't exactly sound like support to me. That borders on hatred.

Criticize the war all you want, but support the brave men and women in uniform who have died and will die to give you the rights that we take for granted. Let's remember that if it hadn't been for soldiers, we would have no right to set up this demonstration in the first place. I probably couldn't write this article, and certainly no one would have the right to call our soldiers "killers." So instead of criticizing the very troops who allow you to do so, the next time you see someone in uniform please just say, "Thank you."

Joe Trovato ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in journalism