Why do young people join the military?

Why do young people join the military in the United States? This is a question that that is pertinent to me as well as I have joined the United States Army. There are several reasons why young people such as myself join the military.For some, the fact that the military will pay for higher education is quite enticing, for others the fact that serving the country they love is the highest act of patriotism. The public and politicians have their own views towards why we do what we do. Senator John Kerry, the same democrat who ran for president, was quoted saying to a group of college students, "You can either work hard in school or get stuck in Iraq." Such a statement like this is quite ignorant. The fact that some chose to serve our country and get the benefit of higher education does not mean that young people chose to join because they can't do anything else. The public have deemed our armed forces as the "poor man's force", believing that only the poorer population make up our military. The American Forces Press Service said that our military is almost completely middle class and those from poorer families are underrepresented in our military. So why does the public and our politicians make such extraordinary claims with no extraordinary evidence? The fact that majority of our troops are from rural areas of america, where many are near the poverty line, does not mean that they are uneducated or are serving for monetary reasons. In our now 100% volunteer force, our public should believe that all who join our armed forces do so to keep your way of life and freedom alive. We should be able to take advantage of benefits when we make such a decision and put our lives on the line for America.