Canadian Youth Answering the Call

One of the worst legacies of the Summer of Love generation was a societal contempt for soldiering as a profession. It's heartening to see their influence is finally waning. Via the Toronto Star:

OTTAWA—Young Canadians are flooding into military recruiting centres even as top commanders caution that more and more of these future soldiers can expect to see frontline service in Afghanistan, whether they want to or not.

"Kids are flocking to our recruiting centres across our country," Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, said yesterday. "Twice the number so far this year as during the same time last year," Hillier said. "We have connected with the Canadian population. We would like to do a little bit better with all minority communities with whom we are trying to establish a relationship, but we know that takes long-term," Hillier said.

Of course, there is still the requisite little dig:

Combat deaths in Kandahar have made this the deadliest year in decades for the military, but that doesn't seem to have deterred young people aspiring to a career in uniform.

I would even go so far as to suggest that an unintended consequence of those combat deaths has resulted in recruiting numbers raising. Nothing like seeing that soldiering still has meaning and purpose to give it an edge over acutarial work.