"J. van Baardwijk" wrote:
>
> He scolds Europeans for not doing what (in his opinion) they should have
> done, but I do not see him criticising Americans for the same lack of
> action. After the September 11 attacks, the entire US population called for
> action against the terrorists. But how many of them did actually go out and
> join the military so they could fight? One in 10,000? One in a 100,000?
I went looking for statistics on military recruitment since 9/11 and
didn't find any. (I expect Dan M. will come up with some in a 5-minute
search and chide me gently for not finding it myself. And then I'll ask
him how he did it, and kick myself for not having thought of something I
should have when I see his response to that question.)
But, I know something about Texas.
A few years ago, Texas passed New York in population, with about 18
million people. Let's round that up to 20 million. 20,000,000 with
only 1 in 10,000 people joining the military is 2000 people joining up
in Texas. I think it's probably more than that. But as I say, I don't
have the statistics to back it up.
What I can offer is anecdotes about the Austin area. This isn't going
to hold up to numerical analysis, but it might give something of a feel
for what people are doing. Dell Computers announced in August that they
would cover salary shortfalls for any of their employees called up from
National Guard Reserve to active duty in the National Guard; there was
an article in the Austin American-Statesman about employers in the
Austin area that were doing that when some of their employees were
activated. (Dell wasn't the only one, but that was the one that stuck
with me for me to remember it now.) Even though the executives at Dell
aren't going out and joining up themselves, they are making it easier
for their employees (and the families of those employees) who have
already made a commitment to their country and who are being called to
follow through on their commitment. Besides that, after the 9/11
attacks left major problems with the computer networks in the Pentagon,
Dell offered to provide machines to get them back up and running. And
several Dell employees volunteered to drive their own vehicles from the
Austin area to there, roughly a 24-hour drive, to help get everything
set up there. They did it because that was what was needed and they
wanted to make a contribution.
Not related to Dell at all was the couple who were both in the Reserves,
and who were both activated shortly after 9/11. The wife got a little
extra time at home because her baby wasn't 6 weeks old at the time they
called her up, and they don't deprive babies under 6 weeks of their
mothers, but once that baby was 6 weeks old, the mother left that child
with one of its grandmothers and went off to serve. I could not have
done that.
That's all I can offer for now. I know it doesn't answer your question,
but it's the response I have to it. Maybe someone can come back with
some accurate hard numbers for us to figure out statistically what sort
of response there was.
Julia
