I have been anti war all of my life. I was out on the Boston Common in 1968 when I was 15, protesting. I got thrown out of school in Florida when i wore an anti war pin to high school. I dislike the prez intensely.
That said, I have a son in the Marines. He had every advantage in the world. He did not have to enlist. He went to a prestigious "public prep" school in suburban Boston and was accepted at 6 colleges. He was a Cat 3 racer at age 16 and the #5 junior racer in the US for 2 years. He started college as a sophomore because he had so many AP credits. Guess what, after a year at U of AZ, he came home and enlisted. Drove that new car right down to Waltham and did it without telling us! He had been in ROTC at college and we had finally accepted that, but it wasn't enough.
It's been 3 years and he is still the same wonderful person he has always been. He didn't join for political reasons (he swears he's the only Jewish Democrat in the Marines). He wanted to do something "hard" and he loves the risk. He has done some interesting stuff in a special unit, but now he is back to the regular stuff and will be going to Iraq in September. He's probably going to re enlist and has been interviewing to get into the intelligence unit. There was absolutely nothing we could have done to stop him. He was born to this.... no matter what alternatives we presented, it was not enough.