Young irreplaceable Americans, getting a good education is a terrific way to serve your country…there are heroes in every walk of life, not just the military.

I'm going to share with you a couple of things about our country that I wish were not true, but they are. Guys like John McCain and I are not heroes. The North Vietnamese were no threat to the US; yet we flew into their country and killed people who were not attacking America. I was shot down twice in South Vietnam, but got lucky; Mr. McCain wasn't so lucky. McCain didn't volunteer to be a POW; he was shot down by people who were trying to protect their families and homes from his bombs. Case in point, today Americans are now being treated better in North Vietnam cities than they are in many US cities.

The bottom line: almost 60,000 young Americans were killed in the Vietnam War because of the greed of what President Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex. I call it Weapons of Mass Destruction Sales and Service. At one time this branch of our federal government was called the Department of War. But hoping to hide the real purpose of waging war for profit, the name was changed to the Department of Defense. This so-called Department of Defense is the #1 arms dealer in the world.

Do me a favor. Before you join the military, look around and tell me how many Support the Troops bumper stickers and Yellow Ribbons you see now. You can't give me the name of any politician or officer who has been convicted of war crimes like our young enlisted soldiers have because no politician or officer has been convicted. Not one! Just young men and women like you are having to shoulder all the blame for the wickedness of the White House, Department of Defense, and the CIA. This makes it clear that while you are being asked to risk your life for us, we're not willing to curb our greed for you. Everyone knows that the Iraqi people were not a threat to the United States, but the facts are no match for greed and false pride. Don't break your mother's heart. Don't die for a lie.