Dick Cheney had "other priorities." George Bush joined the national guard and then didn't show up. Countless other war hawks have never known the feel of a crisply ironed uniform or heard the whiz of incoming shrapnel.
Fortunately not all young men (and women) have other priorities.
The future head of the British armed forces announced recently he'd be joining the army, and this month he shows up at Sandhurst for training:
As a future head of the armed forces, it was always inevitable he would have to spend some time with them. The bond between the monarchy and the military is very strong.
William's following a well-worn royal path.
His grandfather was mentioned in dispatches during the Second World War; his father learnt to fly with the RAF and joined the Navy. And of course, Prince Harry's already at Sandhurst as a "guinea pig", as William has put it.
Though he probably won't see enemy fire, he says he refuses to be "mollycoddled." (I suspect mollycoddled means not showing up for physicals and other training requirements when your daddy's an Important Person. They don't get much more important than a U.S. Congressman, do they?)
As he said in an interview last year: "If I joined the Army, I would want to go where my men went. I'd want to do what they did."
It's quite a different matter to join an army than to merely lead one. Kudos to William for knowing that.
