Veterans and troops who cannot read
and write are killing our image in
this country. We have some really
Doozies out on this internet, and those
are always the ones who are out there
trying to run their mouths on things
they don't know anything about. I can
only say on this release, that this
book author does not stand alone
in his views. A lot of people have
this impression of us. I spend a part
of my time even on this website,
removing posts which are beyond
Dumb and makes no sense at all.
That speaks for itself I think.

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Stephen King At Odds With Army Over Suggestion That "Only Illiterates Join the Service"


Date created: 5/6/2008 8:48:08 PM
Last updated: 5/7/2008 8:06:44 AM


WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) - A recent comment by Stephen King during a lecture to high school seniors suggesting that those who can't read can join the Army has riled up the military.

King told a group of high schoolers at a recent Library of Congress lecture "If you can read you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq - I don't know"

His depiction of army soldiers as illiterate drew a strongly worded response from the U.S. Army.

"America?s Soldiers are proudly serving and fighting for us all. We can be proud of our Soldiers? selfless service, their skill and their ingenuity. They certainly are role models for every high-school student in America considering a noble career ? and many book authors."

Local soldiers were also offended by the comments, calling them elitist and insensitive.
They noted that King's books were very popular in the small libraries that can be found in frontline military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Repeated requests sent by 9NEWS NOW to King's publicist for a response or clarification of the comments have gone unanswered as of the time this story was written.


Written by Armando Trull
9NEWS NOW

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