My new friend Samm Simpson and I really did not know what to expect as we approached Dunedin High School as representatives of Veterans for Peace. We just knew that if we had a chance to save one life by offering an alternative to military service then we truly would be honored to do something so wonderful.

Dwight Lawton with Vets for Peace had stocked us with handouts and prepped us with what we could and could not say, we had set up three lunch hour days to be on campus and the staff seemed enthusiastic that we were coming. We were ready to face the kids - we thought.

We were given a table outside the library on the courtyard to set up our information. The first day was a bit of a blur with students saying "Who are you?", "What is this stuff?" Most of the kids told us they had no plans to enlist and had not been approached by recruiters. We gave them handouts to read and to share with their friends. One young lady said she was in ROTC but did not plan to join the military because she was going to college. We gave her plenty of literature on dealing with recruiters.

We are not sure if the word spread about us or not but we saw much more action the second day. A couple of kids thanked us for being there and quietly gathered handouts while a couple of extroverted young men decided to challenge us. These guys had signed up for delayed entry at age 16. They were terrifyingly both ignorant and cocky with one being the obvious leader and the smaller one the follower. They seemed to believe that it was right to go kill Muslims and were unable to distinguish between people from Iraq, Saudi Arabia or other countries in the Middle East (they are all the same). They called us "conspiratists" when we told them there were no WMDs in Iraq and the US had in fact put Saddam in power.We told them about veteran suicides and veterans who were homeless and were told that those veterans were losers and not like them. Ah, the innocence or foolishness of youth. Do you think those homeless vets or those who have killed themselves started out thinking they would end up being a statistic?

The positive things to come of the encounter with the two young delayed entry gentlemen was that their recruiter did tell them the truth that they were not legally bound by their signature since they were not of age and that they came back to challenge us again the third day we were at the school.

By the third day Samm and I were old hands at setting up our table in seconds. A young man came by and told us he was active in St Pete for Peace. Yes! We need young people to carry on when we are gone. He is a senior and said he had just gotten a call last week from a recruiter. He proudly said he had no problem telling the recruiter to never contact him again and to take him off all lists.

Another member of ROTC came by and told us that he was not going into the military but instead was planning on attending college. We gave him financial aid information. Other kids came by and took various papers and then the early enlistees came back with their secret weapon "a smart girl". Unfortunately a smart girl was no match for an overwhelming combination of Samm's warmth and knowledge.

Hopefully some seeds have been planted. Samm and I will go back to Dunedin High in January for another couple of days. We know it is just scratching the surface. We really should be meeting these kids in middle school but we do what we can. We are very grateful to Veterans for Peace for paving the way and for Dunedin High and Carol G. in Guidance for being so welcoming!