While I don't fully disagree, dishonorable discharge is already effectively a sentence to starve to death on the streets. It makes it incredibly tough to get a job in the States, if not impossible in a lot of places. With the death of a thousand cuts to the welfare system and the fact that minorities and poor whites are overwhelmingly represented in the military, your choice narrows down to "either deploy or get beaten to death by cops in 5 years."

It doesn't excuse it, but it definitely does explain why Bobby thought he was the good guy and the other people were bad guys. If you're only gonna pin the blame on Bobby, you're never gonna understand and fix the real problem. Bobby isn't just another guilty party. He's a victim of the psychopaths in power too.

Reminder that we are talking about teenagers being groomed and targeted by adult military recruiters.

Reminder that we are talking about teenagers that are almost completely politically unaware because they can't vote yet and have no reason to know what's going on.

Reminder that we are talking about teenagers who can't vote, can't smoke, can't drink, at 16 maybe can't drive yet, but are old enough to be recruited by adults who are introduced to them as trusted government officials, usually through our own education system.

Yes, Bobby is an idiot, by definition. He is 16, indoctrinated, poorly educated, and pumped to the gills with testosterone. He is easily manipulated by a propaganda mill that has been systematically brainwashing almost everyone since long before he got his first toy soldier, before he saw the flyover at the big ball game, since the first war movie where his countrymen were the heroes. And this same system that fucks with his head is the same system that fucks him into a life of poverty, then promises him prosperity if he signs up. Bobby has almost no defenses against this war machine.

Stop pretending that ordinary people have the skill to reject decades of government and social propaganda from childhood. Stop pretending that regular citizens are able make decisions independently of the influence from professional psychological manipulators.