Sen. Bond's son graduates from Marines' Basic School

WASHINGTON -- In his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore approaches members of Congress and asks them to enlist their children in the military.

Most lawmakers avoided the filmmaker and his questions. As of Thursday, Sen. Kit Bond could have answered that his son will soon be sent to one of the world's hot spots.

Sam Bond, 23, graduated Thursday from the Basic School at Quantico, Va., the next level of training after Officer Candidate School. It's not yet clear where he'll be sent, but his assignment, after more training, will be commanding a scout sniper platoon.

In an interview, Bond, R-Mo., described what his son's assignment will be.

"They go out in teams of two beyond enemy lines, into hostile territory, with no cover, and try to observe and report back on what they see," Bond said. "And if they see a defined target, they take that target out."

He moved to the computer behind his desk to play a video clip, sent to him by an aide on defense issues, of a crouching man who appears ready to fire a rocket-propelled grenade, then apparently struck by bullets, falls backward to the dusty ground.

"That's what happens to a terrorist," Bond said.

Bond also discussed the possibility of his son being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

"He knows what the danger is," Bond said. "We understand what the dangers are. The best defense is a good offense, and the Marines teach you how to take care of other Marines and be aggressive.

"It's been difficult when they've been sitting ducks in Iraq -- this is a tough time. But they're going to be as aggressive as they can be."

His son's graduation came days after the death of a Marine from Missouri, Cpl. Dallas Kerns, 21. Kerns, who was from Mountain Grove, died of wounds he suffered in an attack in Anbar province.

Bond's son was still in college at Princeton University when the senator voted to give President Bush authority to go to war in Iraq.

"You know, I've always tried to look at it in terms of the parents I represent who may be going through that," he said. "The first time I voted for the Gulf War resolution in '91, my son wasn't even anywhere near military age. But I went home that night and I was so tired I couldn't even get out of the car.

"That was emotionally the most draining thing," he said. "Because you're sending some parents' son or daughter into a situation where it's extremely dangerous. That's never easy."

The senator is seeking re-election. His likely opponent this fall, Democratic state Treasurer Nancy Farmer, criticized President Bush for rushing to war at a rally last week in Springfield, Mo., with retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark.

Farmer called for putting more troops on the ground now in Iraq to help get them out in the long term. "Nothing demonstrates the need for change more than this administration's war in Iraq," she said.

Bond said he wasn't familiar with Farmer's position and said Gen. John Abizaid, the U.S. commander of Mideast operations, recently told senators that while troops with certain specialties are needed, "he wants a smaller footprint of American soldiers."

Pressed to respond to someone who said the war makes a case for change, Bond said, "I guess you'd ask them what the hell they mean. That doesn't make any sense to me.

"Everybody knows the terrorists are still trying to come after us," said Bond, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Going into Iraq made it significantly more difficult for the terrorists in that part of the world and will for a long time to come."

Bond isn't the only lawmaker from Missouri with a child in the military.

Rep. Todd Akin, a Republican from St. Louis, has two sons in the military. Perry, 23, is a Marine combat engineer who recently graduated from the Basic School and should be deployed to Iraq by the end of the year. Micah, 21, just finished his first year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

"We certainly pray for all of our troops that are overseas," Akin said. "On the other hand, I keep coming back on this entire war on terrorism, and what we are doing is so consistent with what Americans have always stood for that I have a great sense of peace about it."

Bond remembered when his only son told him he wanted to be a Marine a year and a half ago.

"It was such a blur," he said. "I was a little bit surprised. I was kind of stumbling around -- the first thing I did, obviously, was congratulate him and tell him I was proud of the choice he'd made.

"It was a great choice. I've seen the kind of young people we have in the military; they're our best and brightest. That's the only way we've got a chance of winning. And I thought that for Sam it would be a tremendous development opportunity."

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Bond: http://bond.senate.gov