Horror author Stephen King's comments regarding illiteracy and the military have drawn criticism from the United States Army according to a report by CBS-TV affiliate in Washington, DC, WUSA channel 9.
As NewsBusters reported Monday, King recently told a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, "If you don't [read], then you've got, the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that."
According to WUSA, Paul Boyce of Army Public Affairs issued the following statement (video embedded right):
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.
As the report continued, other members of the military voiced their displeasure with King's comments, including one of his neighbors, a Sgt. Seavey (sp) who has a law degree:
There have been 23 men and women from the state of Maine killed in Iraq, and I would be willing to bet a good portion of those had read Stephen King books.
Other active members of the military were interviewed to address their disgust including a Marine still in college who claimed:
He's totally wrong. Top of my class and I still ended up in the military because I thought it was the right thing to do.
Are you listening, Stephen?
