VAB tries to sell themselves off as a "resort" town. Yet, it seems every cop they have think they are on the "COPS" tv show. I think poster BCAT GRAHAM said it best. Read his post and tell me the arresting cop is someone that you'd want to count on to use good judgment in an emergent situation. The cop should be taken aside by his fellow officers and have a good talking to. I've seen first hand how cops have let a repeat DUI offender off and even given him a ride home after impounding his car with drugs on the seat and only give him a ticket for speeding. VAB is a joke. I'll let you form your own opinion of what I think of their police department.

Look, I understand what your saying, but if the drinking age was lowered it would expedite younger kids into thinking, hey, I can get a fake ID that looks like I'm 18, I know I don't look 21, but I can pass for 18.

Marines always get slammed, no matter what, doesn't matter, no such thing as a slap on the wrist in the Marines.

Quote: "If 18 is the drinking age, then 14-17 year olds will be "trying" to get alcohol and drink."

Got some disturbing news for you...14 to 17 year olds are trying to get alcohol and drink now.....regardless of the legal drinking age. I doubt a kid checks the law before deciding when it's appropriate to start drinking illegally. They pretty much just react to puberty kicking in.

I'm aware that you've been there and done that, and I salute you, but it's my belief that a U.S. MARINE is no typical American Teenager. I also don't buy into the "but what about the 14-17 year olds". I do buy into the fact, that in This Case, in MY opinion, that Justice could have been served by methods much less severe than those that were applied to this Fine Young Man.

I'm usually on the Kerry bandwagon but have to really disagree on this one.

It's easy enough to sing the "Old enough yada yada" mantra until we are blue in the face, but lets face the cold hard facts, American teens are not mature enough to drink responsibly.

If 18 is the drinking age, then 14-17 year olds will be "trying" to get alcohol and drink.

Just imagine the first night that the CW of Virginia announces that the drinking age has been dropped to 18, yeah, I challenge all of you to go out for a drive. Most likely you'll end up with a drunk teenager wrapped around a tree in front of your home, or in my case, my car!

I was 18 when the drinking age for beer was 18 here in Virginia and a former Marine. Been there, done that.

"Nanny Government"

This same thing comes up every few years. Makes me wonder this time if he was legally able to buy the beer would he have had the fake ID in the first place? I think not.

I always felt if you can die for your country at 18, why cant you buy a beer? I mean look what this guy does for a living,and he wasnt acting the fool (some 21 and over do)! I think the officer was wrong, I mean really he had nothing better to do? I am sure someone was driving drunk, but who cares about that!! Just like someone else posted, the girl who had pot in her car, and speeding down the road and ran over the two childen got the same punishment. I think she should be in jail!!! Have to love our system here!?!?

Of coarse the false ID wasn't too bright. This young man serves our country and gets six months suspended drivers...yet in the very same Virginia Beach a irresponsible 20 year old with a history of reckless driving, speeding in a school zone, and even having alcohol and pot in the car while driving on a suspended runs over two kids and gets pretty much the same sentence.

We Cops have what is called Discretion. In other words we can work within the Spirit of the Law, and not be totally constrained by the Letter of the Law. That is why More than a FEW Virginia Beach Police Officers have recieved warnings from me for both traffic infractions and Class 1's over the past few years. I have also given Many warnings to civilians as well. Now..... As a former Marine NCO who returned from two Viet Nam tours not able to legaly buy a beer I must confess to inbibing more than a few under illegal conditions back in those days. So sue me. I don't want to second guess the Va. Beach Police Officer who charged this Fine Young Man but; this would have been the Perfect Opportunity to perhaps work within the framework of the Spirit of the Law, take the card, give an a** chewing and give him a Break. And...As far as the rest of the "Do Gooders", I could not care less about their opinions. SEMPER FI.

Kerry, I agree that he should be able to drink, but the fact is he not only broke the law, he violated a basic expectation of a man in uniform: Integrity. As a Marine, he knew better. 'He wasn't hurting anyone' is not an excuse to violate lawful orders and regulations. He earned what he got.

BTW, Kerry, are you seriously defending the use of fake ID's by our miltary men and women?

jmo

What have we come to when the wife of a judge condones leniency for those who forge government documents. I applaud this judge. The guy is in the military. He should have known better.

I'm an Army brat and grew up mostly in Germany. Legally, beer is 16 and hard liquor is 18. I agree with dropping the drinking age to at least 18. I actually think that switching the driving and drinking age would be best. You can drink at 16 and then you can drive at 18. That's the way it is in Germany. Very smart I think. You get your drinking binges over with before you can drive and before you leave your parents' house. I also believe that if you have an active duty military license, you should be able to drink. All we're saying is, "Although we appreciate you giving your life for our country, we don't think you are responsible enough to have a beer." Kind of backwards to me. There are quite a few things that are backwards here though.

When I was 18, I could legally buy beer, wine and liquor. Shortly after turning 21, the age for buying liquor was raised to 21 but beer and wine stayed at 18. I agree with Kerry on this one. If you are old enough to vote and fight for your country, you are old enough to have a beer. A better idea would be to make drinking legal down to the age of 10 under a parents supervision. Wine with dinner for instance or a beer at the bar-b-que without looking over your shoulder for the child abuse nannies. The novelty of suddenly being able to drink and binging it would probably go by the wayside. Look to Europe on this one.

But a couple of points I would like to comment on. He pleaded guilty to possession of alcohol while underage. What about the false ID?. Also the picture shows Budweiser & the story mentions Molson. When he is 21 I would buy him a beer. After all Marines do engage in the most brutal forms of combat for our benefit. I feel like a hypocrite because when I was 18 I could legally buy a beer. Today I don't support lowering the drinking age to 18 though...Maybe to 20...after the numerical value of age no longer says "teen".