The rebels without a clue who took their anti-war protest to the soon-to-open Army recruiting office in Chapel Hill this week might have done more for their worthy cause of world peace had they not kept tripping over the throbbing irony of the whole event.

There they were, exercising their right of free assembly and free speech by marching, waving signs and chanting slogans criticizing the very military that defends those rights.

And to make their show even more amusing, the protesters' whole premise was wrong. To hear them tell it, Army recruiters are little more than predators who prowl the streets of Chapel Hill looking for poor people and minorities to shanghai into uniform.

"Recruiters lie. Civilians die!" was a popular chant of the day.

Protesters, meet Richard Auxer, 58, a Raleigh businessman, graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former A-6 Intruder pilot. Also say hello to his son, Richard Auxer Jr. of the U.S. Army.

You'll have to use your imagination with Richard Jr. because he's busy right now. He's an Army Special Forces staff sergeant serving with an A-team in Afghanistan where he's hunting down the deadly Taliban.

But before you add Staff Sgt. Auxer to your roster of poor saps tricked into the military by lying recruiters, consider this: He is a Green Beret who served 10 years in the Navy before changing services and undergoing the rigors of Special Forces selection and training.

"When my son was stationed at Fort Bragg, his team would use our house as a way station to and from the airport," the senior Auxer said. "I don't think I met more than two or three of them who didn't have at least a bachelor's degree."

For his part, Staff Sgt. Auxer has a Ph.D in education.

The myth that military men and women enlisted because they were so gullible as to fall for the lies of recruiters is an insult to the intelligence, patriotism and bravery of people who nobly volunteer to serve their country, not to mention the integrity of recruiters.

Apparently the concept of selfless sacrifice is incomprehensible to Chapel Hill's ungrateful protesters who bite the hands that protect them from evil. But thank God there are men and women who fully understand the risks and still want to defend their country.

Are there bad recruiters who lie to young people? Of course. You usually read about them when the military kicks their sorry tails out of the ranks.

Do some male recruiters take advantage of vulnerable female recruits? Probably. There are also incompetent professors taking advantage of trusting coeds, but I don't see protesters chanting outside their offices.

My recruiter told me I would work long hours for lousy pay in terrible places where my life expectancy was uncertain.

He told the truth.

He also said the very people I took an oath to defend with my life will be the first to criticize me when I got out.

I went to Carolina when I was discharged. He told the truth about that, too.

Thirty-six years later, apparently nothing has changed.