When Valerie Worthing and her husband moved their family from their quiet home in Alexandria, Virginia across the river to a new apartment on none other than Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., she had hoped her children would find suitable playmates from around the neighborhood.

Instead, she’s keeping them indoors and keeping a close watch at the front window. Her children — Ryan, 4, and Ann, 7 — haven’t been allowed onto the neighborhood streets since last May, when, she says, army recruiters first approached her son.

“They told him that he could be making a lot more than his usual 50-cent allowance if he signed on for a 12-month tour,” Worthing said.

“They offered him lollipops.”

Valerie’s husband, a computer programmer for an Arlington-based networking firm, said he’s supportive of his wife’s decision.

“They’ll do anything to recruit more guys,” he said. “I just didn’t know they’d become so accommodating.”

The Worthings say George and Laura otherwise make decent neighbors, but notes they don’t recycle.
“Often,” Valerie said, “it stinks.”