John Clem and Laura Dekker

[chris_gerrib]

So, via the absolutely Not Safe For Work site Good Shit, I learned the story of John Clem. Clem ran off to join the Union Army at age 9 as a drummer boy. By age 12, using a specially-cut-down rifle, he had become a sergeant and had spent a brief stint as a prisoner of war. (His post-war life is also remarkable - he rejoined the Army in 1874 as a 2nd Lieutenant, and retired in 1916 as the last Civil War veteran on active duty. He died in 1937, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.)

As life would have it, the same day I read of Clem I saw that 14-year-old Laura Dekker got the legal green light to sail alone around the world. Now, I've written of 17-year-old Abby Sunderland's failed attempt, so I find the various stories make an interesting combination.

On the one hand, Clem had plenty of supervision during his Army stint. On the other hand, sergeants are supposed to provide some of that supervision. On the third hand, nobody will be shooting at Laura Dekker.

So is Dekker too young to make the attempt? Was Abby Sunderland too young, or just unlucky? For that matter, was John Clem too young, and just got lucky? Or is Clem's case not even relevant?

I don't have any answers, profound or otherwise. I'm just glad I'm not making the decisions.