American Chronicles 2 originally airing June 12, 2015.
REINSTITUTE THE DRAFT
© 2015 John C. Merino
When I learned about the death of my boyhood friend Sam a few weeks ago….and as often happens in times like these………memories of things forgotten, came spilling back…….one after another……almost in chronological order.
I recalled sitting on his front porch when we were 6 or 7……..listening to his old Italian grandfather play the accordion…..that…. being the reason I give for begging my parents for 2 years, to buy me one.
……..which led to 10 years of accordion lessons and my being able to brag about playing Chopin and Tchaikovsky on the squeeze box, every time someone asked if I could play the “Too Fat Polka”.
We did all the things friends do, growing up. Played ball, ate dinner at each other’s house, snuck our first cigarette together, and drank our first beer at 14, raided neighborhood gardens for fresh tomatoes………and the list goes on and on.
After high school in August of 1969, I traveled west to Kansas ostensibly to attend college…….but that’s a story for another time.
That October……..expecting to be drafted because he didn’t have the coveted student exemption of the day, Sam enlisted in the Marine Corp.
While serving in Vietnam as a scout sniper with the 1st Marine Division, he was seriously injured by an enemy explosive device. Sam lost a leg.
He was honorably discharged as a Corporal, and awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service, a Purple Heart, Combat Action Medal, National Defense Medal, Vietnamese Service and Campaign Medal.
In 1980 I moved to Connecticut and Sam moved to California. We never spoke again after that.
Sam fought in an unpopular war. It was decades before we understood that we could hate the war, yet still love the warrior………..and since 9-11 and our nation’s deep involvement in fighting terrorism at home and abroad, that lesson of Viet Nam has been learned. We may not like war……….but everyone respects the warriors.
Now, this may sound odd coming from an old liberal who protested the Viet Nam War and its divisiveness, worked for Eugene McCarthy and his anti war campaign for the presidency, still listens to old Phil Ochs records and supports the founding mission of the United Nations…..
…….but perhaps…..we should reinstitute the draft.
Why do we strictly rely on volunteers to defend our nation’s values?
That small percentage of young Americans…………whose love of country and commitment to our way of life……..moves them so deeply that they enlist to defend it………
What the rest of us know, the majority of whom never served in the military, is what the talking heads tell us. Endless analysis by political experts whose credentials are somewhat dubious at best and most of us having no contact with someone serving, only know what those talking heads tell us.
The arguments against the draft are numerous. I often think that Viet Nam scared the power brokers so sincerely that they killed the draft……so as to not jeopardize their centers of power and control over the collective American psyche…….ever again……………
……….after all, if young American’s volunteer for service the majority of the population has no touch stone for the reality of war…….only those families and friends of those brave enough to place themselves in harm’s way on our behalf, have a real sense of the sacrifice being made.
If I were a cynical person, it would be easy to believe that the power brokers would rather market war then justify it.
So, if the rationales for sending troops overseas are as well defined and virtuous as we’ve been told by our government……then why isn’t the broad cross section of the nation being asked to contribute to the cause of protecting our way of life?
Is it fair to let the few with brave hearts do our bidding…and it’s been that way since the elimination of the draft on January 27, 1973. That’s over 40 years ago.
With a world as absolutely screwy as it has become and our nation still leading the way to protect open societies across the globe……….and if we truly believe that this is our role………….then ask everyone to contribute……..men and women alike.
If unfit for military service, then mandatory community service should take its place………….
Ironic isn’t it, that only one of the umpteen candidates currently announced as running for president ever served in the military………but listen to the rest of them talk and you’d think they truly understood what war was like.
I don’t.
I only know it from the talking heads on television and a few close veteran friends and they say very little. It’s a memory they covet because explaining it to someone who wasn’t there………..as Sebastian said, “is like trying to tell a stranger bout rock n’ roll”.
I guess it’s easy to be bold and militaristic when you’ve never committed your body and heart to the cause of your nation……..easy to talk like John Wayne………who never served either.
I suppose that’s why Sam never spoke about Viet Nam when he came home, a bit broken but stoic nonetheless…………and I never asked.
I think I’ll pull out the accordion and play some Chopin.
I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.
ABOUT: American Chronicles is a bi-weekly locally produced feature on WRFA written and produced by retired Gebbie Foundation CEO, John C. Merino. Currently, John is an Adjunct Professor of Micro-Economics, Organizational Management, and 20th Century World History at Mercyhurst University. American Chronicles airs twice monthly, Friday mornings at 7:15 and Friday Afternoons at 4:35. American Chronicles features original stories (partly fact and partly fiction), commentary on local, state , national, world conditions and more.
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