Show i 1 1 i i v. v i i i mii x im 11 1 ems To Me MeIly Ily Joseph If It 1111 1111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 11 11 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1111 1111 11 t Revive the draft COPYRIGHT 1977 Contemporary Features Syndicate Inc There is talk that we may have to th the military draft in one form or another I cant can't believe it After the way our government has blundered in its handling of the draft arc are there really planners In Washington who think we can revive it They must be dreaming The time when we could use the draft to provide good qua quality Illy low cost personnel for our military services has passed We are not the same people we were before Vietnam and the social revolution of the Our priorities are different Our values have shifted We aint gonna study war no more We had no problem drafting men in World War II II Of course we were in an out all war then Practically everybody was involved one way or another Pa Patriotism was was was' high and most young men believed it was their duty duly to answer the call calt Draft dodgers were considered cowards and their conduct disgraceful but men who were classified other than A 1 could stay slay out of uniform without disgrace We had plenty of men under arms however actually more than we we could handle and generally the draft was acceptable to the public In fact it was so acceptable we were able to continue it after the War The called so-called time peace-time draft through the years of Korea and Vietnam was maintained because of the need for us to keep large forces overseas and to build up our National Guard and Ready Reserves The obligation for young men to receive military training and then revert to stand-by stand status in case they were needed was recognized as asa a necessary evil of the cold war Korea was the first war we ever tried to fight overseas while we conducted business at lL usual ual at al home We reasoned that our troops were participating participating participating par par- In a United Nations peace keeping operation and were just part albeit a major part of the UN U.N. forces Co Consequently Consequently Con Con- the patriotism was not nearly so strong as It had been In World War II and the public was less inclined to condemn draft dodgers There were also more loopholes inthe In Inthe inthe the law By the time Kennedy took office and became involved Inthe Inthe in inthe the Bay of Pigs Berlin crisis missile crisis and Vietnam there were even more loopholes Men could avoid the draft by getting married volunteering for the Youth Corps or remaining in college until they flunked out or graduated Also the gradually expanding war in Vietnam especially under Johnson was looked upon as strictly a military operation in a foreign land directed by the State Department The folks back home continued to enjoy peace and prosperity while watching the war on television I do not mean to excuse the disgraceful conduct of deserters deserters deserters deser deser- and draft dodgers but it 1 is not hard to understand why many young men were extremely extremely extremely ex ex- ex- ex reluctant to fight in Vietnam There was very little patriotism It left ft among the people and the draft became a violent objection to the war itself and in a strange twist of values it became in the eyes of some youth more moral to disobey the law than to serve in Vietnam Richard Nixon who knew how to win elections felt the pulse of the nation and promised an volunteer all military despite the opposition of his military a advisors visors On January ZI 27 1973 the end of the draft was announced The next day a treating ending US U.S. military intervention in Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Viet Viet- nam was signed Four years after the end of the draft President Carter with seeming blithe unconcern for the bridge we might have to cross again set a torch to the rickety structure He granted a blanket pardon to those who had fled to foreign sanctuaries rather than be drafted during the Vietnam war So So now the planners want to bring back the draft They might as well forget it Even if they could crank up the theA A w machinery that has deteriorated the draft would be almost impossible to enforce Its It's just too bad we botched up the time peace-time draft and then let the protestors bury it especially now that the all all- volunteer idea isn't working too well welt Maybe we should consider hiring foreign mercenaries 1 I M |