by V R Rutledge

Created on: July 28, 2008

When I was a young man, about 17 years old, I knew that military service was going to be a part of my life. Just as in ancient Sparta, I was going to be a warrior before I was grown. I was glad that I hadn't been taken at seven to start training, but that was the only plus I could see. I wasn't very wise, no surprise there, but I could see that many people felt about the draft as I did. The news was full of people being injured and jailed for opposing the draft and the war in Viet Nam. Tens of thousands of young people joined in the protest, and it became a major facet of the sub-culture of the sixties and seventies. As young people, we had some rather extreme ideas about the opposition of the Military/Industrial complex opposition to our protests. Some thought that President John F Kennedy was assassinated for his acceptance of our ideals. Some believed that the government was watching our every move, and had electronic surveillance operating non-stop to keep watch on us. The paranoia ran rampant among the 'hippies'. Looking back, it was almost funny, but then again, it wasn't. An entire generation was left with a distrust of all things governmental, and our children see conspiracies in almost everything.

The current state of our country has its roots in that time of turmoil and distrust. If the draft hadn't existed, we would never have had to fight to keep from doing something that we felt was immoral and unjust. Without the draft, there would have been no focus for the young men who 'burned their draft cards' and were jailed for it. The rift between the supporters of government and the protesters was sometimes violent, and it was primarily because of the draft issue. The entire mind-set of the draft, and its supporters, was fueled by a legacy of world war II and the rough time that it caused nationally. As a nation, we came to distrust the whole world and blame our problems on those not of our country. We are recovering from that time, in fits and starts, even today. I still do not discuss my time in Viet Nam, not only because it was so traumatic, but because I was (and in some ways still am) ashamed of it. I felt the war was wrong, but lacked the courage to flee the country to avoid being in it. I probably would have regretted that action as well, since I remain a loyal American and am proud to be one. I could have done without the nightmares and the feeling that I had no right to survive the experience, but I did become a much less caring and sensitive

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>