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 individual, thanks to my time in the service. Oh wait, those characteristics were valued by men in the last century, not this one.
I seldom think on my experiences, until I am asked a question such as this one. Is the Draft immoral? Well, for me it was. It took a nice, kind, sensitive boy and turned him into a killer of men, for several years. Then I was left to adjust to being someone I didn't like, for the next few decades. Finally, all on my own, I learned to accept myself for what I was and began to work toward regaining the love and joy I had known as a child. I haven't succeeded, but I have reached a point where I think I'm not such a bad person. I only wish I hadn't been forced to give up most of my life in the meantime.
I am in that part of life where I should be living with a host of memories; remembrances of family, children, friends, and all the good times. My parents died some years ago. I have no children of my own. I lost the only really good friend I ever knew to Aids.(he worked in an aids hostel, as a caregiver) I have been married to the same woman for 24 years, and with her should have made many wonderful memories. I failed to do this, spending most of that time just becoming the husband she has now. I will owe her until I die; she has endured and stayed with me without (much) complaint, never doubting that I loved her and would never leave. She was right and for that I thank her. If I could go back and not be drafted, and never spend a moment in the military, I would. I learned nothing there, except how to use drugs, frequent women of questionable morality, curse fluently, react with violence and smoke cigarettes. All of those things I could have done without.
I'll finish this by saying that anything that was so wrong for me must've been wrong for others. A thing is immoral if it damages even one person against their will. In that sense the draft is immoral, in times of peace, because it forces children to become warriors, even the ones who have no skill or temperament for such an endeavor. It also encourages the people who are not involved with it to avoid thinking about what their government has done to so many of their fellow citizens. We cannot avoid the damage that war does to its participants, but we have an obligation not to force those who are unsuited to combat from participation unless our very survival depend on it.