by John Traveler

Created on: April 14, 2011   Last Updated: April 15, 2011

The military draft for the Vietnam War ended in February of 1973. Since then, all military recruits have been volunteers. During the Vietnam War many draftees were involved in acts of civil disobedience and went to jail instead of going to war. Others left their homes and families, moving to Canada and other countries to avoid conscription, presumably in protest of the war. Some soldiers no doubt became deserters when they no longer believed in the cause they were fighting for. Thousands more followed the orders they were given, some died as a result of it while others incurred wounds both physical and mental they must deal with the rest of their lives.

Each person, whether draftee or volunteer must take an oath of enlistment at the time they sign their name on the line to join a branch of the American military. While there are slight variations in the oath dependent on the branch of service entered, the oath is pretty much as follows: 

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

If there is any group of American citizens who can truly claim the mantle of patriotism, then they must be those who have taken the oath above, donned the uniform, followed the orders they were given, whether they agreed or disagreed with them, and who have been awarded an honorable discharge reflecting their exemplary sacrifice and service to country. That being said, there are other ways a citizen can display patriotic sacrifice and service to country, and this aspect will be revisited later on. 

Asking soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen to perform duties and make sacrifices unthinkable to the average citizen, requires a distinct command structure as well as a sense of comradery among combatants. In every case, every service person depends on every other service person to do their job when so ordered, and as so ordered. “Yours is not to question why, yours is but to do or die.” Orders are delivered through an explicitly defined chain of command that begins with the President of the United States issued through the Department of Defense, and from there disseminated down through the ranks of the

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