Letter: Draft allows all to serve their country, alleviates stress of multiple deployments

Danielle Favorite | By Danielle Favorite | The Kalamazoo Gazette



In response to the opinion article on April 28 by a Ken Braun, I beg to offer an alternative point of view. I believe a draft should be instituted and all persons of the appropriate age should have the chance to participate in the defense of our country.

I remember the draft of the Vietnam era very well. We registered for the draft when we turned 18 and then waited to see where our number was drawn. Many who had lower numbers ended up enlisting in order to avoid being a “grunt”, the term assigned to one who was on the ground carrying a weapon.

The military became overwhelmingly populated by those in the lower socioeconomic strata. Everyone disliked the draft and almost everyone wished for the draft to go away. In the post-Vietnam era, the military became all-volunteer.

So how has the volunteer military turned out? After Vietnam our conflicts were, for quite a period of time, small, limited conflicts and our smaller military served nicely in dealing with the problems.

September 11 changed things. Within a couple of years we were fighting two different conflicts and the lack of an active draft started to reveal problems. Fewer numbers of military members created the need for multiple deployments. Many families’ struggled. Soldiers came home, just started to readjust and then were sent back to combat. The stress has been relentless. Reserves and National Guards were called up for multiple deployments.

The unintended consequences of the inactivation of the draft were revealed in the heavy burden borne by so few. As expected in a war with multiple deployments, many severe injuries have been seen. How many deployments must a wife or husband endure, how many children growing up year after year with only one parent? The financial hardships add to already existing severe stress. Each deployment makes it more and more difficult for the soldier to transition back to normal life.

This very small percentage of persons in the military releases the vast majority of us to live our routine lives untouched by this war. Most of us don’t even think about the ongoing conflicts unless a relative or acquaintance is involved.

If everyone of draft age were liable to be picked, these conflicts would certainly be on the front page of every paper and on every television newscast. If the sons and daughters of our politicians were required to serve just like the less fortunate, the chances of us being involved in these wars would be far less. Leaders would think much harder about getting us involved, much less bogged down, in any war.

Indeed, if the United States is still worth fighting for, everyone should do their fair share. Expecting someone else to do your dirty work is wrong and, in a way, immoral.

Steven Eernisse is senior vice commander of the Wayland VFW.

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