[Grovenet] draft vs. volunteer

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

You make my point Joy. If people expect to enjoy the opportunities America
provides, they need to pay their share of the bill. That includes jury duty
as long as we need juries, taxes as long as we need revenue for the
government, and serving in the military as long as we need a military. It's
not something one does because one doesn't know what else to do. It's a
basic part of being an American.

We'll always have career military. They're critical. They are there because
that's what they WANT to do with their lives and most of them make a
wonderful contribution in the process. 

In addition to that I believe that every American, male and female, should
serve in the military as part of what they owe their country. A year or two
of every life as part of "earning" the right to cast a ballot and call
themselves citizens. 

Of course we don't want our children going to war. As long as anyone thinks
we can depend upon other people's children to go fight our battles for us,
we're subscribing to exactly what Senator Kerry was accused of alluding to
when he spoke of those who choose the military today. 

If we really believe it isn't the "losers" who fight, then we must make sure
the "winners" do their part as well. 

There's an old saying that if we all had to slaughter our own dinner there'd
be a lot more vegetarians. It think it's true. And if we all had to
slaughter our own chosen enemies there'd be a lot fewer enemies and a lot
fewer wars.

Ron D'Eau Claire



-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of JBlair2154 at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 3:03 PM
To: grovenet at rdrop.com
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] draft vs. volunteer


 
In a message dated 11/25/2006 2:00:56 PM Central Standard Time,  
grovenet-request at rdrop.com writes:

our  demand that
ordinary Americans no longer be called to serve our country,  our fantasy
that one can enjoy the privileges of being an American without  doing the
dirty work to protect our country and help our neighbors around  the world? 



Ron, I'm seeing the draft vs. volunteer military service from a  slightly 
different angle. I believe that "ordinary Americans" are STILL signing  up
and 
for most of the same reasons they did back during the days of the draft.  My

husband enlisted on Friday, Feb. 13, 1959, after one semester of college,  
because he felt he was wasting time and money attending classes with no real
goal 
or motivation. (He still says, at age 66, that he "doesn't know what he
wants 
to do when he grows up.") 
:: smile ::  He was living at home, with his stepdad  supporting him, and he

told me he hoped the Air Force would teach him more  self-discipline. He 
wouldn't be dependent on his parents for shelter and food,  he would have an

opportunity to do some travelling, and he would hopefully gain  experience, 
maturity, job training and be able to use the GI bill for  educational
purposes as he 
began to better define his interests. I've known  other young men -- fewer 
women -- who have joined the military for similar  reasons...and many of the

advantages (such as faster promotions) have  increased over the last few
decades. Of course, patriotism is still a factor; it was for Jack, too. But
often 
there are practical considerations as well.  The problem with the  draft is
that 
it forced every fit young person to join, whether or not they  wanted to do 
so, and some have pretty firm ideas of what they'd prefer to be  doing for
the 
next few years of their lives. Now add an unpopular war like Nam  or Iraq,
and 
the reasons NOT to join begin to far outweigh the reasons to  enlist. No 
wonder some recruiters are being accused of unfair or illegal tactics  to
persuade 
those on the fence...
Joy
"I'm an  Obama-Mama" _______________________________________________
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