Today’s column is for men — not just any men — men my age.
Relax, I’m not going to ask you out.
I just wonder — if you wonder — what your chances would have been had the Vietnam War continued a few more years and you’d gotten drafted.
We know, using figures from the 1969 draft lottery, that half of you would have been selected for service. And half of that group would have actually served. The other half of those selected would get dismissed for some reason — like a felony conviction, an education deferment or a health issue.
But what if you’d been one of the unlucky ones that got sent to Vietnam?
Your odds of dying would’ve been the highest of all the guys over there
because, as a CNN report points out, soldiers who were drafted, "were
statistically more likely to die in combat than soldiers who volunteered
— principally because the overwhelming majority of draftees sent to
Vietnam were a part of the U.S. Army ground forces that did much of the
fighting."
And how would you be doing if you had gone and come
back and were still with us today?
Well, according to the
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans approximately 400,000 homeless
vets live on the streets of the U.S. at some point during the year and
about half that number are homeless any given night. But those are
veterans from all the wars. The coalition says that only 47 percent are
from the Vietnam era. So the number of Vietnam vets on the street last
night was only about 94,000 … only.
If the war had dragged on
five more years to include men my age, maybe 20,000 of you would be
reading newspapers from a dumpster instead of a newsstand.
And
that’s if you had made it home. If the war had continued and things
hadn’t gone so well … have you seen the Vietnam War Memorial? When you
look at it, do you ever imagine — those of you who were too young to
serve — do you ever imagine it with a few more panels? Have you ever
closed your eyes and conjured your own name on that wall?
So
what happened to the draft? Ever question why the Vietnam War ended
around the same time that the government could no longer steal young men
out of their homes and pack them off to boot camp? And if you’re around
50 years old, don’t you feel lucky that the draft ended in 1973?
It wasn’t luck.
It was Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and his six
month filibuster that saved your life.
Thinking about that
Vietnam War Memorial with a couple of thousand more names on it, maybe
even your name, walking past the stone steps downtown that could’ve been
your pillow last night, makes you want to send the guy a thank-you note,
doesn’t it?
And, if you’re wondering where to find Gravel
nowadays, now that we’re in need of mettle like his again — after all,
we’re once again fighting an unwinnable war that we were suckered into
by faulty leadership after being fed government sanctioned lies — well,
Gravel is running for president.
You don’t hear about him
because the big shots that craft our elections would like you to believe
that there are only two Democrats left — Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton.
And though you may not hear about him, he’s sure got a
message.
See, the U.S. is responsible for 46 percent of the
world’s military spending, and Gravel wants to cut that figure by 60
percent. He says that the preservation of the military industrial
complex is the real reason for war — and he’s got the street cred to say
it — he’s the guy who ended the draft.
All but forgotten by the
press, discounted by his Democratic challengers who voted to finance
that military industrial complex, Gravel’s got his work cut out for
him.
But he’s undaunted; he’s faced long odds before — like
when he saved your life — when he filibustered to keep you from dying
face down in a rice paddy.
And now that man who saved your life
back in the ’70s is in his 70s, fighting once again for your future.
Pat LaMarche of Yarmouth is the author of "Left Out In America: The State of Homelessness in the United States."
View the article in its original context here.
Comments
and???????
Submitted on March 20th, 2008 by JENIFER D.Look here, I'm a recently retired service member who came across this site by chance this evening. With all the technology we have, nobody should have to spend more than a few bucks to get recognized. Understand this though; the political machine that runs on blood and money does not recognize honest, humble folks who remember what the term 'Public Servant' means. Government is no longer a system of checks & balances; it's a dirty disgusting business and with the damage the last four reichs have done, your boy, Mike, does not stand a snowball's chance in hell of fixing it unless he does more to draw media attention to himself. Are we tracking????
Hi Jenifer! Glad to See You Stopped By
Submitted on March 20th, 2008 by JaywinYou're definitely right...this campaigns needs more media attention!
May I ask what state you're from?
Comments About Draft
Submitted on March 17th, 2008 by AllAroundLeftyAlthough I'm not technically qualified to comment on this post, as I am only 28, I do want to add one more discussion point for you to consider regarding the draft. I am currently a soldier in the United States Army, and while I would be opposed to any draft initiatives, I will go ahead and play devils advocate here and provide one additional consideration regarding the draft.
Many people would prefer to keep the Army an all volunteer force, but it is important to realize that the military as it is today is demographically composed mostly of young, typically minority, and economically disadvantaged persons. Technically speaking, all of these soldiers, seamen, airmen, and marines are "volunteers", no one forced any of them (including myself) to raise their right hand and swear to defend the Constitution against all enemies. During wartime or periods of increased conflict, when recruiting efforts are stepped up, there is a great challenge to convince young sons and daughters of our nation that it is in their best interest to volunteer to be placed in harms way.
To satisfy recruiting requirements driven by growing casualty lists, certain populations are targeted heavily more than others. These include young men and women who typically come from lower economic class households, with little more than a high school education, coming from either rural communities or the inner city. Individuals in these demographic groups typically have few other options to escape from low skill minimum wage earning environments, so when a enlistment bonus in the thousands is offered, along with a promise to pay for college upon separation, the likelihood of being placed on the battlefield seems a decent compromise.
As long as the sons and daughters of the powerful and privileged in our society are not targeted for service on the battlefield, it is easier for them to support initiatives such as "troop surge", and the expansion into other countries (such as recently talked about moves into Iran). If a draft was initiated, however, and now young Johnny was pulled from Harvard Law and sent into battle, America would see a sharp rise in public opposition to the war. If a draft was started today, and the children of upper economic class congressmen, media moguls, and defense contractors were sent into harms way, you can bet that public discussion about "timetables for withdrawal" would become a sudden priority.
Again, I am opposed to plucking non-willing people off of the street for military service, but if it had happened towards the beginning of our war on terror, we probably would not be approaching a 5 year anniversary of the Iraq invasion with so many of our young citizens still dying for causes so ambiguously defined by our current administration.