"Kent, what do you think about draft dodgers?"
I responded:
"You might as well ask what I think about the slaves who escaped their captivity up until the 1860s- or those in Africa who escaped being captured and enslaved in the first place. Because conscription IS slavery.
It isn't cowardice to keep your freedom, especially when you know the price will be high, it is bravery."
Do we revile those three women in Cleveland who recently escaped after a decade of captivity as sex slaves? What about those who foil a kidnapping attempt?
Runaway slaves, those who hid to avoid being enslaved, and those who escape or avoid a kidnapping. I'd say "draft dodgers" are in honorable company. They are the ones who actually sacrificed for freedom.
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Interesting perspective, considering many of the legislators clamoring to renew the draft are Black...
ReplyDeletegfa
Compared to the Viet Nam (non)War there was a much lower rate of draft-dodging in WWII. I don't think most people in America didn't think North Viet Nam was an immediated and direct threat to the U.S. Ho Chi Minh, communist though he was, just wanted to get his whole country back from the French colonialists...who passed it over to the U.S. Hitler, on the other hand, was actively engaged in invading other nations, many of whom were our friends and allies. His u-boats were sinking U.S. supply ships heading to England and it didn't take a big leap of imagination to believe Hitler was or could easily be an immediate and direct threat to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually in favor of a draft - not because I want to see my sons or other men's sons and daughters shipped off to slaughter/be slaughtered on behalf on this corrupt state; but rather because I think a draft will cause both teenagers and their families to reconsider their support of the never ending wars of terror and perhaps give thought to the now common assumption that it is OK to send our young to foreign lands as long as they freely signed up for the trip.
ReplyDeleteKent, you are one of a few who is telling the truth. There is less freedom today than there was when I went into the Army in 1969.
ReplyDeleteA woman recently told me her son wanted to join the Army. Then she asked me would I recommend my children join. I said " No, not in the day and age."