Mandatory Military Service

Mandatory Military Service

There is a buzz around talking about mandatory military service, and I agree with it. There should be a mandatory draft for all young men and women from the ages of 18 to 21. The United States has gone through so many changes in just a short time; WWII was only 65 years ago, a long with the Korean War only 50 plus years ago and now we get to deal with the attack of 9/11. I have mentioned only the wars that we as a nation are fighting for our freedom. In WWII men were willing to fight for their freedom and they also understood the repercussions of their actions knowing that they may never see their families again. They were scared just as much as our soldiers are today, and yet they all thought they were doing the right thing: fighting the good war. It was an honor to fight for your country then, not so much now and that is exactly what we as a country need today. The draft should starting with our 18 year old men and women, being a country of one again, without segregation no matter what race, color, creed, or religion a person is (Selective Service System). We must have an understanding of what our country is about and who and why people died for our freedom and being proud to say that we live in the United States of America. That will only come to pass if we teach our young men and women in the military.

People in the United States walk around all day not even thinking or questioning why they have the ability to do what they do. It’s very simple to answer-because soldiers died to give us what we have. Many people don’t know that and most don’t even care; the reason they don’t care is because they never fought for anything nor had any regimented structure (Dunbar).

One of the most beneficial reasons for mandatory military service would be for homeland security. Right now our homeland security is weak because our soldiers are tired and a lot of them are overseas. What would happen if we were invaded by another country? How could we defend our country if half of our military is over seas? Things wouldn’t work out like everyone thinks. But if we had 50 million men and women in the United States that were not on active duty that had served in the military, I don’t think we would have a problem fighting off a country, no matter where our active duty soldiers were. One of the greatest attributes would be that teenagers would have jobs and this would be stimulating the economy. When they were out of the military these men and women would be motivated to get a college degree in a fashionable time. “They would unite with people of all sexes, races and religions to work toward a common good. This allows neighborhoods to become safer and society to become stronger. The workforce gets better workers; families get better mothers and fathers, and the country gets a more unified citizenship” (Williams).

Fighting for your country? Have you ever thought about the answer to that question? How often do you believe in what you are doing? Americans people are miserable in their day to day lives. Imagine waking up and knowing what and why you are alive because of the job you were doing, protecting our country. There are no struggles in the armed forces, only triumphs and with the type of motivation that is instilled down you think you could conquer the world.

The next question would be whether would we be doing this for good reasons or bad ones? Well let’s take a look at some of the bad possibilities: a person could not believe in conscription for religious beliefs, or peace treaty beliefs. Some may not believe in our military tactics of bombarding countries with our air attacks. Many would also not want their children possibly going to war if that was the case at the time (Binder). All these excuses may have some validity, but they are all excuses of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. For the past 200 years we as a country have been fighting for our freedom and when the people of the United States are afraid they are all about the armed forces getting involved to protect us, but if that person had to fight for freedom they would probably decline the invitation. It’s a lot of bigotry going on if you ask me. How can you as a citizen of the United States ask someone you don’t even know to give their life for you when you would not do the same for them? My answer to that would be to put that individual on the front line and watch them die for their country? I know that sounds harsh, but what you think the soldier feels when they hear that you wouldn’t die for them.

Many people have pride in different ways; some may have been raised to think that way or others may have served in the military, and most do not know what pride means. Serving in the military would give one a sense of pride along with structure, discipline, and morals which many people do not have. Along with having job opportunities at a young age, they would also be taught structure and a solid background of discipline. Now the moral issue is one of opinion. Morally people will take advantage of any situation that is in their favor. If you went to the grocery store and got back more money than you paid, most would keep the change and be on their way. That would change if people were serving in the forces; not all would change, but most would at least think about it (Raad).

Do you know what freedom means? There are so many of us that go about our day not thinking about how we have our freedom to make as much money as you want, to walk down the street without Marshall Law, to have a girlfriend or boyfriend that is not fixed by the parents, the list can go on for days. My grandfather, a WWII veteran, told me a long time ago, that a man wasn’t a man unless he served in the military. Bold statement, but you have to remember the times back then when he fought for our country for 5 years without any visits to his wife. That’s what was expected, and nobody questioned it.

Things that have been stated in this article are some fact and some opinion, maybe you have changed your mind and maybe you feel the same. I know that this country is not doing well as a whole, financially, ethically, and morally and how I see it is we need the military with structure to help us out. This is why there should be a mandatory draft for all young men and women from the ages of 18 to 21.