MY TURN: Forced to fight

Will my son or daughter be drafted into the military? I am sure thousands of American parents are asking that question, given the current state of world affairs. If your answer to that question is no, due to their age or physical condition; then you may breathe a sigh of relief. If your answer is yes, here are some points for discussion with them:

1)  If they want to serve, they should enlist. They have a choice of which branch of the military they wish to serve in and what specialty they can be trained in. Keep in mind, however, everyone learns rifle marksmanship. Cooks, clerks, mechanics, and musicians were handed rifles and placed in the front lines when the Wehrmacht broke through the Ardennes in 1944.

2)  If they have no desire to be cannon fodder for .mil, the MIC or Wall Street, then you and your offspring need to have a plan. Do not break the law. If your child is out of the country when the Notice of Induction arrives in the mail, leave it on the hall table unopened. The Men In Black will eventually come knocking. Your response should be: “…well agents, the last we heard from him he was working on a sheep ranch in New Zealand.” You get my drift. 

Now before everyone gets their knickers in a knot, go to your local library and read all about our multi-year military disaster in SE Asia. Many thousands of young men were drafted.  I drank the Leviathan’s Kool-Aid in 1969 and enlisted. But timing and politics kept me stateside even though I was Infantry trained. I have also served over seven years as an active Army Reservist after my release from active duty in 1971.

If it were my child or grandchild, I would ask them why they would want to risk their lives for a centuries-old ongoing conflict 5,000 miles away? If they are a Believer, they know it all will be decided by He whose pay grade is way higher than anyone else’s. If they are sincerely concerned about America’s safety, they should apply with ICE, the Border Patrol, or even the Coast Guard. 

The eschatology business is booming right now. And the salespersons in their pulpits will do their best to sway their congregations of military-age parishioners citing more passages from the Good Book than there are feathers on the American Eagle. Do not drink their Kool-Aid, either. There is a Kurdish saying: “Those who do not go to war, roar like lions.” Do not listen to the roaring lions, younglings. Think!

John M. Johnson is a retired peace officer, retired schoolteacher and a veteran.