As we approach Veterans Day this year there appears to be a demonstrable decline in people going out of their way in saying to a veteran, “Thank you for your service.” It seems that the politics of war and peace dictates that we forget the sacrifices of our warriors as soon as they come home, take off their uniforms and the drums of war go silent.
December 7, 1972 was the last time that the draft lottery made a call. The following month on January 27, 1973 the military draft came to an end.
Up until 1940, the draft was exclusively used as a way to populate a military going to war. This included three major wars: the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War I.
The first peace-time draft came in 1940. It was continued during three more major wars, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.
I served during the time of the draft as a volunteer in the United States Air Force. During my time in the service I attended university classes in the evenings.
The majority of the courses I took at the time were in languages, history and politics. The program of studies allowed me the opportunity to look closely at the history of American military involvements beginning with the United States Navy’s running fight with the North African Barbary Pirates (1801-1805) to the Cold War with the Soviet Union that was very much a part of my own daily life.
The histories of the many wars fought by those that came before me populate the epic events that created the greatest country in the world. Many of these pieces of history have been in part fictionalized by the movie industry to make the impact of their greatness even stronger.
Much less attention has been paid to the results of the sacrifice of our soldiers in the field. Once in a while we see in old movies that show the dislocated bitterness of veterans, many times with missing limbs, that have not been able to find their way back to “normality.”
As an example, in addition to the sometimes incomprehensible number of battle dead, the history of the American Civil War also includes so many wounds that result in amputated limbs. World War I produced survivors of gas attacks that came home as walking cripples.
The most unconscionable conditions surrounding the draft came during the Vietnam War. In this war, the politics of draft deferrals ran rampant as part of a wave of corruption that allowed those with means to pay for ways to avoid going to war.
It was left for the poor, the voiceless, many from ethnic and racial minorities, to carry the burden of fighting and dying for our way of life. Not only that, the returning soldiers many times were deliberately scheduled to arrive back in the United States at night because the general feelings against the war were so strong that it exposed our men and women to danger from our own citizens.
Since the advent of the all volunteer armed forces, the military has become part of the labor market as another area of professional work. No longer made up of citizen soldiers, this new professional class is blurring the lines of separation between the military and politics to advance their interests.
Some politicians are also encouraging the use of our military to police our civilian population. The politics during war and peace continues to represent major challenges to veterans.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
