To the editor:
With shrinking volunteers for the armed services and the deployment of our young people to various parts of the world, our armed services are in desperate need of replacement to keep our country secure. We Americans, civilian and military personnel, have been roaming the globe since the Revolutionary War. Until the 20th centaury, we seemed secure and protective by the surrounding oceans until September 11th.
In 1948, Congress passed the Selective Service Act for the purpose of maintaining the strength of the armed forces during peacetime at two million plus. This act was to expire in June 1950 but was extended to July 9, 1951 because of the Korean War, then later broadened it with frequent amendments in turn providing manpower for the war in Vietnam. In 1969 a lottery system for choosing draftees was introduced. The Military Selective Service Act of 1967 expired in June 1973, and membership in the United States Armed Forces was put on an all-volunteer basis.
Under the Selective Service System, Congress, and of course, with the approval of the President, can conscript untrained manpower, or personnel with professional health care skills, to serve our country during a national crisis.
Many of the opponents to the draft have commented that only the poor and the uneducated are disproportionately called to serve; this has proven to be untrue. The current voluntary armed services are composed of men and women who are highly skilled and exceptionally well educated. Many of these young people were influenced to enlist in the military armed services following the September 11 destruction in New York City. The devastation impacted all Americans creating images of what could happen to our security here in the United States.
Several proponents of reinstating the draft have come forward in the House of Representatives in Washington; namely C. Rangel from New York, and J. Conyers from Michigan. They agree the reinstating of the draft would equalize our military armed services. They allege the country needs extra strength now especially in foreign countries where our troops are over-extended, and at the present time our armed forces are having great difficulty in fulfilling the mandatory number of volunteers needed to maintain a secure and safe tactical group to protect our country.
In the final analysis, a universal draft would benefit many of our young people, especially the boys who are not self-directed and often are not motivated to further their education and secure satisfying positions in life for their own welfare. In recent years, the drop-out rate in high schools and colleges is astronomical for our young men. Many of the men from our minority population are serving time in prison, and when they are released, a large percentage often return to the same practice as before and are sent back to prison to serve more time.
Reinstate the draft that will help our young men and women to acquire an education and provide competency in specialties for lifelong endurance.
Edwin L. Beaulieu
Billerica, Mass
