I guess if I were old enough and if I were a guy and they asked me to, then yes, I would go. Like whiterabbit said, we have a reason for fighting this time, which IMHO is a pretty good one.
This has been a topic on a few other message boards I go to, so I’ve been thinking about this for a few days.
I would not fight. It would be rather hypocritical of me to enlist when I do not believe it is right to kill. However, I would be glad to work in a noncombat position, like treating wounded.
I know a few people in the Army. I haven’t spoken to them in two years, but I still hope they’re okay.
jessica
The simple truth. Teens in the 1940s were very naive. (pardon spelling.) They didnt have tv, internet, and all of the other forms of media to show them what the true horrors of war were. Many thought they would enlist, get a gun, shoot a few jappenese or germans, and be home in a month or two. Many had never seen (rather real or acted) the horrors of dying from a gut wound, being amputated by a .50cal shell, or the kind of scar you get after 1/2lb of steel shrapnel tears through your back.
Teens during the 70s had seen their share of WW2 aftermath footage, and i feel that is what kept them from wanting to go to vietnam.
Teens in the 90s-00s have seen more video carnage than any other generation that has ever existed. Most teens, unless kept under lock and key, has seen the victims of middle east pipe-bombers, serial killers, and maimed people to spare, all from the comfort of their living room.
Todays teens have more sense (however strange this may sound) than the teens of the 40s. My dad, was born in the early 50s, and is a very patriotic person and belives the US should use force to achive its goals anytime it seems possible. My uncle, on the other hand, born in the 40s, was drafted into the vietnam war. When it comes to talk about fighting, killing, and the like, he uasualy doesnt say much. He rarely talks about what he saw in vietnam. (He has told me more than his immediate famly knows…its scary shit!)
It isnt that todays teens arent brave. It isnt that todays teens arent patriotic. I quess too many of us have watched Full Metal Jacket, or read All Quiet on the Western Front one too many times, and the idea of being torn apart by 300gr. of lead travling at the speed of sound doesnt exactly bring joy to our hearts. ( as a deer hunter, i have seen what a large caliber bullet does to flesh…it aint pretty)
There is nothing wrong with war, if it is to protect your country, family, homeland,etc., but fighing to please some jokers who hold a govt. office is basicly a sadistic form of suicide.
In a situation such as that that happend 2 weeks ago, I feel that the US should use force to rid the world of terrorist like BinLaden. However, I dont plan on volunteering for the army anytime soon. Some americans will loose their lives either way, either they may die in military action, or in future terrorist attacks. Either way, I feel fewer will die ridding the earth of terrorist scum, rather than dying as its victims.
To put it in laymans terms, todays teens have seen death, and they arent ready to meet it.
now that ive posted i see that alot of what ive said has been said before…thats what you get for not reading before you post, i guess.
Besides, if their was a draft, i doubt i would seriosly make it in. Ive got 20/200 vision(REALY REALY BAD) I weigh 280lbs, and am a pack a day smoker(all at the tender age of 18)…i wouldnt make it very far…But if they come to my home(enemy military)…I will fight, but i have no desire to go halfway around the world to do it.
Incase your thinking about it, I KNOW my spelling and grammar suck.
Thanks to all you teens that have checked in here.
I know my grandfathers were both in service, but I did not know that one had seen combat until after he died, just a few years ago. I knew that he was a prison guard at Sagano in Japan, but that’s it. He never spoke of combat.
I myself am too young to remember Vietnam. It was going on when I was born (I’m 34), and was over before I really became conscious of anything.
The only war I have experienced is the Gulf War, but that seemed so…I don’t know, I think “remote” may be the word I’m looking for here. It was so far away. A mostly air war. Not too many Americans lost. Even though I knew a young man that went there (and came back safely, thank goodness) and have met many Gulf War vets since then, it never became as personal as this attack has become.
And Justin? I think you may be quite right about teens today having actually seen. I guess that’s the thing I was missing here. Things still get sanitized some, but not enough for us to get the message that war sucks, and people die horribly.
Thanks for helping me get a clue, people. I appreciate it.
I’m only a teen on a planet that takes 2.5 to 3 of our years to orbit its sun. But I thought some factual info would be useful.
In WWII, despite the surge of enlistments, they needed the draft. I don’t have the numbers, but despite the fact that a lot of young people (plus some not-so-young people, for instance my (then) 42 year old grandfather) were running out and enlisting, a lot of young people clearly weren’t.
Right now, the military recruitment offices are suddenly getting swamped. So obviously some young people now are responding.
Also, there are stories that give reason to believe that it’s given young people a bit of a wake-up call, letting them know that life is more serious than they’ve previously realized. You’ve got to take people where they are, and in 1941, the average American teen already knew that life was pretty serious - the Great Depression had lasted most of his/her life. Very different circumstances, and there’s no good way of doing a good comparison across the generations.
I am a female and I am not worried about the draft too much(until they start drafting women). I am more worried about my boy friends that are in draft age. Many of them don’t want to fight and are against war. I have one, particularly, who already received a letter stating that he had 24 hours to go and enlist(or something like that). His mom threw it to the garbage. He is thinking that he can escape war or drafting in three ways:
- Hoping he won’t be drafted because he is the only child of his mother.
- Become a conscious objector. His ethics are against war.
- If the two above fails, flee to Canada.
I hope that there will be no war, and that if there is one, they only send the ones who are willing to fight(those in the armed forces or those who enlisted).
“I have one, particularly, who already received a letter stating that he had 24 hours to go and enlist(or something like that).”
??? The draft hasn’t been reactivated. http://www.sss.gov/statement.htm
They ARE calling up the reserves, but the reserves are strictly volunteers.
As far as I know, he received a letter saying that he had 24 hours to go to the recruitment center. He is not the only one, another classmate received a similar letter.
Hmmm…probably in the same mail, he got another envelope saying he might already be a winner, and had 24 hours to claim his prize.
There is no draft. Nobody has to report anywhere, unless you’re in the reserves.
Every year, my school’s guidance office starts hounding the senior guys, reminding them to go register for Selective Service after they turn 18, otherwise they might as well just go live under a bridge now since they’ll never get into college. Or something like that. But those who aren’t registered aren’t qualified for federal aid for school and other things.
I’m sure a few people get letters reminding them to go register for that.
jessica
Yes, you still must register for Selective Service.
Selective Service registration is not–I repeat, NOT–a draft. It’s been going on for years. It’s a “just in case there is ever a need for a draft” thing.
That’s probably what those letters are.
I don’t know if it’s still true (though my parents hope very much that it is) being an only son would keep boys who have no brothers in this country even if there is a draft and war. (Dammit, why does my best friend have a younger brother?) They’d still have to serve, but not overseas. This is what kept my grandfather in the US during the Korean war, BTW. As pleasant as this sounds, at least to familes with only one boy, I don’t think this sort of thing would hold up “this time” since the average family size has shrunk so much since the last draft, and it’s rule out way to many otherwise eligible boys since of those that do have at least two kids, not too many of them are two boys.
And as far as I was taught in high school, being #2 doesn’t keep you out of service, either, just out of a combat role. He’d be a clerk or something instead of someone forced to kill others.
Thanks Persephone. Still, my friends are not happy receiving this letter in a time they are talking about war.
About the conscious objector. I know it just prevents you from combat role, and I hope my friend realizes that. A friend of my dad went to VietNam as a conscious objector, and got stuck being nurse. Didn’t like it, of course.
Oh, well, there is still fleeing to another country…