Personal Narrative Essay: The Military Draft

The draft started on April 16, 1862 for the Confederate States during the Civil War. The Union then conducted their own draft on March 3, 1863. The Northern 1862 draft was an attempt to let states handle their own conscriptions, instead of the old volunteer militia. The next draft took place on September 16, 1940 for World War I and remained in effect continuously until 1973. The president, Woodrow Wilson, decided that “A draft was needed and nearly 3,000,000 soldiers were drafted following the Service Act of 1917.” (Understanding the U.S. Military Draft History 1). The reasoning behind President Wilson calling for the draft is because “Before the draft only 73,000 soldiers volunteered during the first 6 weeks of World War I” (Understanding the U.S. Military Draft History 1). Before July of 1973 “The draft was in effect continuously from 1940 to 1973” (Smith 1). This means that more than 10,000,000 men were drafted and sent off into battle throughout the past wars.

To kick off, when the draft was started it was known as Conscription, otherwise known as a mandatory enlistment into the United States military it was used when volunteer numbers did not provide sufficient manpower. The draft was first implemented on a national level for the Union during the Civil War after President Abraham Lincoln had misjudged the amount of volunteers that he would need to defeat the Confederacy.

Starting with the First World War and ending with the Korean War, there were 16,307,243 American’s inducted into wars by the Selective Service (Induction Statistics). These men were inducted into the wars by the draft method. A draft is an imperative recruitment for the military services. Drafts were very helpful with gathering men for the wars that America fought in. Many people did not want to be apart of the drafts, but there were many ways to get out of one as well. Drafts were a necessary action in order to get the men of the United States to fight for their country, and protect the freedoms of others.

Several months, I have been tossing the idea about joining the Navy. My family was aware about Navy was possibility option. Recently, I have contacted a Navy Recruiter, and I have not told my family about me talking to a recruiter. My family is important aspect of my life, so the conversation needs to happen sooner than later. When I bring up the Navy conversation, my intention would ease my family in acceptance of their daughter leaving the state. Joining the Navy would impact me and my family, and the impact on my family would tribute to the difficult conversation. In following joining the Navy would impact me and my family, and the impact on my family would tribute to the difficult conversation. Underlie feeling have huge impact on person’s attributions and judgement. A difficult conversation affects the identity of a person. Therefore, intention by the conversation was important.

Then around the time of World War 2 there was another draft. This draft was known as the first peace wartime draft . This draft was confirmed on September 16th 1940. It declared that all men between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five had to register for the U.S army . This draft also required that all men drafted had to serve at least a year. During this period the time of twelve months was extended and this resulted in many soldiers leaving and going a wall. A common symbol found in the barracks of these soldiers was O.H.I.O. this stood for “over the hills in October” . Although many soldiers left during that time, many new people signed up to join because of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not only did many new men register but the woman too. The woman’s jobs were usually paramedics and nurses .

To go into more detail, the New York draft riots were a law that was passed that made any male between ages 20-40 liable to be drafted into the army without a choice. What caused the law was the fact that there wasn’t any people in the army to fight. So they drafted normal civilians to do that. “In 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War, Congress passed a conscription law,” ( A&E Television Networks, 2009, 1)

The 1971 draft was being televised tonight. I became anxious as the time of the draft came closer. On November 5, 1968, our current president Richard Nixon was elected into office. He had promised that he would get America out of the war but within the time he has been in office he sparked it even further. The military is in need of more support to defeat our enemy so the United States decided to have a draft. I wished I could get out of this draft because I could’t even vote to make sure I wasn’t sent off to another country. Many of my friends were trying to avoid the draft but I am stuck due to not having enough money to go to college. Back in April of this year there was a protest at Kent State where 67 shots were fired and 4 people died.

In 1917 the act decided that there could not be any replacements for anyone who was supposed to fight.Therefore the wealthy men couldn't buy themselves out of serving the military under any circumstance,Aliens also had to take part of the war as well. This was to make sure that every american man served in the war . Only a small percent of the men that registered would of been chosen to fight in the war. In 1918 World War 1 came to an end and the draft was put to rest.

When you enjoy the freedoms you have living in the United States, you can thank those men and women who serve in the armed forces. But in recent years, our armed forces have seen a decline in enlistments, which has reignited and old debate. Should we reinstate the Military Draft? This one question has sparked a debate nationwide, between friends, family, and even perfect strangers. Reinstating the draft is just one way to ensure people can continue to enjoy those freedoms the armed forces have fought for over the years.

The most hardworking people are usually the least recognized. They are generally the least paid as well. There must be some sort of incentive for them to continually work so hard. The United States Army has been the underdogs of the military branch. The United States Army is probably the hardest working branch of the military, but also the least sought after. To the general public they are not considered to be at the top of the spectrum amongst the other branches of military. The government has helped in creating a bias within the branches of military by making the standards to get into the military so low compared to some of the other branches. The Army should be considered the “People’s Army.”

After World War two the draft was no longer a option for the American Army. Compulsory conscription is today’s version of the draft, and the draft played a large part in World War two. Over seventy percent of men that were the between the ages of 18 and 35 were in the army and because of all the time they spent together and their similar ages many of these guys became lifelong friends. Since world war two the only tragedy that has brought our people together as a nation was the 9/11 terrorists attacks. The difference between todays army and the traditional army is the participation.

Here is a little history about the draft. September 16, 1940 the Burke- Wadsworth Act as passed by congress by a wide margin from both sides and the first peacetime draft was imposed in the history of the United States. In order to be drafted people must be between the ages twenty-one and thirty-six. Soon later the draft would be switched to eighteen years old so they and the max age at thirty- seven this changed in November of 1942.they also had a draft like thing during the Civil War. Only

Joining the military was astonishing in very many aspects in my life and it truly molded me into who I am today. I will genuinely say that the most important people in my life are my mother and father. I am not a parent myself but I have had years to only imagine how tough parenting can be; especially when raising three stubborn boys. My mother and father are very open minded and kind hearted to everyone regardless of who they are. I will be honest here and say that I may not have been as grateful as I should have been when I was a younger kid, but that’s just life. When you are younger, everything is very simple and do not realize the little things in life. I had no other worries except for, “What’s for dinner?”. The military made me realize how much I appreciated and very much needed my loved ones. Travelling far away to Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego California and starting my very own journey was one of the toughest decisions at that time to make for myself.

Conscription, or more boldly the draft, has not been in place for some thirty years. While some people cringe at the thought of reinstating the draft, others have different views. This short paper will speak of those different views and the reasons why conscription of military service may not be such a bad idea after all.

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