“Uncle Sam Wants You!....Again”

Rumors surrounding America’s reinstatement of the Selective Service System, better known as ‘the draft’, has African American Vietnam War Veteran Theodore Anderson feeling indecisive. He explains that in a time of war, a draft is always necessary.

“Every American citizen should be held accountable,” said Anderson, who is now blind in one eye from the beatings he endured during his service, and is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease at age 71.

However, for there to be a draft, there must be a war. Today, the decision of reinstating the draft has become a ‘Will-they, won’t-they’ relationship between America and potentially hostile foreign nations.

Todd South of the Military Times states that “restarting the military draft after more than four decades of an ­all-volunteer force would be complicated. But it could be done.”

Experience is the best teacher: Mr. Anderson retold his life story, revealing what the draft really looks like.

“I graduated high school in ‘65,ot drafted in ‘66, and I was deployed in Vietnam in ‘67”. Theodore’s life was spun into a whirlwind when he found out he was drafted. “I was down, scared, and sad. Had no idea what to do.”

He didn’t have to wait long for assistance. In the desperate times of the Vietnam War, the draftees were sent to the Air Force, Marines, Navy, and the much dreaded infantry. Bodies were needed in all areas. Young draftees were selected at random and shortly shipped out.

But Mr. Anderson’s experience was different. One might call it a miracle.

“There was this black corporal. He saw something in me - potential. He picked me out of a group, posed as my cousin and helped me skip being sent into the infantry: the doomed frontlines. Being placed in the infantry was like a death sentence: true capital punishment.”

While the draft does negatively affect any draftees’ future plans or goals, it can also strengthen relationships for the better.

“My auntie told me that when I return, I’m going to look up and find the people I grew up with leading very different lives...but I’ll still be here to see it.” says Mr. Anderson sitting comfortably on his blue couch next to his adolescent grandchildren.

Future wars are likely to be even more dangerous than Vietnam. If most young men drafted in the future were in a position like Mr. Anderson’s, they may not be so lucky.