Beating the Draft

David Lance Goines. I consider him a coward, but clever coward at that. I personally could never imagine what it would be like to be drafted into war. But as a teenage college student I feel that it is anyone's civic duty and honor to be drafted and be willing to fight for our country, not matter the circumstances. Goines was just a smart college student that seemed to get into trouble once and awhile, being that he was trying to win the "all-time most civil rights arrests" award. He was eventually drafted and was not happy about this decision. At this point, being drafted and going through the military might be a good thing for him at this point being that he was getting arrested being out on the streets. It was obvious he did not want to be fighting in the war, yet he passed his physical and intelligence tests with flying colors. My question is, is if he did not want to get picked for the draft then why wouldn't he of just failed the tests on purpose so then maybe the military would just skip over him? Instead, he thought it would be a good idea to write letters back and forth to the offices in hopes of them losing his file which ultimately, they did. I actually had to laugh at this. There is NO WAY that that could even happen today. I mean anything is possible, but really? Goines even says himself, "I guess now with everything on computers, this truck wont work anymore. But it might!" That just gives hope to selfish American teenagers to try and beat the system just so they don't have to go and serve for their country.

I have an uncle that served for our country in Iraq two years ago. It was the scariest thing to think about. My dad would talk to my brother and I about the draft and how it just was never something to look forward to, but it could just happen to anyone. Putting myself in Goines' situation, would I have been just as scared? Yes. Would I have bitched and complained? Yes. Would I have thought of ways to get around the system of going to fight for our country. Probably. But the way I was raised is, that you do what you have to do because you have to. Knowing that I could have made a difference in this country would have been enough for me. One person can change anything. It takes one person to build something up and it takes one person to build something down. Because of Goines' story everything is probably on lock down and it would be impossible to get around the system. But if this was to ever happen to you I would hope that you would be PROUD and HONORED to put on that uniform and fight for our country and not take the easy way out.