Military Draft: A Short Story

He had an ice cold glass of sweet tea in one hand, and the newly opened letter in the other. Sitting out on the porch he looked at the majestic rolling hills that surrounded him. The sound of muffled crickets in the long green grass, and the joyful noise of children laughter. The sun was high, it was such a beautiful day. With a big sigh the man took a small drink of his iced tea. He could smell roast cooking and a new loaf of bread in the oven, with all these great things in his life why was he suddenly not happy? He heard a sweet voice calling from the kitchen that dinner was ready and to come inside and serve him food. When he didn’t appear in the kitchen right away his wife came out on the porch. She didn’t have to ask what was wrong

because before she could say anything the man handed her the letter. All at once the woman began to cry, her hands began to shake radically, and she fell to her knees to pray. Her husband had been drafted for war, and there was nothing they could do about it. He was to be deployed in two weeks, and was expected to leave behind his wife, his home, his children, his farm, his whole life. Can you even imagine what it would be like to be drafted for a war and have to leave behind everything you loved and cared for? The military draft was when the government would force men to go to war, they didn’t get to make that decision themselves. For many years the draft hasn’t even existed, but some people have recently been asking if we should reinstate a mandatory draft in the United States. With this question comes very many options and ideas, but I believe that we should not reinstate a military draft. The military draft is unconstitutional, and is a violation of the Fifth Amendment which forbids the government from depriving “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Being forced into the military can ultimately deprive a person of all three of their rights listed in the Fifth Amendment.
To begin, the military draft deprives the people of life.

During a military draft the person is subject to being sent out to war at any given time. If a man’s wife is supposed to give birth to his first born child the week that he is supposed to be deployed, it doesn’t matter. There are no excuses and consequently for being drafted at that bad timing, the man would have to miss the birth of his first child. Every man is not only expected to leave behind all of his family, and friends but to put their lives on the line by hunting down the enemy whenever they are told to do so. Being killed in the line of military duty is in the job description, by forcing a man to go to war with the draft, you are forcing him to risk and chance his life that he may or may not have had a chance to even live yet. By reinstating a draft the government is taking away the decision for the man to live a normal life with his family. The government is ripping away the man from his family and expecting him to go on acting like everything is okay. I can’t imagine someone telling me that I had to leave my friends and family to go to some scary place, for a very long time, and with a 50/50 chance of survival. It should be a choice whether or not the man wants to give up his life and serve for his country, not a law and

enforcement.
Another reason, is because it takes away the liberty. The liberty of a soldier is severely restricted, compared to those of a civilian life. They can’t just go wherever they want, or do whatever they want. If you’re hungry, you go make yourself a sandwich or you go to McDonald’s and buy yourself something to eat. When a soldier is hungry, they hold their hunger for hour’s sometimes even days at a time until they could eat. When you’re tired, you get in your pajamas and go to bed. When a soldier is tired, they force their eyes to stay open, sometimes they stay awake for days on end with little to no sleep. When you are hot you turn on you air conditioner and get in shorts. A soldier though is always hot under his protective gear and under the beating sun all day long, but they don’t have an air conditioner to run home to the second they break a sweat. A soldier must also obey the dictates of their superiors or they risk serious consequences. If a soldier doesn’t like a task he can’t simply quit and decide to do something else. The soldier must do everything he is told to do without any question. They also aren’t allowed to speak their minds or protest. They must keep quiet and do exactly as they’re told. By enforcing a military draft, the government is forcing all of these things upon a man, when he should have the choice to enroll himself into such circumstances. The draft would forcefully take away a man’s liberty, making it unconstitutional.
Last, the draft would deprive a man of property without due process of law.

Military services often force a man to forfeit property that he would be able to keep if it wasn’t for being drafted. Usually they give it up because if they are drafted for way they won’t be around to provide upkeep for it, defend it from damage, or defend it from theft by other people. The land that they could have for the rest of their lives is being taken away from them because they are drafted to war. Military duty also makes people unavailable for jobs, and employment opportunities which could be the result of their land being taken away. If they aren’t ever around to work and make money, then there is no way that they can pay for their land they own, so eventually their land gets taken away. Imagine the effect that military service could have on an owner of a small business. If he is the owner he has to be around all the time to keep the place in line and make sure things are going well around the business. If he has to leave for full-time military service there is a huge chance that they will lose their business. When a man is forced into military service by draft, he could lose more than his life or his liberty, he could also lose his land or

business.
Teachers and parents always say, “Life isn’t fair; sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do.” But is it constitutional to be forced to give up everything you have and have no choice in serving for your country and putting your life on the line? Reinstating the military draft would be a terrible idea. The draft is unconstitutional; you lose your right of life by having to give up your friends and family, and put your life on the line by going up against the enemy whenever you are told to do so. You also lose your right to liberty, you don’t get to make any decisions for yourself, you do what you’re told and that’s that. Last but not least, it deprives a man of due process of law, and you could most likely lose all of your land you own while you’re away at war. A man could come home from war after surviving our country and have nothing left; his life half gone and his kids are all grown up, and he didn’t even get to experience their childhood with them. His liberty gone for so long that he’s not sure what to do with himself without someone telling him what to do. And he comes home to no home or his sixty acres of crops that keep his family going during the hard times. By forcing to a man to go to war, you are basically forcing a man to give up everything he has, including life, liberty and property. I believe we should not reinstate the military mandatory draft.