Military Service

I am not quite sure why or how a person's level of patriotism came to be measured by whether or not that person served his country in the military. Making such a judgment, for centuries, has concluded that on the basis of military service alone, men are therefore more patriotic than women. I am not sure I agree with that, nor am I certain that military service should be the only requirement to join the club.

There was a time, in this country, when young men were drafted into military service whether they wanted to serve their country or not. Forced patriotism, so to speak, begs the question, if you force someone to be patriotic, are they really patriotic?

There was also a time in this country, when the judicial system offered four years of military service in lieu of jail time. Now, I am not in favor of bringing back the draft. I am, however, in favor of bringing back the military option for first time non-violent criminals, like illegal aliens.

There is a difference between forcing a person to serve in the military and offering them the option of serving in the military in lieu of something else. Critics will say what they have always said, the U.S. will end up with nothing more than an army made up of illegal aliens and other various and asundry criminals.

Those critics better watch out. Iraq and Afghanistan have proven, if nothing else, that the good old U.S. of A. still produces some mighty fine patriots, home grown, good citizens, top of the line patriots, who are fully capable of showing those who are less patriotic, exactly how it's done.

Copyright © 2009 Annette Fortunato

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