Viking_Yearbook_69

School, education, work, and recreation are of common concern to all students; but to that special class of single male students between 19 and 26 years of age , there exists an even greater concern. The draft. To this special class has fallen the "duty and honor" of defending the nation. If called and found suitable, these men are given the task of serving two years in the nation's army. To some it is a tour of Europe or an assignment in an unfamiliar corner of the U. S., but to many the tour takes place in a small troubled Southeast Asian coun– try called Vietnam. Vietnam is where the action is at. This is where the majority of draftees fulfill their "duty" and "de– fend" their nation. The student who qualifies for the draft is faced with a variety of changes when requested by his local citizen board to accept military induction and to fight. Schooled to think, he is now asked to accept a role as an expendable tool that acts as told without questions or debate. After learning to respect many of the nation 's laws (i.e., murder is illegal), he now is instructed to kill. Murder is ordered. Not to obey an order is to disobey military law. Taught to be mindful of individuals ' rights, he is now asked to deprive people of their rights and in some cases their lives because they have been labeled "the enemy." This is the military that awaits the draftee. Yet with all the laws and duties aimed at pushing acceptance of the draft, the relation between the indi– vidual and the draft is still a matter of personal choice. One can accept it as a sacred duty or merely as a required task. One can refuse to comply by ac– cepting C. 0. status, by fleeing the country, or by going to prison. These are all alternatives chosen by various individuals as they seek to establish a rela– tionship to the draft as it exists both in principle and practice.