I’m not sure I haven’t written about this before on these pages but I think it’s worth visiting again.

I feel that many of the bad changes that have happened in our country over the last 50 years can be, at least partially, due to doing away with the military draft.

The reason I say this is because, I feel, when most young people graduate from high school, they don’t really know what they are going to do with their life, or for that matter, how to go about doing it. The military gives you several things you will need to succeed in life, discipline, structure and a sense of belonging, to name just a few.

Now I’m not endorsing a return to the military draft as it was in the past; what I’m advocating for is a required national service for all of our youth, could be military, or peace corps, or habitat for humanity, or any of the many other services our country needs to make it a better place for all of us to live.

Giving young people purpose and meaning, a sense of accomplishment and an appreciation of community early in their lives will set them on a path toward success that they might never dream of or strive for without the discipline and training they would experience with this requirement in place.

There are at least seventy-five countries in the world that require some kind of mandatory service to their country. I think ours should be one of them. I think it gives a whole new meaning to “Love of Country.” Just sayin’

Larry Benson

Enumclaw