Letter: Military draft would do U.S. kids some good

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 5:53 a.m.

The military draft must be reinstated. During the Korean War, I joined the Navy. The draft was in force at the time. I came from a middle-class family, was the only child, spoiled rotten. In boot camp my fellow trainees had to show me how to shine my own shoes.

The four years I spent in the Navy made a real man out of me. I shudder to think what I might have become without serving my country as a sailor. Every young person in this country upon graduation from high school should put two years in the military, or two years in the Peace Corps. There is more to life for young Americans than mirrors and drugs.

I was fortunate in being able to travel to many countries, all over South America, Europe, Scotland. I saw with my own eyes people in some of these countries living happier lives than many Americans. I also saw people living rotten lives in other countries.

The best lesson I learned in the service was teamwork. Everyone had to pull his own weight aboard ship. When I got out of the Navy I had jobs where I was in the middle of a dog-eat-dog situation.

The military has a way of turning a boy into a man and a girl into a woman. Reinstate the draft and never stop it.

JOHN TOMINSKY