Some of you readers may recall my experience with applying for Medicare the summer of 2020. My application for coverage was denied.
Yup. This was a consequence of my being born in another country; Germany in-fact. No matter that both my parents were American citizens. No matter that I have been paying into the system forever and held a valid US passport. The Social Security Administration had me classified as an undocumented non-citizen and therefore ineligible. My application was rejected. If anyone tells you that illegal immigrants are lining-up to collect Medicare and Social Security benefits I am living proof that they are either lying to your face or ignorant. But I digress.
I can only speculate; but this was likely a bureaucratic record-keeping holdover traced to my registration for the draft in the very early 1970s. The local draft board was somehow convinced that because I held both a US Army birth certificate and a German birth certificate my dual citizenship status would entice me to flee the country and thereby circumvent any attempt at conscription and a all-expense-paid trip to Vietnam. The fix was I had to renounce any claim to German citizenship.
There was paperwork and a trip to the federal office building. And after I raised my right hand and swore an oath to 'absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen'. I was issued a Certificate of Naturalization and as a sole citizen of the United States of America my draft-dodging moment was over.
The people over at the Social Security Administration eventually cleared-up any confusion over my citizenship status and I am covered by both Medicare and Social Security. A happy ending to a stressful three months.
The other happy ending was on January 23, 1973. The year of my high school graduation Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced an end to the military draft and move to an all-volunteer military. POOF! Any chance of conscription vanished.
After I retired, I was moving some personal files, and found this precious piece of history...
My draft card; a bit worn and dogeared, but basically intact.
Throughout most of our country's 250 year history the draft has come and gone. General George Washington groused about the unsoldierly quality of state militias during the revolution against Great Britain and pushed for universal conscription. Congress put the kibosh on the entire notion.
During the war between the states both the Union and Confederacy enacted drafts. The Union's Enrollment Act of 1863 was particularly controversial inasmuch as it allowed wealthier individuals to pay a $300 fee or hire a surrogate to avoid serving in the military.
World War One and the Selective Service Act of 1917 created local draft boards to determine exemptions emphasizing 'selective' service based on agricultural and industrial manpower needs.
During the Second World War the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 instituted the first peacetime draft in history. At its peak it processed millions of men necessary to meet the unprecedented manpower needs for fighting a war on two fronts.
Conscription continued at the close of hostilities as a consequence of the Cold War and need for a standing army. Nevertheless, by the time the Vietnam war peaked the draft had become a source of increasing social unrest largely because of the inequities resulting from student deferments and the lottery system. The recommendations of the Gates Commission led to the demise of the draft and transition to an all-volunteer military.
Even though the draft is not active, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan President Carter resumed registration in 1980 requiring men born in 1960 or later to register with the Selective Service System as a contingency addressing any extreme national emergency.
The all-volunteer shift has changed the military from a temporary obligation for many to a professional career path with higher retention rates than a conscript force. When a service member sticks-around for one or more decades the military retains the institutional knowledge and technical expertise that would otherwise be lost when a draftee rotates out after a couple of years.
Volunteers require higher pay and benefits allowing the military to set higher standards for aptitude resulting in higher education, morale and better discipline. It should come as no surprise that the military enjoys higher education levels than the general public. The quality of the military has not suffered.
In a letter to James Monroe in 1813, Thomas Jefferson wrote of; 'The necessity of obliging every citizen to be a soldier. We must train...our citizens and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education. We can never be safe until this is done'.
Jefferson's vision of mandatory service is certainly noble; and most families nowadays no longer have a member in the service. Yet the volunteer force is the best trained, best educated and best-equipped ever. And among my own circle of friends, neighbors and acquaintances I don't have to cast my net very far to locate somebody who has voluntarily served or is presently serving.
On a personal note, in 1980 I graduated with a Masters Degree in Education and after three years as a classroom teacher promptly lost my job. With a newborn daughter and a world of declining student enrollments and school closures my teaching career was looking a bit bleak. Maybe even grim. Only 25 years old a career change had a high probability of success. Figuring I should leave no stone unturned as to options I spoke with a recruiter. A Navy recruiter. The Navy was as interested as I was having a deeper discussion with a 25 year-old with a couple of college degrees. My spouse at that point in time put the kibosh on any further discussions. Same for relocating. That spouse is now a long-gone former spouse. The newborn has a family of her own. I pursued a wildly-successful business career and am married to the best spouse on the planet. Happy endings all-around for everyone involved; including the former spouse. Nevertheless, with more than a wee bit of wistfulness, I wonder some days how a career in the military might have turned-out.
Raising a toast to all who have served our nation and continue to do so.
Cheers!
Posts
