Caskets at the airport

One of the scenes that led to the end of the Vietnam War were the pictures taken at Hanscom Airfield of caskets containing the dead bodies of soldiers.  At least once a week, maybe more often, they would appear on the nightly news. And every so often, you would have known - or known of  - one of the dead. But we were much closer to the military then; the draft made it so.  Now the volunteer army separates us even more from the effects of war.

One of the effects of this separation is that our political leaders have little or no military experience.  They are more likely to go to war than if they - or their sons and fathers - had the misfortune of having served in the military.  We are also more separated from the war as we know so few of those who serve. This separation will only get worse as wars become more technologically oriented. We need to restore the draft to reduce the chances of going to war.