The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Sidney R. Block, MD, was stationed at the Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington, from 1971-73 during the Vietnam War. He and his wife live in Northport.
I agree wholeheartedly with David E. Winslow in his Veterans Day column about the financial and educational benefits associated with military service. Respectfully, I would like to add a few comments about the merits of military service based on my own experience.
During the Vietnam War, I also was in the U.S. Air Force. While Winslow benefited from the GI bill, I received a different type of military educational benefit: At that time, the armed forces were in need of physicians. While in medical school, I took their offer of enlisting with my actual service deferred until completion of my doctorate.
Though I thought the Vietnam War was a great mistake (and I did manage to voice my opinion even while in uniform), instead of claiming conscientious objector status or fleeing to Canada (as did some I knew), or finding some excuse for not serving (as did others, some very notable ones, in fact), I decided it was my responsibility to serve my country when called upon.
Perhaps because I was married, I had the very good fortune of being stationed stateside. Still, there was no escape from understanding the carnage wrought by war and its consequences. I came to believe that our military and its deployment are far too consequential for all of us to be reserved to only those who agree to be in uniform. Though there are efficiencies gained from an all-volunteer paid force, something even more valuable is lost: the shared stake in our nation’s conflicts.
I believe ending the draft was an error. Reviving and transforming it could be restorative.
This is why: In addition to some of the economic and educational benefits noted by Winslow, there were a myriad of others I received, especially meeting, engaging with and coming to understand Americans of all stripes and colors, from all strata and many areas of the country. It was an invaluable and lasting experience, and I suspect if applied universally would benefit each participant and the entire nation. Unfortunately, an entire generation has lost this opportunity and benefit.
Every American receives a host of benefits of citizenship. We owe a debt to our country greater than just our taxes (though in my opinion, the wealthiest who have gained the most owe the most). We owe fidelity to our Constitution. We must stand up for our democracy. We should vote and participate in our government as the opportunity arises. And, yes, we should serve.
My brief experience more than five decades ago still convinces me that every able person should repay our country in some way with two years of service. It might be in the military, Peace Corps, VISTA or some other similar public activity, and that every effort should be made during that service for diverse Americans to meet and learn to work with each other.
One other lifelong benefit I received: My wife and I loved being stationed in the Pacific Northwest, and a few years later, we searched for some place similar on the East Coast where our families lived. That is how 50 years ago we came to live in Maine.
