Where Have All the Young Men Gone?

When Richard Nixon ended the draft in January 1973, America lost something vital to its soul. 

The quality of our military has not suffered. We have a splendid volunteer force defending our country and freedom right now. It's the best educated, best trained, and best equipped force we have ever had. They are not the problem. The problem is that they represent only a very small fraction of America. For the first time in our history, the overwhelming majority of American families not only do not have a member in service, but they also don’t even know any family that does.

1973 was not the first time conscription was canceled. For the record, there was no national conscription before the Civil War...not for want of trying. General George Washington was frustrated with the unsoldierly quality of state militias during the Revolutionary War, and as president tried to register all males for military service. Congress blocked him. Conscription has been on-again-off-again our entire history to this day. So, Nixon’s draft cancellation cannot really be blamed for the decay of American culture. The problem was that our culture was already turning into a fetid sea, and the draft was a lifeboat.

Besides shared contribution, experience and sacrifice, what we lost by ending the draft was character. Our country is in crisis, and most of our nation's problems can be traced to the lack of character attributes that should be taught by mothers and fathers, and which are certainly instilled through military service: self-discipline, personal accountability, responsibility, self-reliance, selflessness, integrity, respect, and patriotism.