2006.10.01: October 1, 2006: Headlines: National Service: Speaking Out: Presidents - Kennedy: Chicago Tribune: Walt Shotwell writes: A case for mandatory national service
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2006.10.01: October 1, 2006: Headlines: National Service: Speaking Out: Presidents - Kennedy: Chicago Tribune: Walt Shotwell writes: A case for mandatory national service
Walt Shotwell writes: A case for mandatory national service
"Would everyone embrace compulsory national service enthusiastically, or even willingly? Of course not. Some lawmakers would dissent. Some young people would rebel. National service would require the kind of leadership that President John F. Kennedy exercised when he established the Peace Corps."
Walt Shotwell writes: A case for mandatory national service
A case for mandatory national service
By Walt Shotwell
Published October 1, 2006
As we await the next terrorist attack, which our leaders say is inevitable, most Americans go along as though no threat exists. The concept that we are all in a war together has not taken hold as it did in World War II. The United States is unprepared even for natural disasters.
One way to change this is a concept that is rarely discussed in detail: national service.
Based on interviews with teachers, parents, civic leaders, business magnates, ministers and military veterans--as well as my own experience in the military and National Guard--here's what I think the country should do.
All high school graduates should serve their country for two years. Some would, indeed, be willing to carry rifles and fight. Most young people, however, could work in hospitals or day-care centers; guard our rail lines and transit systems; patrol our borders; monitor our seaports; guard power and chemical plants; help preserve national forests and waterways; or assist local, state and federal agencies that serve the nation's needs.
The plan would enable the underprivileged to break out of ghettos and poverty-stricken areas, giving all young people an equal start. In effect, it would be like extending high school for another two years.
It would be an opportunity, not a sacrifice.
Under this plan, all high school graduates would go through a few weeks of "basic training" to establish discipline akin to that associated with the military. Afterward, these trainees would fan out throughout the nation to undertake a wide variety of activities, and some undoubtedly would select combat training. Most would not.
For example, many high school graduates emerge with two or three years of foreign language study. Under the discipline of national service, those youngsters could study their foreign languages more intensely, quickly becoming fluent. They then could be dispatched to other lands where translators are sorely needed.
Many high school graduates can afford to attend college. Under a national service program, they still could do so. They would, however, owe the nation their service by the time they turn 30.
Organizing national service would be difficult. But surely the United States has enough brainpower in its military, universities and private sector to administer such a program.
Would everyone embrace compulsory national service enthusiastically, or even willingly? Of course not. Some lawmakers would dissent. Some young people would rebel. National service would require the kind of leadership that President John F. Kennedy exercised when he established the Peace Corps.
A period of national service would unite us. If all parents in America had a youngster in national service, they would be concerned about these programs and the welfare of all young people serving. Sharing that common concern was a way of life during World War II. More than that, among the rewards of military life is the way it mixes people together. Language, religious, racial and "class" barriers melt in the warmth of camaraderie.
National service could, in short, make for a better, safer America and mold better, more committed Americans.
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Walt Shotwell is a former reporter and columnist for the Des Moines Register. He was a pilot in World War II and during the Korean War. He also flew in the Iowa Air National Guard.
When this story was posted in October 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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Story Source: Chicago Tribune
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; National Service; Speaking Out; Presidents - Kennedy
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