It was the spring of 1986 and I was about to graduate from Ole Miss and Muammar al-Qaddafi was wreaking havoc over in Libya.
Seems he was behind terrorists’ bombings that targeted US troops in Berlin. President Ronald Reagan opened up the US arsenal and sent 100 planes.
The bombings lasted about 12 minutes and they dropped 60 tons of munitions near Libya’s capital, Tripoli, and its second largest city, Benghazi. There were specific targets including military barracks and bases, a training center for underwater sabotage operations, and a military airfield; one of the targeted barracks contained a residential compound where Qaddafi was living. But he survived it all.
It was all over the news and my feeling was, well, here we go, I’m gonna get drafted. Now I wasn’t sure what the military could do with a broadcast journalist, Eagle Scout, farm boy but I was scared they would figure something out for me. There was a fleeting thought of graduating and heading to Canada but my 1981 Chevette probably wasn’t up for that challenge and I had no clue how to even get there. I don’t speak Canadian either so that didn’t help. With those thoughts done and dissipated, I started preparing mentally, at least for a few days, about truly serving in the Armed services. I didn’t want to ask too many questions out loud though thinking that someone may swoop in and drive me to the nearest training facility and cut my hair.
But President Reagan got it all under control and the draft didn’t happen and I started my meandering journalist/writer/wanna be broadcast career that has spanned six states and numerous full, part-time and self-employed jobs using the skills taught to me in Oxford.
I wonder how today’s high school and college kids felt when President Donald Trump pounded the nuclear sites in Iran? Did they shudder a bit thinking their smartphone would buzz with a welcome text from Uncle Sam about their impending military career via draft? I doubt it. I typed my way to the Selective Service website and discovered almost all male US citizens and male immigrants, who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service.
“It’s important to understand that, even if he is registered, a man will not be automatically drafted into the military. In a draft emergency, men are called up based on a random lottery number and birth year. Afterwards, they are evaluated for mental, physical, and moral fitness by the military before being either deferred, exempted, or inducted into the Armed Forces,” the website informed me.
I remember the day after turning 18, I walked into the Inverness Post Office and filled out the Selective Service form and handed it in. Maybe the most patriotic thing I’ve ever done. Today, kids can register online, https://www.sss.gov/register. I wonder how many actually do? A little digging and the internet tells me that 84 percent of eligible folks do register. And up until last year, if a kid was going to college and filled out the FAFSA for scholarships, you had to register. But someone thought it was a good idea to take that out of the process.
With this most recent brush with starting a World War, let’s thank those who first signed a document to declare our freedom and honor those who truly protect that and celebrate the 4th of July like no other.
Happy 4th of July to all! …did you know that they put gravy and cheese curds on French fries in Canada? And they use liters and kilometers.
Yeah, glad I didn’t run away and stayed available to serve and answer the call that never came.
