Duty to Your Nation

The concept of the draft is a sensitive one in the United States. Selective Service today is the closest we have to the idea of required military duty. What we tend to forget though is outside of the United States, military service is a normal requirement, a normal rite of passage for young people. This was true for my parents as well. Both my mother and my father served in the Taiwan National Army after high school. Both served faithfully, and my father was decorated with various medals, which he has kept framed and displayed to this day. For Taiwanese citizens, service to your country has traditionally meant delaying college. My mother was still in college when she met my father because of the need to delay attendance in order to serve her country (she married at the age of 27).

In the United States we rely on people volunteering for military service, and there are usually some incentives for those people that do join. There are also alternate avenues for getting into military service. For example, my cousin Michael, a recent high school graduate, chose to enter ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps), to help defray his college expenses. ROTC of course means that Michael is committed to serve four years of military service, after he graduates from college. My cousin Debbie (Michael's younger sister), is also considering signing up for ROTC when her time comes for entering college.

On a related note, Lars is leaving for Montana, Saturday morning, to visit his mother and twin brothers who will be at their mother's house. This impromptu family gathering comes about because Lars' brother Kelly has been called from the National Guard Reserves and been told to report for military duty this summer. For now we know he has to report to Texas for training, but we don't know where he goes from there. There is worry and concern in the family of course that he may get deployed to Iraq.

We wish Kelly, Michael and all others that answer the call to duty, well on their journeys, and pray that they remain safe and sound.