Local students consider the possibility of being drafted
By Rebecca Ray
Michael Cheung watches the news to see how the situation between the United States and the Taliban, the ruling party in Afghanistan, develops. The United States could force Cheung, 19, a sophomore industrial arts major at West Valley College, into military service if the country goes to war and reinstates the draft.
Cheung says he has thought about being drafted recently and that the thought was "kind of scary."
In the short term, however, a draft isn't likely, said Ernest Baynard, communications director for U.S. Congressman Mike Honda. Honda represents California's 15th congressional district, which includes Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. The U.S. military is "fully capable" of handling a war at its current strength, Baynard said. All military branches have met their recruitment quotas, and reserves have been called up.
But, Baynard says, whether the United States reinstates a draft in the long term depends on the nature of the conflict. He adds that Congress is prepared to do whatever it takes to win.
If the United States did reinstate the draft, 19-year-old San Jose resident Luke Williams, a freshman at West Valley, says he would want to get out of it. "I wouldn't want to go get killed," he said. Also, he says, he doesn't know if he'd want to kill people.
Since the Vietnam War, people no longer associate fighting with prestige, Williams added.
Other West Valley students are more enthusiastic about the prospect of being drafted. Stephan Sheffield, 18, a first-year journalism student from Morgan Hill, says a draft would be OK with him. He would fight, he says, because it seems like the right thing to do for the country. "We all have to live here. We might as well do our part," Sheffield said.
First-year student Rico Ramirez, 18, of San Jose, also says he would "go do his part" if the military drafted him.
John Hart, 19, a first-year student from Saratoga, says he isn't concerned about a draft because he guesses that the United States would wage a nuclear war instead of a ground war. Hart says, however, that he'd go if he was called.
Joey Giorgianni, 20, a sophomore political science major, also doubts there will be a draft, since there was never one during the Persian Gulf War.
Warren Baim, 20, of San Jose, a UC-Berkeley student who is fulfilling lower division requirements at West Valley, says he would fight under certain circumstances. Baim says he would go to war if the draft was necessary, if there were many countries aligned against the United States economically or politically, if the United States had enough evidence to prove who was behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and if the form of retaliation was justified. Although he wouldn't be gung-ho about serving, he says, he would feel obligated to defend what other Americans who preceded him have fought for, so that he could maintain his quality of life.
First-year West Valley student Andrew Aguilar of San Jose, who will turn 18 in about a month, was planning to join the Marine Corps, but says he cannot enlist because of a heart murmur. All his relatives were in the service, he says, including an uncle who won a Congressional Award of Honor in the Korean War. Aguilar's twin brother is joining the Marines.
One 20-year-old liberal arts major from San Jose says he had fully intended on joining the National Guard, but was told he'd have to lose weight first.
Almost all males living in the United States who are 18 to 25 years old must register with Selective Service. In a draft, the United States calls registrants by random lottery number and birth year. Once the U.S. military examines a man for mental, physical and moral fitness, the military either exempts him from service or inducts him into the armed forces.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
