Sadly, it should remain an option

I am writing in response to a letter to the editor on Nov. 30 stating that “the draft should never be reinstated again.”

I don’t know or care about the writer’s legal argument as to the government’s authority to instate a draft. It is about his contention that a draft is unnecessary because Americans “enlisted in droves” after Pearl Harbor. The writer either has a poor sense of history or is trying to rewrite it. After the initial surge of patriotism, it was necessary to draft hundreds of thousands of men to sustain even that noble cause. If he doesn’t believe it I can show him my father’s draft notice. The same was true for every major war we fought in the 20th century. The draft has even been used to maintain a peacetime army.

I’m not saying I like the draft, but I believe it has to remain an option if we are to continue to have the freedom we enjoy.

Charles Barnett

Lynnwood