I read an article in the Feb. 1 issue of The Guilfordian about Nat Heatwole, a man who did not want to register with Selective Services because it went against his beliefs.First, I applaud Heatwole on the strength of his convictions. It takes a great deal of character to do what you feel is right in the face of severe consequences.

However, I feel that there is a problem with Mr. Heatwole’s approach.

The moral imperative to correct that which we see to be wrong exists in all of us. If a child is being beaten, we should attempt to stop it. If we can stop murder, then we should.

This obligation carries across to every aspect of life. Acceptance of this obligation is part of the growing process, that which used to be referred to as “manhood,” but in this age of sexual equality could best be described as “adulthood”.

Refusal to participate in that which we find to be objectionable does not absolve us of the responsibility to take action, to make change. Washing our hands of the evils and walking away is not a step toward change, but is in a sense saying, “This is not my problem.”

My father was in the military, and served in both the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. He speaks very little about his time in Vietnam. It was a different time. During the Gulf War, however, he demanded to be sent to Saudi Arabia. He even went so far as to call his Congressman to demand this, as his unit was not going to be sent.

His reason for this was that he was afraid my brother and I would end up going if the war dragged on long enough. If he went, and the draft was reinstated, my brother and I could not be drafted.

One reason he did this was because he did not want to risk the possibility of either of us dying in combat. He would rather have died than have either of us die.

I suspect that there is another reason. He had already seen people die in a horrific war. He did not want us to be put in the situation where we had another man in our sights, and had to make the decision whether or not to pull the trigger. It is a terrible decision to make.

I told him after the Gulf War that I didn’t think I could ever go into the military, because I didn’t trust it. He replied that that was just what the military needed, people who didn’t trust the establishment, who wouldn’t blindly follow orders and blindly shoot at whoever might be on the other end of the barrel.

My father, my hero, could not have been more right.

It is true that there are killers in the military, people who kill children and civilians. Those people are societal anomalies, and they exist in all parts of society. We see this everyday in the news.

If the only people who join the military are men with the predisposition for murder, then we truly have much about which to be concerned. It is for that reason that we must have people who do not want to kill, who object to senseless violence, to fill all the roles of society, most especially those positions that hold the power of violence and death. If our military is made up of homicidal maniacs, than five years in prison will be the least of our concerns.

Attempting to absolve ourselves of responsibility is nothing short of running away from our moral imperative. While Heatwole’s convictions are to be admired, I hope that he will eventually see that it is only through the strength of character of people such as him that our moral imperative will ever be fulfilled.

Military service is indeed a weighty obligation, not to be taken lightly, but which must be undertaken, and from which we must not run.