Mike,
Your sad experience is one of the reasons we need the draft. It may sound strange, but consider this. The French Foriegn Legion was long considered one of the best fighting forces in the world. The Legion, like our present military, was a voluntary force. They were misused and betrayed by the French government (sound familar)? One of the reasons for the misuse was, the Legion did not represent a cross section of the French people, the Legion was far removed for the daily lives of the citizery they were sworn to protect. No one cared, they were expendable, the pawns of politicans. The fact is, having the draft during Vietnam was one of the main reasons that brought about our withdrawal. Because mainstream Americans were affected, they were fed up with political folly and the senseless loss of life. Your penpal may have died needlessly, but he did not die in vain. The politicans will act more cautiously when they are held accountable by all of us.

Mike, no one cherishes life more then the military man because he sees the horror of war. But I'll be darned if it's considered alright for our government to misuse the family men and women of the National Guard while there are millions of able bodied single men that could be serving.

I hope I have provided food for thought. Rest easy, God has a special place for your penpal because he has served his time in Hell.