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The Draft
"If I get called to serve my country, I would go willingly."
By DeSean Robinson-Walker
In a split second, my class of 2004 could be on the front lines
if we go to war in Iraq. And I’m the perfect candidate. I’m a police
cadet with the Richmond, California police department. I’ve attended a
Marine military academy for a week. I’m patriotic, I’m disciplined,
I’ve learned how to be a leader and a follower. It doesn’t freak
me out to go to war, but it makes me think that my world could change so much.
When I’m not worrying about war, I’m working towards
being a music producer. I call myself DeSean Puffy Combs, because I feel like
I’m a child prodigy of hip hop rapper/producer/songwriter P Diddy. He’s
lucky he’s too old to be drafted, and maybe he could keep his empire if
I’m out of the mix.
Seriously, though, if I get called to serve my country, I would go willingly.
I don’t want the same thing to happen to my family that happened to so
many families on September 11th. I worry about Saddam Hussein, who is crazy
enough to harm his own people.
If we do go to war, a draft is a last resort, but if it happens,
everyone should be a part of it. I really believe if you are going to take one
person, you should take everyone.
My teacher Steven Temple served in Vietnam and burned his hand,
so he has no fingerprints now. He’s a strict teacher, but he says war
will do that to you — make you a harder person, so you can deal with what
goes on around you. I respect him for that.
He didn’t want to go to war, but he did it anyway.
America is worth fighting for. The thought of not fighting makes
me think of all kinds of crazy possibilities. What if some foreign dictator
takes over our country? Truthfully, that’s what my mind imagines. And
let’s face it, we aren’t invulnerable — September 11th is a
testament to that.
— DeSean “Puffy Combs” Robinson-Walker is a junior at El
Cerrito High School.
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