A friend reminded me the other day that we have a novel generation gap emerging related to “war as a part of life” here in America.  Clearly, every generation has been exposed to war and the causes that motivated men (and now women) to become soldiers as a way to define and defend America.

Since we marked the end of the WWI generation with the passing of the last veteran from that war at 110 years old (click here for more info), let’s look at this very new “trend” that we face.

Consider that anyone born after 1954 has not had to worry about The Draft (and if you’re too young to know what that is click here).  In this era of the all volunteer US military we now have 233 Million Americans who have never had to consider the personal implications of conscription (aka The Draft).

How “comfortable” we have become relying on the 1% of Americans who serve, and those newly enlisting whose sense of duty may have begun because they were jobless or hopeless coming out of high school and who simply fell prey to the promises of money, college tuition, and the adventure of seeing the world.

With a Lybia no-fly zone voted in the UN and the lack of the threat of The Draft, and journalists dying in Lybia, are we just a bit too comfortable choosing to put those patriots in harms way?