as Israeli airstrikes continue to surge in Gaza, i'm seeing jokes about a new draft pop up all over the internet and i wondered all day about what that would look like these days. then i took the opportunity to ask my dad, who served in Vietnam as a Seabee from '68 to '71, what it was like being drafted as a teenager into a war he didn't believe in. he actually maintains that he *wasn't* drafted because he enlisted just before 18 so he could choose which branch he wanted to serve in. way to take the reigns, dad. i have a clearer picture of who he was when he was young and of his tender heart. he talks about "the buddy system", the guys with a death wish who tried to be macho, and he calls himself a "wheeler dealer." oh and he cries and so do i. i hope you get something from this episode 𓇢𓆸