Selective Service Caroline Forche Analysis

In “Selective Service” Caroline Forche consistently uses the third-person possessive pronoun “we” to indicate, through the narrator, joint cause with Vietnam veterans; using their collective loss as a result of selective service, Forche argues against reestablishing it in the future.
In the first stanza, the narrator points toward alcoholism among American soldiers, during and after the Vietnam War. Forche writes, “We rise from the snow where we’ve / lain on our backs and flown like children, / from the imprint of perfect wings and cold gowns / and we stagger together wine-breathed into town…” (45). Forche suggests childhood themes of innocence. However, “wine breath into town” and “flown like children” suggests a darker reality. Instead Forche suggests the image of young American soldiers getting drunk in an effort to drown the trauma of frequent combat. Due to Selective service, many veterans returned home alcoholics. Consequentially, countless ended up homeless, unable to hold down jobs. There’s a high probability, due to combat trauma, that reopening the draft will bring the same result. …show more content…
into town / where our people are building / their armies again, short years after body bags, after burning," (45). Forche notes that the Korean war isn’t long gone. The mention of fire is a dead ringer for napalm; the army used it to protect retreating American soldiers in Korea. While the draft wasn’t immediately open, hundreds of thousands of young men were sent into Vietnam. This does bear in mind, what if the military didn’t initiate the draft? The draft is the source of the troubles Vietnam veterans face. Forche leaves the possibility that not implementing the draft would have spared the United States money and precious human lives. Since that didn’t happen, thousands died and twice as many are wounded. Should the draft be initiated again, it will bring similar