I Am A Coward Research Paper

How would you define coward? Webster’s dictionary states that a coward is a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things. Does this mean that if you refuse to fight in a war you’re a coward? I got my draft notice June 17, 1968. That was two weeks ago. Right now I am close to the Canadian border. I can’t face my family after getting the draft notice. I wouldn’t have been able to watch the sorrow and discouraged look in my father’s eyes as I told him I wasn’t going. How would I look as a brother if I didn’t fight for my family? Am I considered a coward if I don’t go, or am I a coward if I follow society’s pressure to fight a war I don’t believe in? I put the draft notice in my wallet. I don’t know what to do. I stop at the Tip Top Resort to rest for the night where I meet a man named Elroy Berdahl. He is the owner of the resort and he lets me stay in one of the several vacant rooms. As I try to fall asleep, I think of my family and friends. I will miss my brother the most. We have been so close the past year, I can’t think of my life without him. His name is Tom and he is twenty years old. He started work right out of high school so he still lives at home. I feel heartbroken about leaving everyone and everything behind. It’s
Soon a feeling of resentment waves over. My brother has been drafted. How will I tell him? I can’t let him go to war, he’s my brother! He can’t die in some stupid war in Vietnam. He won’t survive, he’s not the brightest. I have more of a chance to survive. Thoughts flood my mind as I walk home. I open the door and break the news to my father. Tom has to report to the military medical station as soon as possible, but my father needs Tom’s help with their work. Tom started working for my father right out of high school because money is tight in our house. My father can’t afford to lose Tom. I can’t lose him either. An idea shoots into my head and I immediately explain it to my