November 8, 2012Dear Sir,I have two sons and they were drafted into the Bermuda Regiment. If they had not been drafted, they would not have joined. They did not want to go, but of course it is the law. If you believe a law is wrong, then you must set about changing it — but until then it is still the law of the land. We don’t have the right to cherry-pick which laws we follow and which we will ignore. As I said, my sons were drafted and they are becoming organised, self-reliant, self-disciplined and motivated young men. They are challenged and they push themselves and are the better for it. The Bermuda Regiment is the most level playing field in Bermuda. It does not matter what colour of skin you wear or if you are from a privileged or underprivileged background or if you are from back of town or Fairylands; it you strive and apply yourself, there is nothing that will hold you back in order for you to be the best you can be. And for all this, you are paid.Here is my point; if the draft is stopped, it would widen the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged of our Island. The less privileged need every advantage they can grasp and every skill they can learn while young men who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths will not need organisational skills or self-discipline and motivation in order to secure a job. Do you think the colour of the skin is the only thing holding some back? No. If we are less prepared for life and have fewer skills, we are less likely to find a satisfactory job.I am very thankful we have the draft. The Regiment is making better men of my boys — and many others — allowing them to rise to their potential. I have talked to men who have served their time in the Regiment and almost all of them made two points; one, they did not volunteer but were drafted, and two, they made the most of it and came away from the experience better prepared for all the trials and tribulations we must faced in this world. In the end they were thankful they were drafted. If the Progressive Labour Party were to stop the draft, they will be taking away one more opportunity the poor and the underprivileged have to level the playing field, and since the majority of the youth in Bermuda are black, the PLP will be hurting the very people they profess to care most about, by causing more distance between those that have and those that have not — and all this for a few votes.A PROUD FATHERPembroke