Author's Name: Ivan Martin

Title: "Conflicted"

We stood there toe to toe....my father was calling me a coward because I tried to explain to him that I did not want to go to Vietnam because I did not want to kill anyone and I was going to file as a conscientious objector....My mother was crying and pleading for us to just stop...My father and I never talked much before or after that moment...I drew a high draft number in the lottery and was spared from the madness.... After the war had ended he told me he was happy that I did go to the war.....It may have been nicest thing he ever said to me.  My father and I didn't talk much to each other.