The draft in the 1960s and 1970s was a lightning rod that lit up schisms of race, class and culture in American society. But ending the draft has produced unintended consequences, creating a citizenry disconnected from that of the soldiers who experience the burden of war. The question of who serves in America’s military has shaped battle strategy and foreign policy and stranded Americans in uniform for years on distant battlefields. From the Civil War to the conflicts of the Vietnam era, forced military service has torn the nation apart – and sometimes, as in WWII, united Americans in a common purpose. Featuring interviews with the people who fought the draft, supported it and lived its realities, this program tells the story of how a single, controversial issue continues to define a nation.