In the United States, men were eligible to be drafted when they were 18 years old, but this age was later increased to twenty-six years of age by the Selective Service Act. With a draft pool of approximately 27 million men, what were the chances of being drafted during Vietnam? According to Selective Service, 1.7 to seven percent were conscripted, while Morris gives a figure of two to three million.
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College students
One of the most famous ways to avoid the draft in the Vietnam era was by becoming a Harvard student. By enrolling in college, you automatically received the 2-S deferment, a sort of get-out-of-jail-free card for antiwar activists. However, while the Vietnam War was still young, the U.S. military was desperate for more recruits. In order to keep up with the demand, the Defense Department ordered the highest enlistment quotas since the Korean War.
Students’ anti-war protests led to a rash of campus demonstrations. Students demonstrated against the war, the university bureaucracy, and the impending graduation that would bring them to draft eligibility. The draft loomed large over students’ lives, and it was a powerful avenue for direct resistance. In 1964, students began to burn their draft cards. In 1965, the Student Democratic Society (SDS) staged the first major campus civil disobedience rally.
Selective service system
The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest wars in American history, and the Selective Service System largely contributed to this inequity. As the Department of Defense did not keep records of racial identification or socio-economic status, men with these characteristics were less likely to obtain deferments and were subsequently more likely to be drafted and eventually die in combat. As a result, the war dead on Long Island came largely from working-class backgrounds.
The Selective Service System was originally designed to call men to military service for the duration of a war, but was made available in peacetime when the United States never declared war on North Vietnam. A “peacetime” draft was instituted in 1954 and resulted in inducting 1.4 million men. During the war, however, only the top half of a class was called for the draft, so many men were not even interested in military service.
Draft evasion
The number of men who actively sought to evade the draft is unknown in Canada. Historians have not deemed this number to be significant. The article needs references to support its main points. The draft resistance in Vietnam was a major contributor to the breakdown of the Selective Service System and was a significant stumbling block for the government’s war efforts in Vietnam. People sought to evade the draft by filing for conscientious objector status, claiming a disability, or even fleeing to Canada through underground networks of antiwar activists.
Thousands of American men sought to evade the draft. Some lied about their medical condition or wore women’s underwear during medical screenings. Some even fled to Canada, where they were granted amnesty by President Jimmy Carter. But despite their best efforts, they were still subject to the draft. In a recent documentary, filmmaker Ken Burns narrates the stories of these men and their experiences of evading the draft.
Student deferments
The United States government has released statistics on student deferments and the chances of being recalled for service in Vietnam. Previously, deferments were not a major factor in the selection process. Prior to 1968, deferments were rarely used by the United States military and were not likely to impact the chances of being selected for service in Vietnam. However, in 1969, the Selective Service System (SSS) began using class rank and test scores to determine whether a student was drafted. This practice resulted in a significant drop in the number of first-time draft lottery cohorts and reduced GFR scores.
However, in the late 1960s, the draft was so important that many young men began to take desperate measures to avoid the draft. Some enrolled in college to get student deferments, while others committed felonies to avoid the draft. Then, in 1963, President Kennedy issued an executive order which allowed fathers to get a hardship deferment. As a result, nearly 4 million U.S. men held hardship deferments, more than double the number of student deferments.
Signing up for the National Guard
After the war ended in Vietnam, the National Guard began playing an increasingly important role in U.S. defense policy. The war was the first major conflict to end the practice of calling up the National Guard. The National Guard now makes up nearly half of the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But how did it become so popular? One example is how Indiana National Guard members met with Vietnam veterans in Carmel, Ind.
During the war, many professional athletes found refuge in the National Guard. Many of these men were recruited without any real interest in providing high quality performance. They joined the National Guard because they were faced with the draft and six years of part-time service. While some became good assets for the National Guard, many had no interest in military service and the morale was low in many units. However, they were not the only people to join the Guard.