Viet Nam War myths and Facts

[philip964]

Draft Dodger? Hardly. I too was 1A in 1970 and I had a low draft number, But, I had a IIS (student) deferment. Not through any
political advantage or knowing anyone of importance. If i recall correctly 1970 was the last year to get a IIS . Anyway, at that time,
if you dropped out of school or flunked out etc, and had a low draft number ....you would be called up. Pronto.
I had 2 HS school mates and 1 dear family friend who were all KIA. I currently find it hard to even look at the "wall" without
my eyes watering uncontrollably.

My memory was that things were tense in the dorm around mid semester grades, as they were reported to the draft board. If you were not passing all your classes, you got called up for a physical, so if you did not bring your grade up, you could be drafted immediately after the first semester ended. You took tough classes like Calculus second semester, so that if you failed, you could have a chance to retake it in the summer.

My memory also was that you got a new draft card every year. So burning an expired draft card at a rally was to me sort of a stupid protest. But it always got attention, so kids did it.

[VMI77]

Draft Dodger? Hardly. I too was 1A in 1970 and I had a low draft number, But, I had a IIS (student) deferment. Not through any
political advantage or knowing anyone of importance. If i recall correctly 1970 was the last year to get a IIS . Anyway, at that time,
if you dropped out of school or flunked out etc, and had a low draft number ....you would be called up. Pronto.
I had 2 HS school mates and 1 dear family friend who were all KIA. I currently find it hard to even look at the "wall" without
my eyes watering uncontrollably.

My memory was that things were tense in the dorm around mid semester grades, as they were reported to the draft board. If you were not passing all your classes, you got called up for a physical, so if you did not bring your grade up, you could be drafted immediately after the first semester ended. You took tough classes like Calculus second semester, so that if you failed, you could have a chance to retake it in the summer.

My memory also was that you got a new draft card every year. So burning an expired draft card at a rally was to me sort of a stupid protest. But it always got attention, so kids did it.

The war was already over by that time, but when I went to college, 70% of freshman failed Calculus, and either had to take it again, or ultimately flunked out of school. We started with 40 engineering majors and graduated 14. About half of those who bailed became LA majors and the other half flunked out completely.

[SkipB]

I very much enjoyed reading that article. Thanks for posting it. I served in the Army from June 1960 to Dec 1970, 10 1/2 years. I was given a medical retirement as an SFC E-7. Here is a site my son made as a surprise to me in 2000 when he gave me my first computer and taught me how to serf the internet. http://www.jaxi.net/skipper/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[powerboatr]

thanks for sharing
it was a good read
as a child during that time, i had to learn about it in college and with co-workers who were actually in country