The Vietnam War and Draft Evasion: 3D Gallery

Citations

https://thevietnamwar.info/vietnam-war-draft/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War lasted from November 1st 1955 to April 30, 1975. In that time, which was the longest US war involvement ever, over 58,000 soldiers, and over 2,600 MIA, some of which are still prisoners today. Although Vietnam was a brutal war, the US lied to the public and told them that we were winning the whole time, even though we were losing. Some people agree with this move, to boost troop morale, while others thought it was a blatant lie to trick the American people.

The First Draft

This is how the draft worked. The days of the year (including February 29) were written on slips of paper. These pieces of paper were then placed in separate plastic capsules that were mixed in a shoebox and then dumped into a deep glass jar. Capsules were drawn from the jar one at a time.

The Second Draft

On December 1, 1969, a second lottery was held with the 26 letters of the alphabet. Among men with the same birthdate, the order of induction was determined by the ranks of the first letters of their last, first, and middle names. This was necessary because it made it much harder for people to leave the country, because their passports showed their birthdates.

Draft Evasion

While President Johnson ended marriage deferment on August 26, 1965, some men claimed to be homosexuals while many others chose to flee to a neutral country such as Canada and Mexico to avoid the draft. Prominent political figures accused of avoiding the draft includes Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Dick Cheney.

Deferments

As American troop strength in Vietnam shot up, more young men of call-up age sought to avoid or delay their military service and there were some legal ways to do that. Men who had physical or mental problems, were married, with children, attending college or needed at home to support their families might be granted deferments.

Vietnam vs Other Wars

The biggest change in this draft was the age priority. Instead of taking the “oldest men first” from the 18-25 eligible range as last time, local boards now could call 19-year-olds first. Therefore, young men now did not have to wait for years to learn their draft futures, which could affect their careers, marriages and family. This lead to the average age of the american troops being just over 20 years old.

How Many Men/ The Numbers

According to National Archives, among approximately 27 million American men eligible for military service between 1964 and 1973, the draft raised 2,215,000 men for military service (in the U.S., Southeast Asia, West Germany, and elsewhere). Around 15.4 million were granted deferments, mostly for education, some for mental, physical and family hardships. There were more than 300,000 deserters and draft evaders in total, in which 209,517 men illegally resisted the draft while some 100,000 deserted. Among them, around 30,000 immigrated to Canada during 1966-72.

Doves And Hawks/Protests

As anti-Vietnam War protests increased remarkably in the United States during late 1960s, the draft apparently became a target of many criticism. In 1964, many students illegally burnt their draft cards.

The Aftermath

In 1977, on his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter controversially offered a full pardon to any draft dodgers who requested one. This was extremely controversial and caused an uprising from the Vietnam Veterans who did'nt want to go to war, but went because their country needed them.

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The Vietnam War and Draft Evasion