My grandfather tried to sign up and ended on a waiting list long almost a year long.
One of my mother’s cousins went to Vietnam, lost a leg, and came home with both an honorable discharge and a heroin addiction. He died before I was born and regreted not going to Canada or faking a medical condition like my uncle. His mother regreted it too.
It is possible (I am not challenging your statement) that the “manly club” was of less importance than the club of those taking part in preventing the rise of a murderous totalitarianism, during Vietnam (unsuccessfully) and similarly in, eg, WW II (successfully).
I was going to gripe about how applebetty and I thought we had killed this thread a year ago, but then I read this post. Thank you, FuzzyOgre, because I can now die in peace, secure in the knowledge that my role as the Grandpa Simpson of the SDMB will be in your capable hands. 