It is my understanding that if you were drafted during Vietnam, you almost surely went into the Army. The Army, not surprisingly, had a much, much higher casualty rate than the other branches. Was there a reason that a potential draftee who feared for his life wouldn’t just join the Navy, where he would actually be pretty safe? Was this common?
Yes, it was quite common, especially if you had a low lottery number and no deferments. I was of draft age during the Vietnam era, and this was a frequent topic of conversation among my friends. The major drawback was that, IIRC, enlistees had to serve three years, while draftees only served two. Another alternative was to sign up for the National Guard, like Dan Quayle.
Some guys did that. I know a guy who got drafted and then went out and joined the Air Force - he never left the US during his time in the AF. Other people joined the Coast Guard or if they had connections like Quayle or Bush, the National Guard.
That’s assuming the other branches of service would have you. The Navy’s enlistment quota was pretty much full during Vietnam, and just because you tried to enlist and were turned down didn’t exempt you from being drafted later.
Also, even in the Navy, enlisting didn’t guarantee you’d be out of harm’s way. I knew Army enlistees who thought they would be sent to Germany who instead went to SE Asia. Navy personnel not only served on big ships safely away from the coast, but on gunboats that went right into combat. I also knew a couple who enlisted in the Air force under a program that woould station spouses at the same base. When they wound up half a world apart, the official explanation was “we only said we’d try.”
Slight hijack:
When my dad was drafted into the Navy during WWII they lined up all the draftees and let in the Marine reps. They took a look at the group and selected 3-4 guys, who, according to my dad, visibly paled when they were chosen.
My older brother had a low lottery number, so rather than be drafted, he went with the three-year enlistment, on the theory it meant less of a chance of being sent to Vietnam. And it seems to have worked, since he never left the U.S.
The Canadian Coast Guard saw an increase in enrollment. :D:D
My father was in the Navy during Vietnam. For what it is worth, he received a purple heart there. FWIW, I don’t know if it was combat related, although I believe that is a prerequisite for the purple heart.
HUGS!
Sqrl
My guess is that some people had such an objection to the war, they wouldn’t want any part of it?
My dad was going to be drafted, so he signed up for the Air Force, was shipped to England, met my mother, and got married.
Plenty of people in his area had done that.
We did. At least those of us too chicken to move to Canada. The big difference was if you enlisted it was for 4 years, but if you got drafted it was only for 2 years.
When I turned 18, I went down to take my draft physical. At the same time in the federal building were those that were being inducted into the draft that day. Waiting there in my underwear, I saw the sergeant in charge have them count off by fours. Then he had every fouth guy step forward. “Congratulations!” he said, “You are now U.S. Marines.” and off they went.
Pretty scary stuff.
This was before they started the whole lottery number stuff. At that time, exactly one month after your 19th birthday you could expect your induction notice. I signed up for the Air Force’s delayed enlistment program. Avoided combat, but it was just pure luck or the whims of whatever clerk was shuffling the papers at any particular point in time. All those enlistment “guarantees” were like kunilou said. There was always a caveat at the end something like “contingent on the needs of the armed forces.”
Lots of people signed up for less dangerous services. Like our current Commander-in-Chief who signed up for the Texas Air National Guard.
It’s also worth pointing out that a number of Army National Guard and Air National Guard units were activated during the Vietnam war and sent overseas and into combat. In fact, I have a old family friend who was wounded in combat - Bronze Star and Purple Heart! - who started out by joining the National Guard, hoping to serve his time out of harm’s way. It didn’t work out - and it was ironic, because as it turned out, his lottery number never got high enough; he would not have been drafted.
People in National Guard or Coast Guard billets, while certainly making an effort to avoid getting shot at, were nonetheless on the hook to be caled into combat - and some were.
- Rick
And he did his job well…Fort Worth was never invaded by the VC
With regard to the NG and the War in Vietnam, Early on the feds made a policy decision not to mobilize the National Guard or call the reserve back to active duty. It was universally known that the Guard was a safe billet and cost only one weekend a month and two weeks of annual training camp. Sure, some NG outfits were called to active duty but they were few and far between. It took a fair amount of pull to get into the NG, like your father owning the state’s leading news paper or being a US senator. This is not a criticism. If I could have gotten into the Guard, I would have.
While I was on active duty I spent some time at a major basic training and combat engineer training post in the Mid-west, Fort Lost-in-the-Woods. Every summer we were overrun with NG units. Generally they were a pain. Just keeping a lid on them kept the MPs and the JAGs busy for most of the summer. Some of these outfits showed up with their own truck loads of beer. One unit seemed like it was entirely made up of present and past members of jarbaby’s favorite football team. The football pro’s single greatest contribution to the war effort in 1968 was to pretty well demolish the only strip bar in St. Roberts, Mo. that wasn’t off limits.
I expect at least some of the people who tried to evade the draft did so for philosophical reasons rather than just plain old being afraid of getting shot at – not that that’s a bad reason.
I was drafted and served, even got a commission out of the deal, long story there. Anyway, as Fibonacci said, the two-year, four-year thing entered into some of it. Still if I could have gotten into the Air Force, National Guard, Navy or Coast Guard, I would have. Quotas were all full and I had no special pull.
Besides, I was told at the time that if you had received your draft notice, it was too late to decide you wanted to go into the other services (other than the Marine Corps, of course). The word was that once you received your “Greetings Citizen” letter, and you passed your physical, you belonged to the Army.
Also, there was always a chance that if you were drafted you might (just might) be able to get a stateside assignment. I knew a guy who was a lifeguard at a swimming pool for staff officers’ families. I knew another guy who wrote speeches for a general. Both had been drafted (A little irony here, the lifeguard guy ended up volunteering for Viet Nam. He told me one time as we sat in a none-too-comfortable situation in country, that he had felt guilty sitting up in the lifeguard’s chair while guys that were drafted with him were being shot at-he said it was one of the stupidest decisions he ever made).
TV
Vietnam was really a different type of war all together. We weren’t really informed the way we are now.
Times were really different. It’s hard to related that to people.
Part of the reason people didn’t join other branches to get out of the draft was that it wasn’t especially difficult to get exempted. I knew not ONE person draft age in my town that didn’t simply get defermant (sp?) after defermant.
That is what angered a lot of people. Blacks especially because they weren’t aware so they went. Whites were more able to defer.
Plus as the war progressed it started out as a police thing than over YEARS escalated. By the Tet Offensive (which was clearly an AMERICAN victory) it was obvious we weren’t winning though we thought we were.
Then as it got to the 70s it was as UNCOOL to join the armed forces as it is COOL to fly a flag these days.
Sure I enlisted in the Air Force to avoid the draft. There were advantages…Could choose a career field, the Uniform looked cooler :-).
The recruiting slogan at the time (1971) was find yourself in the Air Force. The truth to that statement was “yep, one morning I woke up and found myself in the Air Force”.
I joined the USAF to avoid the army. The irony was that I spent a year stationed with the army 2nd Infantry division in Korea doing tactical air support…but that was one of the most memorable years of my life!
Safe? Have you ever seen “Apocolypse Now”? The only survivor was the sole Army-dude on the all-Navy crew!