I was just a kid during the Vietnam war so I don’t know about many of the details. I had no family members that fought in it. We were never taught anything about it in school either. So most of my info comes from a boss that was in the Navy at the time, TV, movies, old Life magazines, etc. Last night I watched parts of the movie Woodstock. I got to thinking, I’ve never heard of any famous people having fought in that war. Weren’t any of them drafted? None of the rock stars or movie stars?
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was drafted…but did not report for duty as a conscientious objector…his case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
The most famous person to be drafted was Elvis Presley. He however, never wound up in Vietnam, serving primarily on Germany.
It was relatively easy to get a deferment. I was in college at the time, so was never called.
If you served in the National Guard, you could avoid being drafted. The Guard did not have a lot of slots because of this, but if you had enough clout, you could get in (George W. Bush served in the Guard, for instance).
Athletes were often required to do military service. However, that was usually before Vietnam escalated. Many baseball players would have to take time off in the season for the two weeks of required National Guard training.
In general, even in WWII, celebrities were given “safe” assignments (though some volunteered for combat). Anyone drafted for Vietnam would probably not see action.
Oliver Stone of the movie Platoon served in combat in Vietnam - if his movies are anything to go by, he appears to not have enjoyed the experience.
It’s probably also important to keep in mind the size of the US involvement in Vietnam - about a million Americans wound up serving in Vietnam, but about 16 million Americans served during World War II, so you might expect a lot more famous people to have served in WWII.
I’m surprised there isn’t something on the web listing celeb vets of the Vietnam War. At least my google-fu has failed me. I did find out that Jamie Farr was the only MAS*H cast member to serve in Korea.
Names from Actors who served in the U.S. military from imdb.com
Details from actors’ Wikipedia pages:
Pat Sajak
He served in the U.S. Army as a disc jockeyduring theVietnam War forAmerican Forces Vietnam Network.[4] Sajak hosted the same Dawn Buster radio show that Adrian Cronauerhad, and for 14 months followed Cronauer’s tradition of signing on with “Good Morning Vietnam!”[5]
Dennis Franz
After graduating from college, Franz was drafted into theUnited States Army. He served eleven months with the82nd Airborne Divisionand the101st Airborne DivisioninVietnam.[6]
Steve Kanaly
Kanaly served in the Vietnam War as a radio operator with the First Air CavalryDivision. He provided details of his experiences in the service to Apocalypse Now screenwriter John Milius for scenes in the film involving the character of Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall).[2]
Richard Kline
After graduation, he joined theUnited States Armyand served in Vietnam during theVietnam Waras a lieutenant.
Blake Clark
Clark is a veteran of the Vietnam War,[3] having served as a first lieutenantin the United States Army with the 5th Infantry Division.[4][5]
James Avery
He served in the Vietnam War as a member of the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1969, after graduating high school.[3]
Jesse Ventura
Ventura served in the United States Navy from December 1, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War, but did not see combat.
Bob Gunton
Gunton served in the United States Army(1969–71), earning a Bronze Star for valor and the Vietnam Service Medal.
Tucker Smallwood
From 1967 to 1970, Smallwood served in the United States Army Airborne Infantry. Commanding a Mobile Advisory Team during the Vietnam War, he was wounded in action.
Wes Studi
At the age of 17 Studi enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard and had his basic combat training and advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Meeting recently returned veterans, Studi volunteered for active service and went to Vietnam with A Company of the 3rd Battalion 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division,[6] where he served for 18 months.
Roger Staubach was a Naval Academy graduate who served in Vietnam from 1965-1967.
And when you say, “I got to thinking, I’ve never heard of any famous people having fought in that war. Weren’t any of them drafted?” are you discounting politicians like Al Gore, John McCain, John Kerry, Ron Paul, Bob Kerrey, James Webb, Max Clelland, Chuck Hagel and Colin Powell?
Were any of these people famous prior to the their service? I don’t think so.
How many famous 18-22 year olds were there during the Vietnam era, because that was about the only age group that was being drafted and sent to Vietnam? And I’m quite sure some of those famous 18-22 year olds had legitimate medical reasons or legitimate student deferments that kept them out of the draft pool.
The prime birth years for being drafted and sent to Vietnam would have been roughly 1945-51. Even Cubby O’Brien, who was one of the youngest of the original Mousketeers, was born in 1946.
Here’s one person who fit the definition of “celebrity” during that time.Jerry Mathers, former child star. He enlisted in the Air Force Reserve in 1966 while he was still in high school. He ended up with the rank of Sergeant, but was never stationed outside the U.S.
But that is the question the OP is asking. Not people that served in the military during the Vietnam war, that subsequently became famous.
The age distribution of Vietnam-era draftees is going to make that unlikely. When you’re just out of high school you haven’t had that much time to get famous before you would be drafted - 18, 19 years old is pretty young to be famous, so I would imagine it’s rare.
On the other hand, apparently men of up to 26 years old were eligible for the draft, though, and it seems likely that by 24, 25, or 26 someone would have the opportunity to become famous in music or acting.
ETA: Sorry, got distracted and Kent Clark beat me to what I was going to say. Good post, KC.
Is it? Could be; not how I read the question, but it is ambiguous if there’s any requirement on when the person becomes famous.
He wouldn’t be in Vietnam since he was drafted in 1957.
The average age of Americans who died in the Vietnam War was 22.8, but… well, you try working that into a dance track!
Average age of death though? Do we know the average age of draftees?
I’m thinking the death age will be skewed by non-draftees (who will stay in the service longer, becoming NCOs and officers, even for an entire career)… I suppose it’s even possible that older personnel might be more likely to die in a war, although I’m not sure how that would work.
About the only one I can think of is Bob Kalsu, the Buffalo Bills Rookie of the Year in 1969, and who was also in ROTC in college. As part of that obligation, he ended up going active duty Army, and getting killed in Vietnam.
My question is regarding people that were famous at that time. Like I said I was watching Woodstock and it made me think of the rock stars/musicians of the time. I wasn’t aware of the age requirement. So maybe most of those guys were already too old.
Elvis Presley did not serve during the Vietnam War era. It’s arguable that he was the most famous draftee ever.
As already mentioned, the draftees were unlikely to be famous before serving. There wasn’t much enlistment during that era from people with established careers of any kind either. WWII was different, the increase in size of the military was enormous and anyone who could serve felt societal pressure to do so, and not just young men of draft age.
Yeah, I think that that’s probably a big part of why there weren’t many already-famous people who were drafted for the Vietnam War.
Looking at some of the headliners at Woodstock, and their age at that time (and setting aside those who weren’t Americans) – some were still pretty young, but a lot of them were already in their mid-to-late 20s:
- Jimi Hendrix: 27 (and he had been in the Army from 1961-1962)
- David Crosby: 28
- Stephen Stills: 24
- Carlos Santana: 22
- Richie Havens: 28
- Arlo Guthrie: 22 (he memorialized his encounter with the draft board, in '65 or '66, in “Alice’s Restaurant”)
- John Fogerty: 24 (volunteered for the Army Reserve in 1966 to avoid the draft)
- Marty Balin: 27
- Paul Kantner: 28
- Jerry Garcia: 27 (having lost most of a finger in a childhood accident, he probably would have gotten a medical waiver from the draft anyway)
- Bob Weir: 22