I had the impression that my brother who was only a U.S. resident (not a U.S. citizen) at the time was liable for the draft during the Vietnam era. So, was the U.S. drafting non-citizens?
I know that legal residents can join the military now so I guess that was the case back then too. And if you can join it would be logical to say you could be drafted too.
A friend of my mom’s is married to a Canadian. We were talking to him about what he could/couldn’t do. He can’t vote, I don’t think he gets social security, and there are plenty of other benefits that he doesn’t get, but one thing he can do is be drafted into the United States military.
Isn’t it a bit odd that non-citizens can serve? I mean don’t soldiers have to pledge allegiance to their country - a non-citizen couldn’t do this since it’s not their country. How can non-citizens be trusted to serve for a country that isn’t theirs? The whole thing sounds very odd. Do other nations allow non-nationals in their armed forces?
Yes they were.
One of my cousins (a Canadian citizen) was living and working in the US at the time of the Vietnam War. He got a draft notice but decided that he didn’t want to go to Vietnam. So he just avoided the draft by coming home to Canada.
Mind, it made it a little difficult when he wanted to go back to the US for a visit, but that was eventually cleared up somehow.