On PBS-TV Vietnam Vet Nurse says "The were 18, 19. Very unusual to see a 20 year old."

1/2 of the Americans in Vietnam showed up at 17. Not like today where 1/2 of the Americans in Afghanistan/Iraq at 35.

Salute our AF AR NV Nurses wrote:

God Blass our US Regular Branches and US Marines for their sacrifices in Vietnam.

+1. A lot of fine young people lost their lives in that war. They probably were the best of that generation and that fact partially explains why the surviving Boomers are so awful. All the good ones made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

We should also not forget all the young people who have VOLUNTARILY gone to fight and die in our current conflicts, the majority of whom are gen Xers and millennials.

Let's also not forget how the current younger generations have conducted themselves and shown appropriate respect to our military vets when they have come home from far off war zones. Unlike the disgusting, disgraceful way the Boomers treated their military peers when they returned from war. Boomers (at least those still living who did not serve) are truly a pathetic lot.

You are a bigot as well as an idiot. And did you serve?

Sacfrifices for Freedom wrote:

1/2 of the Americans in Vietnam showed up at 17. .

There was this thing called the draft. When you were chosen, you'd better show up.

Unless you had a deferment, like Trump, Stallone and several other tough guys.

those young guys should have killed the poticians who send them to die pointlessly in a jungle far far away from america

Remember on Memorial Day wrote:

Salute our AF AR NV Nurses wrote:

.

Unlike the disgusting, disgraceful way the Boomers treated their military peers when they returned from war. Boomers (at least those still living who did not serve) are truly a pathetic lot.

You are is desperate need of a clue.

Paul Hardcastle had a hit song on this subject back in 1985.

"19"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/19_

(song)

Salute our AF AR NV Nurses wrote:

God Blass our US Regular Branches and US Marines for their sacrifices in Vietnam.

What ever became of those rubber plantations and tungsten mines we went there over for?

Only 10% of US millies every serve as ground combat assault soldiers. The rest are IT guys, cooks, and office workers.

Interesting fact is the Germans have a separate branch of the military for

ground assault soldiers and and for supporters

a few weeks back I went to DC for a few days and went to the Vietnam Memorial. Hearing ages like 17-18-19 is one thing but when you walk along the wall and you see somebody has placed a photo of one of those young people killed in Vietnam all posed proud in his uniform it really hits you. Wow these really were YOUNG people.

Lack of fact-checking by PBS. Your draft year was the one in which you turned 20 years old. You were not even inducted into basic training until the following year.

In the first draft everyone who turned 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 in 1969 were subjected to the draft. There was also an oldest first clause, which meant that all of the 26 year olds were selected first, then 25 year olds, on down the line.

But it's PBS, a left wing taxpayer subsidized propaganda show. What do you expect?

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.

The draft lotteries were conducted again in 1970, 1971 and 1972. However, draft numbers issued on February 2, 1972 for men born in 1953 was never used due to the abolition of the draft in early 1973. With the Paris Peace Accords signed on January 27, 1973, the end of active U.S. ground involvement in Vietnam and subsequently the draft saw the the last men conscripted on December 7, 1972. The Selective Service System continued to assign draft priority numbers in March from 1973-75 in case the draft was extended, although it never was.

- See more at:

http://thevietnamwar.info/vietnam-war-draft/#sthash.HWLGoM6r.dpuf

Before you shoot your mouth off, talk to someone who was around,,,,or lost someone within a year of graduating HS, And if you really want to try an use your brain, unlikely as it seems, research the economic classesof those drafted and who got deferments.

idiot.

You don't even uinderstand what you were reading. A 19 year old COULD be called, but the earliest he'd have to report for induction into basic training was 20 years old. There were no 17 or 18 year olds unless they were volunteer sign ups.

The only time there was a age grouped year was 1969. All other years the grouping was for all who turned 20 in that year.

calling bullshit here wrote:

The only time there was a age grouped year was 1969. All other years the grouping was for all who turned 20 in that year.

That's confusing, it should read "the only time it was a multi-age group year was in 1969.

Also you are correct that the "oldest age first" rule was not in play during the Viet Nam draft, which meant all ages of the 1969 draft were treated equally, except for the birthday and name sequence.

No

Don't forget the dolt...Bernie. Applied for conscientious objector status and by the time his draft number came up, he was too old to be drafted...he wouldn't have gone anyway. Coward through and through. Not a draft dodger per say, but still a coward. Bet he voted for LBJ though, and was a big supporter of JFK. So...he refused to enter into a conflict that was largely created by the folks he probably supported for public office. A coward and a hypocrite. Nice couple of candidates this time around on the "Vote for me and I'll give you free crap" political side.

Senator Lindsey Graham constantly boasts about his US Aerospace Services

officer rank but as smart as he is for some unknown reason he somehow forgot to join the infantry services where they have to mount ground attacks on terrorists.

I don't know. It's hard to say. The people who didn't go were largely working class, uneducated people. I'm not saying they are "worse" than the affluent people who stayed behind, but in some ways you are asking a very difficult and hard to answer questions.Would it have been better to send college educated, affluent movers and shakers instead of a kid from Brooklyn destined to be a maintenance man at a bowling alley?"76% Of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds"http://www.veteranshour.com/vietnam_war_statistics.htm

I was drafted in 1967. I was deeply opposed to the war and knew far more about what was going on than most other draftees--more than most of the decision makers. It was not only an unjust war, it was a strategic mistake. I knew this at the time, and I knew that President Johnson knew it in his bones as well. Anyhow, because I would have fought Hitler, as my father did, I could not consider myself a conscientious objector. So I let myself be drafted and refused to do combat. The Army did its worst and I carry the legal consequences of my decision to this day. It has not been easy, but I am proud of how I conducted myself. Some Vietnam vets hate me, and some are my friends. What I have found most shocking in my 70-plus years on planet Earth is how unwilling people are to read. I would have an easier time accepting the viewpoints of those who still think we should have gone to war in Vietnam if they knew what they were talking about--knew we would never win, knew it would wreck our economy, knew it was not the right way to fight communism, knew how poorly our soldiers were treated, knew how poorly our military treated the Vietnamese, knew how *hopelessly* corrupt the South Vietnamese regime was, knew that Nixon secretly scuttled Johnson's peace talks and extended the war, killing thousands more. Yes, many of you will hate me--believe me I am used to it.