How did they choose people to be drafted?

Overview. If Congress and the President were to reinstate a military draft, the Selective Service System would conduct a National Draft Lottery to determine the order in which young men would be drafted. The lottery would establish the priority of call based on the birth dates of registrants.

What was the draft in the Vietnam War?

The Draft in Context The military draft brought the war to the American home front. During the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million.

How did Americans come to serve in Vietnam How did the draft work why did the draft anger many Americans?

The draft for the Vietnam War brought with it anxiety and anger to many American households. The draft was viewed as unequal because the working class man’s only choice was to go to war, while the wealthy men would go to college or enlist in the National Guard.

What was it like to be drafted during the Vietnam War?

Most of U.S. soldiers drafted during the Vietnam War were men from poor and working-class families. The least political power sections were mistreated. As a matter of fact, American forces in Vietnam included twenty-five percent poor, fifty-five percent working-class, twenty percent middle-class men, but very few came from upper-classes families.

What happened to draft dodgers after the Vietnam War?

Those who had practiced draft invasion by flying abroad faced forced military service or imprisonment if they went back home. Although draft dodgers were still prosecuted after the end of U.S. direct involvement in Vietnam, in September 1974 President Gerald Ford granted a conditional amnesty that required them to be of service from 6 to 24 months.

What was The racial makeup of the US soldiers in Vietnam?

Appy estimates that the American forces in Vietnam consisted of twenty-five percent poor, fifty-five percent working-class, and twenty percent middle-class men. Very few U.S. soldiers came from upper-class families. Many of the men who served in Vietnam were minorities from the nation’s inner cities.

How did young men avoid military service during the Vietnam War?

As American troop strength in Vietnam shot up, more young men of call-up age sought to avoid or delay their military service and there were some legal ways to do that. Men who had physical or mental problems, were married, with children, attending college or needed at home to support their families might be granted deferments.