Did (would have) you served in Vietnam?

[cheezus]

Poll question: Did (would have) you served in Vietnam?

I ask because so much has been made about Kerry's service vs Bush's draft dodging. I agree that it looks quite dishonorable given his rush to put young people in harms way. However, does this mean that we should never elect a president without military service? Combat service? Like it or not, POTUS is commander of the armed forces. If there is a need for decisive action, do we want a draft dodger to balk out of fear of the public's reprisal? Or is it just the case that it's just another thing to attack Bush on, and in a year like this we're going to hit him with everything.

[R3dD0g]

1. Another option or two please.

I had a very high number 266, but would have left for Canada if it had been lower than 125.

My buddy had 86, and hid out in ROTC for 3 yrs.

The choices you offer were not so straightforward back then.

[Somawas]

2. Exactly

what I was thinking. My number was over 300, but I would have resisted.

[bemildred]

26. Yeah, I can think of three other options in the "I am the right age" area.

[Warpy]

3. I was ineligible for the draft

I was also against the war and demonstrating with the Quakers in 1962, an annoyingly precocious brat. I continued as an antiwar activist until that war finally dragged to a close, and the US was kicked out of Vietnam. I may or may not have assisted people fleeing to Canada, some on active duty with shipping out in their near future. I dedicated myself to ending that war and getting the kids who had been snatched out of their homes to fight it back here and safe. I've been through riots, beatings, gassing, and all sorts of petty violence by right wing morons.

So yeah, I'd say I served. I just didn't do it in the military.

[efhmc]

4. How about: I was/am a female and females were not drafted at that time,

althought they did serve very bravely in noncombat duties. Still would not have gone. (Easy to say but do not know what I would have done if male. Probably gone if drafted.)

[IronLionZion]

5. this is too hypothetical for me

I don't know what I would do in a situation long before I was born!

[Johnyawl]

6. Like Kerry, and a lot of other boys...

...I volunteered.

[amber dog democrat]

7. I would have gone

if my destroyer had been sent there. My homeport was in Galveston, Texas of all places. USS Ault, DD 698 RESDESRON 34

[sangh0]

8. War resister here

.

[Career Prole]

9. Depends what the definition of "in" is...

I enlisted in the Navy right after high school graduation, but as a carrier sailor never set foot "in country".
No one would mistake an aircraft carrier for a swift boat...especially not the USS Ranger. :)

[On the Road]

10. My Draft Number was 180

and I probably would have gone if drafted. (did not vote)

[DemoTex]

11. I served a year in Vietnam in 1970-71.

.

[Nile]

25. 1970

Jan. 2nd to Nov. 22nd.
101st airborne.

[mopaul]

12. my number came up, and i was rejected

i even tried to enlist.

1-Y

[TX-RAT]

13. Volunteer 69-72

[TahitiNut]

14. It's soooo easy to proclaim "woulda/shoulda/coulda" ...

... without a clue. :eyes:

Born and raised in Detroit area, 20 miles from Canada.
Father and five uncles served overseas in WW2.
Drafted (pre-lottery) in 1968. Inducted March 1968.
Basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO.
Assigned Fort Sam Houston, TX, July-December 1968.
Served in Vietnam, USARV HQ Long Binh Jan-Nov 1969.

15. My draft number was 78

they weren't drafting people anymore in 1974, but still requiring registration.
I registered as a conscientious objector, status which I received.
That option is not exactly covered since it is resistance, but resistance within the system.

[ShaneGR]

16. My father went, I probably would have gone

In fact, if I got drafted to go to Iraq. I probably would. Not that I look down on people who don't go, it's just a personal thing for me.

[Wilber_Stool]

17. I was in the last draft

before the lottery. 10Oct69. My number for the lottery would have been 356. If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.

[11 Bravo]

18. Drafted, MOS 11 Bravo (infantry), and off I went.

For reasons I can't articulate to this day, I just couldn't go to Canada. In any case, I survived, used the GI bill to graduate from college, and have gone on to a 30 year (and counting) career as a teacher. I am also entitled to wear some of the same fruit salad that John Kerry rates, so perhaps that is the reason I have such a bottomless well of contempt for the chickenhawks in this administration who have attempted to denigrate his service.

[mrboba1]

19. Meaning of draft numbers?

Since I wasn't around for the draft - could someone explain the meaning of the draft numbers?

I assume the lower the number, the more likely to go - but how were they given out and what was the cutoff?

tia

21. The lower, the more likely to go

A lottery pure and simple.
Someone else will have to tell you the year they started it.

[RedEarth]

20. My number was 70 when I graduated from college in 1970

and I did every thing I could to get into the Guard, however, unlike Bush I wasn't able to. Fortunately, when I went for a second physical, I was able to get a medical deferment. Had I not gotten the deferment, I would have seriously considered going to Canada or trying for a CO deferment.

[tom_paine]

22. I would have resisted the Draft.

No doubt about that now. Just as I proudly served, and would have gone had I already enlisted, not gone AWOL/desertion like some Emperors* I know, had I not been in the service at the time I would have resisted with all the might that I am resisting with NOW.

Maybe more...it was a different time.

But I now KNOW which side of history I stand on, and it's the opposite of Busheviks/Freepers/Brownshirts.

Knowing what is in my heart now I know I would have stood up for:

Civil Rights in the 60s, while the Freepers were wantonly murdering Blacks and Civil Rights Workers.
Early Environetal Movement
Early Labor Movement
Women's Right to Vote Movement
Civil War, Proud Union Man, Army of the Potomac
Abolitionist Movement, while the Freepers were working to extend the life of slavery
Child Labor Movement
American Revolution, in the Colonial Army, not serving the King like the Freepers were

[namvet73]

23. Enlisted..

USAF 1969-1973

[Commendatori]

24. Knowing what I was like back then, I would have done anything

to stay out of Vietnam (college deferment, enlisting in a different service to avoid being drafted into the infantry), but I would not have gone to Canada or refused service - even at that age, I was too worried about what my father would have thought.

[robertpaulsen]

27. Would have resisted, just like I would resist next year...

if Dumbya steals the election again. Iraq is this generation's Vietnam and if the BFEE is around for four more years, they'll make Syria and Iran this generation's Cambodia. But they can't do it without a draft. You bet your ass I'll resist!

[Dees]

28. yes I did.

1965-66 Lai Khe Vietnam 1st Infantry Division 3rd Brigade 16th Infantry

on edit...drafted