The Vietnam War Draft

By: James Esposito

The Draft for the Vietnam War was Immoral

Many Americans were burning their draft cards and protesting against the war, which hadn’t

been very popular in American history to this point

Americans Being DraftedThere were 1,728,344 Americans drafted.

1 out of every 3 U.S soldiers in the war were draftees

The average age of a draftee in the war was 19 years old

Amount of Draftees in Vietnam648,500 of all the soldiers who served in war were

draftedThis was actually much less than there were in

WWII, but it was the first time of serious protesting over the draft

Draft Dodgers210,000 Americans dodged the draft

30,000 fled to CanadaMany people made up lies to get out of the war by claiming things such as homosexuality, poor

eyesight, asthma, epilepsy

America’s Opinion on the WarAt the beginning of the

war 61% of America approved of the war

By the end only 28% of America approved of

the warA lot of this likely had to

do with the draft

Presidents involved in the war• Lyndon B. Johnson started sending troops over

to Vietnam, and also started the draft• Nixon’s plan was to slowly decrease U.S.’s

involvement, so he kept the draft going until almost the end of his presidency

• Gerald Ford did not reinstate the draft and he ended U.S. involvement

Draft Timeline

• The Vietnam Draft was first held on December 1, 1969, four years after the start of the war

• It was the first time it was used since 1942 in WWII

• The Vietnam Draft ended in 1973, 2 years before the end of the war.

Quote on Vietnam War“The Vietnam War was arguably the most

traumatic experience for the United States in the twentieth century. That is indeed a grim distinction in a span that included two world

wars, the assassinations of two presidents and the resignation of another, the Great

Depression, the Cold War, racial unrest, and the drug and crime waves.”

-M. GOLDSTEIN, intro, The Vietnam War

Quote on Drafts

“We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles

away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for

themselves.” -Lyndon Johnson, Oct. 1964

Quote from Draftee

• “I remember the day I found out my draft status. I was really floored and

kind of staggered around in a daze. It just hadn't occurred to me that I could end up in Vietnam. -Parker Stevenson”

Quote from Draft Resister

• I was part of the draft resistance movement in LA where we did

demonstrations at the draft centre and burned our cards and made a lot

of trouble on campus. –Cheech Marin

Paraphrased Opinion on Drafts

• Jesse Ventura believes that our military should be smaller but

comprised of professionals, instead of having a lot of

drafted soldiers.

Paraphrased Opinion of Drafts

• Joe Bob Briggs believed that the concept of the draft was something that a third world country run by a tyrant would

install

Paraphrased Opinion of War

• Bertrand Russel stated that wars do not determine who is right, but who is left. Therefore the more soldiers

you have, the better chance you have of being declared correct, even if you

aren’t

Paraphrased Opinion on War

• David Friedman believes that violence is only the answer to

children and large nations. Which means that staring a

war is an immature thing to do

Works Cited• Toropov, Brandon. "draft resistance during the Vietnam War." Encyclopedia of Cold

War Politics. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=ECWP092&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 11, 2012).

• Roberts, Priscilla. "Selective Service." In Tucker, Spencer C., gen. ed. Encyclopedia of American Military History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EMHIII0145&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 11, 2012).

• Glankler, William L. "anti–Vietnam War movement." In Critchlow, Donald T., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Contemporary United States, 1969 to the Present, Revised Edition (Volume X). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHX021&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 11, 2012).