How important were Drafts during the Vietnam War? During the Vietnam War drafts were a huge part of troops and their families lives. The draft was a way that we would make our troops bigger and better by forcing American men to fight in the war.. American men had to sign up for the draft at age 18. Men from the ages between 18 and 26 were the main chosen to go over to fight. If it weren’t for the draft we wouldn't have had very many men to fight in the war. During the vietnam war at least ⅓ of the American troops were selected for military services through the draft and about ⅔ of the troops were volunteered. (Vietnam War..n.pag.) African Americans accounted for fourteen percent of our troops. Often times men that were being drafted to fight …show more content…
They required information varying from your name to your physical description. A Selective Service registration number, age, date and place of birth, ethnicity and place of residence at time of registration were all required on the draft card. If a mans name was drawn he was required to report to his local draft board for evaluation which was made up of community members who usually had political ties within the community. Men were allowed to get out of being drafted if their religion was against it, they were injured or health problems, needed at home to support their families, or were wealthy and educated. Some men would run away to Canada to get away from being drafted and were known as Draft …show more content…
That was was called the Draft Lottery. On the first of December 1969, the Selective Service System conducted the first lottery draft since 1942. There were 366 plastic capsules that were put into a jar and each capsule had a year on it. Each capsule that was drawn received a draft number. Then the way they were called to duty by their draft number until the needs were met for the military troops. After the first lottery, the second one was held for all of the 26 letters of alphabet to order the priority among the men with the same birthdays. Although there were still some disagreements about how the drafts were being done, many people accepted the draft lottery was better choice than the draft
The Vietnam war began on November 1, 1955 being so sudden a draft began, this is when there is a major crisis and extra troops are needed for combat. The way the men were picked to go to war was a lottery was implemented, there was no system in place to determine order of call besides the fact that men between the ages of 18 and 26 were most likely to be drafted. Millions of men were forced to put their lives on hold and fight for their country if they liked it or not. Even though many consider the draft to be unconstitutional there were positive effects. Equality began to spread extensively over those years, since people were forced to get to know one another they started to understand that they're all the same.
Event Synopsis/Comments: The SWTJC held a CBP Recruiting event at the Eagle Pass, Texas campus on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 from 1100-1230 hours. The event was held in a classroom and was geared towards students from SWTJC. Supervisory CBP Officer Eric Galarza along with CBP Officers Javier Torres and Gilberto Rodriguez from the Eagle Pass Port of Entry attended the event as recruiters on behalf of the Laredo Field Office. This event was different than others for the Eagle Pass recruiters as it was set up in a classroom for a more intimate setting. Thirteen people attended the event; they listened to OFO recruiters give a presentation on the history, the duties, benefits, and training.
As President Roosevelt signed the selective training and service act of 1940. As the country’s first peacetime draft and formally established the act as an independent federal agency within the department of defense. Even before this there was a long history of drafting citizens to serve in the armed forces. Why drafting would be a bad idea, the training considerations, time lag, standards would drop, and high costs would be some bad ideas.
Ever since the dawn of Republic, the American public grappled with the issue of the military draft. During the American Revolution, the Continental Army struggled to recruit men and enticed the potential soldiers with the lure of the free land or cash incentives. George Washington proposed to institute the draft, however, the Congress rejected his idea. The Civil War, the deadliest of the American armed conflicts, compelled the both warring sides to enact the conscription. The South instituted their draft in 1892, and the North followed with The Draft Act of 1863.
With Congress out of session, the new President, Andrew Johnson, open a period known as "Presidential Reconstruction", in which he particularly superintend the appointment of unworn possession governments throughout the South. He supervise the convening of state politic conventions populated by delegates whom he judgment to be loyal. Three foremost issues came before the conventions: secession itself, the annulling of servitude, and the Confederate fight duel. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina held conventions in 1865, while Texas ' conventionality did not organize until March 1866. Johnson expectation to prevent deliberation over whether to re-admit the Southern acme by accomplishing full ratification before Congress mee in December.
This draft came as an alternative, another fallback for the United States. Also, the draft was done fair, there was no need for citizens to get upset and take the draft away if it is done in an equitable fashion.
Not all men went to fight. The drafts were typically for men eighteen through twenty five. Drafts required men of certain ages to enroll in the war (Ballard). The people that stayed back were called townspeople. Durring Battle of Vicksburg the town was besieged, or surrounded by Grants forces for foty days.
All in all, Source 1 and 2 both have a different stance on how the Draft should or shouldn’t be available. While both do give their beneficial ideals, Source 2 was more logical with its stand than Source 1s idea of unity and income. However, both sources use the reason that Draft shouldn’t be passed from World war and Vietnam. For example, “ Vietnam was a war of attrition without a clear victory condition or civilian peace-building component, and thus unlike our more recent conflicts” (Source 1). Also , “First of all, World War II and the Vietnam conflict, both of which were very costly in terms of human life for numerous reasons, were also both wars of conscription, as was the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history in terms of American lives lost” (Source 2).
Which made some citizens furious that they continued getting lied to again and again. The war was not at all like what the government was letting us know at the time. The number of troops that were being drafted increased. The chart in document 1 demonstrate the expansion in contribution the US had in the war. It demonstrates that toward the finish of 1965 there were just 184,00 troops however before the finish of 1968 there were 537,000.
From the beginning of the United States’ history, conflict has always been prevalent. The need for armed forces continually grows, especially in times of war, as the fight for freedom becomes more challenging. Conscription, better known as the draft, was first introduced during the Civil War as a way to get more individuals involved in the military to fill vacant positions. The practice of the draft was finally discontinued in favor of an all-volunteer military system, when the need for troops was no longer necessary. After almost two decades of being involved overseas, the demand for armed troops is imperative once again.
In 1964, Muhammad Ali, one of America’s most polarizing and famous athletes for his boxing career, was being drafted to the military. Ali fizzled the U.S. Military qualifying test in light of the fact that his written work and spelling aptitudes were below the national standard. Because of the Vietnam War spiraling down as a lost war effort, the test norms were brought down in November 1965. Ali was then ultimately eligible for the draft and was to be named into the military. He was also going to be called for an act of duty due to the lack of soldiers in Vietnam, an already unpopular war (Cassius Marsellus CLAY, Jr.).
The use of the mandatory military draft during WWII helped end racism and segregation because President Trumen issued a bill to allow African Americans to serve in the MIlitary. Prior to and during WWII African Americans were not allowed to serve alongside their white comrades because they were believed to not be equals. “During WWII, the African-American Tuskegee Airmen and the Japanese Americans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team served with distinction and honor” (Ruschmann 51). The outstanding and heroic acts of the African-American and Japanese Americans proved they were just as equal to their white counterparts and there is no reason to believe white people are superior to them. The mandatory military draft in the United States also brought people of different ethnicities, gender and religion together.
As the war continued, in 1943, a quota was imposed allowing the number of African American males serving in the armed forces to be no greater than their numbers in the overall population, about 10.6 percent. At first, African American males serving were limited to work in labor units, but this restriction also changed as the war progressed, as soon after they were ultimately allowed in
The tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.
These few factors play a huge role in why I disagree with conscription. When the idea of conscription was passed and men were forced to fight in the war this took away the freedom of many.