If you were drafted to fight in Vietnam, what would you have done?

[David S]

I'm probably one of the few forum members who lived during that era. My family was opposed to the war and so was I, but after thinking long and hard about it I decided that I would go if I was drafted. Beats going to jail. But due to an odd twist of fate I was never called. At the time there was a lottery system. You were assigned a lottery number based on your birthday. I had a low number so I probably would have been called but at that time Nixon was trying to show the country he was getting out of Vietnam so he didn't call any numbers then and he skipped to the next group of numbers for the next call-up. So I was never called.

Try to imagine what the choice was like then. On one hand you could be forced into the military and sent to a country on the other side of the world which poses no threat to the U.S. You would be forced to kill people with whom you have no quarrel or be killed by them. The other choices were jail or Canada.

At one time I think we had half a million men stationed in Vietnam. I don't know how many were sent there over the years. But over 50,000 were killed there and God knows how many more were maimed. The war was pointless from the beginning and after a while I think it was more a matter of saving face for LBJ and later Nixon.

Anyway the whole mess left me with an undying hatred for Johnson and Nixon as well as a serious distrust of government.

[David S]

Make a pass at my commanding officer and be on my way home

Even if I was male and thus eligible for the draft, I am in such poor health (bad eyesight, asthma, severe allergies, et cetera) that the armed forces would probably kick me out anyway.

The female part would have kept you from being drafted, but the health issues might not. Basically if you had a pulse you were qualified.

Speaking of female; Congressional members of the party whose avatar you are now wearing proposed a bill in 2004 which would have drafted everyone, ladies included. Be careful what you wish for.