If you were eligible during the Vietnam War,
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  If you were eligible during the Vietnam War,		 « previous next »
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Poll
Question: would you have dodged the draft?
#1
Yes (left-leaning)		  
#2
No (left-leaning)		  
#3
Yes (right-leaning)		  
#4
No (right-leaning)		  
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Partisan results
Total Voters: 61

Author Topic: If you were eligible during the Vietnam War,  (Read 951 times)
Dr. MB
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« on: June 24, 2018, 11:11:02 PM »
I sure as hell would’ve. The draft itself is immoral, so there’s nothing wrong with dodging in my opinion.

Although, I would’ve first tried to apply for conscientious objector status.
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America Needs R'hllor
Parrotguy
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« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2018, 11:55:38 PM »
No, just like I'm not dodging the draft in my own country.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2018, 11:58:13 PM »
Tempting, but no.

Too many benefits to rolling with it.
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2018, 11:58:28 PM »
I am the only son I would have dodged long enough, but when it came down to it, no hand to hand combat
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SATW
SunriseAroundTheWorld
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« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2018, 12:01:59 AM »
No.
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Burke Bro
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« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2018, 12:26:22 AM »
Yes, and I would've fought tooth and nail against it. War is f**king horrible. It should only be used as a last resort.
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dead0man
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« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2018, 01:02:17 AM »
I'd enlist in the USAF.  Safer.
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Sir Mohamed
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« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2018, 01:37:03 AM »
Most likely. Not because of lack of patriotism, but because the war was not worth it.
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OSR stands with Israel
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« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2018, 01:49:11 AM »
No
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
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« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2018, 01:53:44 AM »
I'd have had a student exemption until age 21 at least (I got through college in three years, but if I'd been worried about the draft it wouldn't have been tough to make it stretch to five years) and then as a college grad in a technical field I'd almost certainly not been a rifleman. So from a personal safety POV, I'd have had no reason to not go.  I'm not a pacifist and while I think Vietnam was an unwise war, I don't think it was unjust, so I have no moral reasons to avoid service either.
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Alabama_Indy10
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« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2018, 07:38:39 AM »
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HillGoose
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« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2018, 08:13:29 AM »
no, although if they did psychological screenings back then they probably wouldn't have wanted me anyway.
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ON Progressive
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« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2018, 08:20:31 AM »
Yes, although my physical disabilities would let me be able to miss out anyway Tongue
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Torie
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« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2018, 08:28:19 AM »
No, I was prepared to serve. But the draft ended right before I completed college.
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Old Man Willow
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« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2018, 09:31:54 AM »
Yes. I do not approve of the draft but more importantly would not have approved of the war or even necessarily sided with South Vietnam.
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Kingpoleon
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« Reply #15 on: June 25, 2018, 09:42:17 AM »
No. To protest by not participating is wrong.
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Old Man Willow
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« Reply #16 on: June 25, 2018, 11:41:15 AM »
Quote from: Kingpoleon on June 25, 2018, 09:42:17 AM
No. To protest by not participating is wrong.

Idiocy in it's purest form.
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YE
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« Reply #17 on: June 25, 2018, 12:03:58 PM »
No, but I doubt I'd be physically or mentally fit to serve and would have been useless is combat.
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Blair
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« Reply #18 on: June 25, 2018, 02:43:12 PM »
I'm quite torn on this; I've heard secondhand that both my Grandad (who served as an officer in WW2 from 1943) and Great-Grandad (who fought at the Somme) were completely scared by front-line combat. My Grandad never mentioned it until he was on his deathbed, and despite being a usual old school Tory, he was completely against fighting.

I can only imagine that serving on the frontline in Vietnam would have been 1000x worse than fighting in Northern Europe in 1944-1945.

In that sense, my objection wouldn't be specific to the war in Vietnam (which was a stupidly flawed, and futile war) but rather in knowing that it would be a brutal, experience.

But I'd probably have opted for some sort of backroom post, either in the Navy or Air Force, which allowed me to serve without having to experience direct combat.
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DavidB.
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« Reply #19 on: June 25, 2018, 03:51:03 PM »
I hope I would have had the courage to serve, but there's no way to know for sure (and let's hope it stays that way).
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American_Aristocracy
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« Reply #20 on: June 25, 2018, 04:07:25 PM »
Would I want to be involved in guerilla warfare? No.

What I be in a war where there was a clear Frontline? More likely yes.
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DINGO Joe
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« Reply #21 on: June 25, 2018, 04:52:41 PM »
I would have been pulling any white privileged levers I could (education, any non-combat dodge available).
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Shameless Lefty Hack
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« Reply #22 on: June 25, 2018, 06:52:11 PM »
Probably not. Perfectly clear-eyed about being a tool of imperialism in an unwinnable war for imperialism, but I also have a somewhat old fashioned streak of obligation to the homeland.

That said I totally understand dodging, as long as you're a consistent critic of imperialism and not a chickenhawk.
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Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy
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« Reply #23 on: June 25, 2018, 07:05:05 PM »
Yes. I'm opposed to the draft in general, and I wouldn't fight to defend a regime as awful as South Vietnam
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DavidB.
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« Reply #24 on: June 25, 2018, 08:00:46 PM »
Quote from: Shameless Bernie Hack on June 25, 2018, 06:52:11 PM
Probably not. Perfectly clear-eyed about being a tool of imperialism in an unwinnable war for imperialism, but I also have a somewhat old fashioned streak of obligation to the homeland.

That said I totally understand dodging, as long as you're a consistent critic of imperialism and not a chickenhawk.
Nice
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