UNDERSTANDING THE VIETNAM VET AND WHO REALLY FOUGHT THAT WAR

I do not speak for all Vietnam Vets but I believe I’m representative of a sizable segment of them so you might find something informative from my musings here. I was probably typical of the average White middle class draftee circa 1967.  I was in my sophomore year of college when I got my Draft notice so I quickly got in touch with my draft board to see if I could delay reporting until after final exams.  My Induction date was adjusted to early 1967.

I grew up all over the World as a Military Brat and my father (an 0-6) and brother (an 0-2) were on Active Military Duty at the time so trying to dodge the Draft never entered my mind. The Military was "The Family Business." Our family Military Home of Record was in Northeast Pennsylvania so I was inducted at the Scranton Wilkes-Barre MEPS (Joe Biden’s Hometown).

I along with 25 other Draftees from my Draft Board, many of them also in college, and a lot of Volunteers went through our pre-inductions physicals which was not very thorough. As someone actually drafted and Inducted I can attest to the fact that at the Scranton MEPS unless you had something disqualifying that a doctor could see with his own two eyes like missing an arm, you were going to pass your draft physical. I had a dislocated knee and my brother had Asthma. I spent 30 years in the Army while my brother managed a 26 year military career and we both retired as O-6’s.

I was inducted into the Army that evening and shipped off by train to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for processing and Basic Training.  At Reception Station we were all given a battery of test and about half of us from my Draft Board scored high enough to be offered the opportunity to attend Officers Candidate School after Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (about 4 months). Six of us accepted.  I attended OCS as a US (draftee serial numbers started with US) which was a grueling 23 weeks of harassment and physical endurance testing all geared to weed out the weak and teach the rest of us how to survive as a Lieutenant in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. About 40% of my OCS Class survived the course and were commissioned.

I  went to Vietnam as a young Second Lieutenant in 1968 and extended in country to come home an older and wiser decorated Captain with a CIB.  I went on to remain in service retiring 30 years later as a Full Colonel so I know a little about the Vietnam War and who fought it.  The “real war” only lasted a little less than six years with about 90 percent of those killed between 1967 and 1970. The US troop strength reached its height in June 1969 at 546,400.

Vietnam was not the most deadly war the Nation has fought but to put it in perspective here is how it stacked up in our conflicts since World War II:

World War II: 407,316 Killed
Korean War - 36,574 Killed
Dominican Republic (1965) - 23 Killed
Vietnam War - 58,300 Killed (In May 1968 alone 2416 were killed in Vietnam)
Grenada Invasion - 19 Killed
Gulf War - 219 Killed
Iraq War - 4431 Killed
Afghanistan War - 2401 Killed

If you really want to understand the divide between those of us that fought the War in Vietnam and those that dodged the opportunity, read Robert Timberg’s book The Nightingale’s Song or at least listen to his C-SPAN Book Notes interview (https://www.c-span.org/video/?66211-1/nightingales-song).  You might not agree with everything but you’ll come away understanding how most of us still feel all these years later much better than anything you’ll learn from watching Ken Burns Vietnam PBS series.  I though Burns badly missed the mark but in an interview when he confessed he was a Conscientious Objector I realized why.

Probably the biggest myth associated with the Vietnam War was who it was that actually fought it. In the Sunday, 6 April 1986 Washington Post there was an excellent in depth examination of that question in an article entitled “The Myth of the Vietnam Vet" written by Jim Webb (later the Democrat Virginia Senator).The article stated: "The man who fought in Vietnam is typically depicted as a draftee, unwilling and probably black. In fact, 73 percent of those who died were volunteers and 12.5 percent were black (out of an age group that comprised 13.5 percent of the male population)."  It goes on to point out that “the average name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall was a kid from a middle class Zip Code.” Those numbers were consistent with statistics previously published in a Washington Post August 24,1983 article entitled “Inside: The Veterans Administration.” Because WaPo archives don't go that far back on a line, I have appended both article at the bottom of this Blog posting.

The article went on to say: “In the most comprehensive survey of Vietnam veterans ever done (1980 Harris Survey), 91 percent of those that served indicated they were ‘glad they served their country,’ 74 percent stated they ‘enjoyed their time in service,’ 80 percent disagreed with the statement ‘the United States took unfair advantage of me,’ and 72 percent agreed strongly with the statement ‘The trouble in Vietnam was that our troops were asked to fight in a war which our political leaders in Washington would not let us win.’ The media response to this survey was almost total silence.”

Many of the political “want‑to‑be's" of today may have a point when they say how they felt about the draft and military service in the 1960's doesn't have a bearing on their fitness to serve today but how they continue to orchestrate their cover ups of how they avoided service goes to the very heart of their present character.

Need I remind you that up until Tet of 1968, the overwhelming majority of Americans supported the war and only then did the mood begin to slowly shift. It is arguable that the anti‑war movement never really enjoyed the support of a majority of the country as evidenced by the fact that Richard Nixon, who had invaded Cambodia, won EVERY State except Massachusetts in the 1972 Presidential Election over a George McGovern who would have had us cut and run out of Vietnam before the finish of his inauguration speech!  Despite the efforts of revisionist historians and Hollywood producers to ascribe only the highest of moral ideals to draft resisters while assigning the most sinister of motives to those who served, the truth is that the vast majority of Draft Dodgers were just plain "chicken."

Active military service was an absolute certainty for any male born between 1940 and 1950 unless he was morally, mentally or medically unfit, or took some overt action to "dodge" the draft.  THAT IS A FACT.  Draft dodging does not necessarily mean “illegal” as the Webster’s Dictionary of the time defines it as simply “avoiding military service.”  Applying for student or occupational deferments, leaving the country, feigning homosexuality, or signing up for ROTC without any intentions of participating were all things people did, legally and illegally, to avoid performing their duty.  I don't care if your name is Trump, Clinton, Cheney, Biden, Romney, Schumer, Gingrich, Sanders, Bloomberg or most other Vietnam eligible politicians, don't insult my intelligence with a lame excuse. 

“It was the luck of the draw" (Clinton), “I had childhood asthma” (Biden), “I had debilitating heal spurs but I can’t remember which foot,” or "If called, I would have been happy to serve" (Cheney) are ALL a little disingenuous when each did everything short of maiming himself (which they didn't have the guts to do) to make sure he was unavailable to be called. It seems that Cowardice was a bipartisan malady that afflicted future politicians in much greater rate then the general population.

Clinton was exceptional devious. Rhodes Scholarships did NOT earn a deferment after 1967 when educational deferments were changed for graduate students. Those starting graduate studies in the fall of 1967 were given two semester deferments becoming eligible in June 1968. This is when Clinton received his induction orders that he lied to have cancelled.

Colonel Eugene Holmes, the Army officer University of Arkansas PMS who had been involved with Clinton's ROTC application, suspected that Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid the draft and avoid serving in uniform. He issued a notarized statement during the 1992 presidential campaign:

“I was informed by the draft board that it was of interest to Senator Fulbright's office that Bill Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar, should be admitted to the ROTC program ... I believe that he purposely deceived me, using the possibility of joining the ROTC as a ploy to work with the draft board to delay his induction and get a new draft classification.” As a result of his sworn affidavit to enroll in ROTC, Clinton’s induction was cancelled but instead of honoring his promise, he skipped off to England to join anti-Soldier protests.

Also, consider draft quotas were assigned by draft board.  When one man evaded, someone else, often less educated or advantaged and always less eligible, served in his place.  Additionally, because many of the more capable natural leaders avoided service, we often had to settle for the LT Cally's of the world for leadership.  Think of how many American lives could have been saved if leaders with Clinton, Trump or Biden’s potential had done their duty.  Isn't it ironic how correct Clinton was when he used to say that "it's the little guy who plays by the rules that always ends up taking it in the neck."

My point is, if the “Trumps and Bidens of our country” were all "unfit" to serve in their youth when their country needed them badly, what makes them any more fit to serve now?  At least they can begin on their way to redemption by being honest.  Instead of continually spinning yarns that "Ripley wouldn't believe" about why they didn’t serve, can't they just come clean and confess "I was scared, I didn't want to go, and I found a way to avoid it."  Then and only then can they begin to regain a little self-respect and the respect of the rest of us.